F#¢& No Thanks - Submitted by Mike Wyman

No Thanks

No thanks is a simple game card. Start with 33 cards numbered from 3 to 35. 9 cards are removed at random to produce a deck of 24. Place the deck in the middle of the table. Players each have 11 tokens that count as -1 point.

The top card of the deck is flipped and each player, in turn, choses to take the card, or toss in one of their tokens. A card taken counts against toward your score, and the lowest score wins. But if you take a card, you get the coins other players tossed on it. So even the 35 eventually becomes palatable. Well, almost. Game ends when all 24 cards have been taken.

There are a few wrinkles, if you have adjacent cards, only the lowest card counts toward your score. If you have no coins, you must take the card (and the coins on it). You keep your tokens secret.

A winning score depends on the number of players (more players = lower scores). Negatives are not impossible.

While the game has lots of luck, good strategy will do better over the course of multiple games.

Tips for winning:

*Never take the 35 no matter how many tokens are on it, unless you have or are close to having connectors for it. It's not worth it because it doesn't have a connector on both sides.

*Don't be the last one to take any cards. You end up with fewer tokens than everyone else, fewer options and generally stuck with crap.

*Don't be afraid to let your connectors spin past you once if it's a high number no one else can immediately use.

*Don't let your connectors spin past you more than once even if it's a high number no one else can immediately use.

*Don't tell Warren to play a card mid-game.

*Don't play with Darren.
*Do not, under any circumstances, be lured into offering Mike C. any advice whatsoever. In all cases you will be blamed for steering him into an ill fated strategy (probably for your own benefit)

9/10 for No Thanks. It is what it is, and if it's going badly, it's at least going to be over quickly. Good game to play while waiting for everyone to arrive, or to play at the end of the night while people are trickling out.