Cards Used: GeoPlunge cards. Shuffle the cards before the game begins and after each state ranking battle.
Players: Two teams with 1, 2, or 3 players per team
Objective: This game is a series of state ranking battles. For each state ranking battle, whichever team wins the most “tricks” wins the battle. A “trick” consists of two cards, one from each team. A team earns 2 points for winning a state ranking battle, and in Level 2 it also has the opportunity to earn a bonus point (i.e., a third point) as described in those rules. Teams receive 1 point each for a tie. Continue playing state ranking battles, one at a time, until one team wins the game. For Level 1, a team needs 10 points to win the game. For Level 2, a team needs 15 points to win.
Step 1: Deal 9 GeoPlunge cards to each team face-down. After looking at its cards, each team discards 1 card from its hand, face-down, so that each team has 8 cards. Then, to determine which team will play the first card for the first trick, turn face-up the 2 discarded cards. Whichever team’s discarded card has a statehood ranking closer to 1 is the lead team (i.e., the team that plays the first card) for the first trick.
Step 2: The teams then play 8 tricks, one at a time. Whichever team wins a trick becomes the lead team for the next trick.
Examples: If for one of the first 4 tricks the lead team plays the New York card and announces “Population,” and the non-leading team plays the Colorado card, the lead team wins the trick because New York’s population ranking is closer to 1 than Colorado’s.
If for one of the last 4 tricks, the lead team plays the New Mexico card and announces “Statehood,” and the non-leading team plays the Alaska card, the non-leading team wins the trick because Alaska’s statehood ranking is closer to 50 than New Mexico’s.
Determining Who Wins a State Ranking Battle: The first team to win 5 tricks wins a state ranking battle and earns 2 points. If both teams win 4 tricks, whichever team wins the last trick wins the state ranking battle and gets 2 points. If a team wins 5 tricks before all the tricks have been played, the state ranking battle ends early.
The rules for Level 2 are the same as for Level 1, with the following clarifications or exceptions:
Examples: The lead team plays Georgia face-down, announces “Statehood” and a base of 1. It will win the trick unless the other team plays a card with a statehood ranking of 1, 2, or 3.
The lead team plays Maine face-down, announces “Population” and a base of 50. It will win the trick unless the other team plays a card with a population rank of 42 or higher.