Class GeoPower Double Choice:  10 To 32 Players

What You Should Know Before You Play

The object of the game is for each student to try and win the “Starting Round” for his or her group, and then win the Championship Round among all of the finalists. Your students’ success will depend upon the state rankings (from 1^st to 50^th) in size, statehood, and population of the GeoPlunge cards they select from among the cards they’re dealt. The Alaska card has the best (i.e., 1^st) size ranking, Delaware has the best statehood ranking, and California has the best population ranking. 

Your students’ success also depends upon a little luck as well.  Each round, the teacher randomly selects a GeoPower card.   Each GeoPower card says either “Size”, “Statehood”, or “Population.”  The GeoPower card picked by the teacher for a round determines which ranking is important for that round.  But the students won’t know which GeoPower card will be picked until they’ve already selected which GeoPlunge cards to keep.   

The teacher should divide the students into groups.  There can be as few as 2 groups or as many as 8 groups, depending upon what the teacher believes will work best for the class.    If more than 16 students are playing, you’ll need to play 2 Starting Rounds one at a time, with no more than 16 students participating per Starting Round (or, in the alternative, you could use 2 GeoPlunge decks to play).   Both the GeoPlunge cards and the GeoPower cards are used.  Shuffle each deck after each round.

How to Play and Win

§         First, the Starting Round is played (or two starting rounds are played, if necessary).  Then the Championship round is played.

§         If there is 1 Starting Round, all students participate in the Starting Round.  If there are 2 Starting Rounds, each student participates in one of the two Starting Rounds. 

§         There is one winner for each group in the Starting Rounds (except if there is a tie, there can be more than 1 group winner).  Only the group winners participate in the Championship Round.  The winner of the Championship Round wins the game.

§          To start each round, the teacher says either “Top Dog” or “Bottoms Up,” and then deals each participating student 3 GeoPlunge cards. 

§         Each participating student then discards 1 GeoPlunge card face-down.  The 2 cards a student keeps are his or her “Selected Cards” for the round.

§         The teacher then randomly chooses a GeoPower card from the GeoPower card deck. That card determines which ranking is important for that round.  For example, if the GeoPower card picked by the teacher says Size, the size ranking of the students Selected Cards for that round is the ranking that matters. 

Determining Who Wins the Starting Rounds for Each Group

If the teacher says “Top Dog” before dealing the cards for a Starting Round, a student will win that Starting Round for his or her group if that student has the best ranked Selected Cards among the students in his or her group.  

If the dealer says “Bottoms Up” before dealing the cards for a Starting Round, a student will win that Starting Round for his or her group if that student has the worst  ranked Selected Cards among the students in his or her group.

Determining Who Wins the Championship Round Among The Finalists

Only the group winners in the Starting Rounds (i.e., finalists) participate in the Championship Round.  Finalists do not get to keep the cards they used in the Starting Round.   Each finalist is dealt 3 new GeoPlunge cards and discards 1 of them.  The two remaining two cards for each finalist are that student’s Selected Cards for the Championship Round.

If the teacher says “Top Dog” before dealing the cards for the Championship Round,  a student will win the Championship Round if that student has the best ranked Selected Cards among the finalists. 

If the teacher says “Bottoms Up” before dealing the cards for the Championship Round, a student will win the Championship Round if that student has the worst ranked Selected Cards among the finalists.

Determining Who Has the Best Ranked Selected Cards

If the Teacher says “Top Dogs”, it is important to determine for that round who has the best ranked Selected Cards among those who are competing against each other.

As between two players, one player has better ranked Selected Cards only if 

The sum of the important rankings of that player’s two Selected Cards

IS LESS THAN

The sum of the important rankings of the other player’s two Selected Cards. 

For example, if the GeoPower card says Size, and one player’s two Selected Cards are ranked 10^th and 30^th in size (i.e., the sum of their rankings equals 40), and the other player’s selected cards are ranked 5^th and 40^th in Size, the first player has the better ranked Selected Cards (because 40 is less than 45).

Determining Who Has the Worst Ranked Selected Cards

If the Teacher says “Top Dogs”, it is important to determine for that round who has the worst ranked Selected Cards among those who are competing against each other.

As between two players, one player has worse ranked Selected Cards only if 

The sum of the important rankings of that player’s two Selected Cards

IS GREATER THAN

The sum of the important rankings of the other player’s two Selected Cards. 

For example, if the GeoPower card says Population, and one player’s two Selected Cards are ranked 15^th and 35^th in population (i.e. the sum of their rankings equals 50), and the other player’s selected cards are ranked 20^th and 25^th in population, the first player has the worst ranked Selected Cards (because 50 is greater than 45).