the game includes a deck of individually designed cards and a card holder . in the preferred embodiment , the initial &# 34 ; starter &# 34 ; deck of cards consists of 100 cards in various combinations of three - value cards , policy cards , and disaster cards . the reverse side of each type of card is like appearance , so that when viewed from the reverse a number of such cards held in a player &# 39 ; s hand are indistinguishable one from another . however , the front side of each type of card is composed of a unique design ( in the preferred embodiment using green as the background color for the three - value cards , blue as the background color for the policy cards , and red as the background color for the disaster cards ) such that the three - value cards , policy cards , and disaster cards are immediately distinguishable when viewed from the front side . the &# 34 ; starter &# 34 ; deck is designed to be played by three to six players . players may facilitate larger groups by combining multiple &# 34 ; starter &# 34 ; decks into one large deck or by collecting supplement cards . in addition , the cards will be constantly updated to reflect changes in popular , political , and economic culture and will be available for sale in collector packs . thus , the game never goes out of date . in fact , the game is designed to be a running commentary on popular , political , and economic culture . three - value cards represent goods and services available in society . the three - value cards are the mechanism for keeping score and for determining the eventual winner . to accumulate three - value cards for score - keeping purposes , a player must place three - value cards in that player &# 39 ; s &# 34 ; accumulated asset pile &# 34 ; located immediately in front of that player . the &# 34 ; accumulated asset pile &# 34 ; contains the cards that a player seeks to have counted toward his point total at the end of the game . in the preferred embodiment , these cards are displayed face - up so that each three - value card can be seen by the other players . only the three - value cards in the accumulated asset pile are counted towards a player &# 39 ; s point value at the end of the game . the winner of the game is the player who has accumulated the most value in three - value cards in that person &# 39 ; s accumulated asset pile . as shown in the embodiment pictured in fig1 an three - value card has four distinctive features : ( 1 ) the text feature , ( 2 ) the graphic commentary feature , ( 3 ) the category feature , and ( 4 ) the three value feature . text appears in the upper - center portion of the card 10 . the text labels the particular good or service featured by the card . below the text in the center of the card is a graphic commentary 11 concerning the good or service featured by the card . the graphic commentary features one or more symbols that serves to comment on the good or service identified by the text . by the particular art selected to represent the featured named by the text , the graphic commentary feature serves as a mini - editorial on the good or service featured by the card . for example , the disclosed three - value card depicted in fig1 contains a graphic of a sailboat on open water as the graphic commentary for the text &# 34 ; social security card .&# 34 ; this graphic commentary is designed to highlight the lofty , though perhaps unrealistic view of social security in society . specifically , it is designed to call to mind the myth that social security is established to provide the means to retire by sailing away on a blissful body of water . the third feature of an three - value card is the category feature . each three - value card is categorized by way of a letter 12 that appears in the lower right - hand corner of the card . in the current embodiment , there are five different categories of three - value cards : transportation (&# 34 ; t &# 34 ;), housing (&# 34 ; h &# 34 ;), insurance (&# 34 ; i &# 34 ;), employment (&# 34 ; e &# 34 ;), and general asset (&# 34 ; a &# 34 ;). the embodiment presented in fig1 is titled &# 34 ; social security card &# 34 ;. the category of this card is &# 34 ; a &# 34 ;, i . e . general asset . these categories are used in advanced levels of game - playing . specifically , to be declared the winner of the advanced version of this game , a player must not only accumulate the most value in three - value cards , but the winner must also collect cards for each category of three - value card . in other versions of the game , the winner is the person who collects the most value in each category of three - value cards . different groups place different value on certain goods and services . the three value feature 13 of the three - value card captures this phenomenon . instead of one number providing a single numerical value for a particular good or service depicted on a card , an three - value card has three values assigned to that good or service . the top number in the upper - left hand corner of the three - value card 13a provides the numerical value of the featured good or service as perceived by members of a particular demographic category ( in the preferred embodiment this category is a generational group called the &# 34 ; world warrior &# 34 ; generation , i . e . those born prior to the close of world war ii ). the second number from the top upper - left - hand corner of the three - value card 13b , provides the value attached to the good or service by a different category of demographic ( in the preferred embodiment this category is a generational group called the &# 34 ; baby boom &# 34 ; generation , i . e . those born between 1945 and 1964 ). the bottom number of those that appear in the upper left - hand corner of the three - value card 13c provides the value of the depicted asset as seen by a third category of demographic ( in the preferred embodiment this category is a generational group called the &# 34 ; generation x &# 34 ; generation , i . e . those born between 1964 and 1980 ). for example , the three - value card depicted in fig1 is labeled 10 &# 34 ; social security card .&# 34 ; examining the valuation feature of the card , one sees that the social security card has a value of 1000 to those players who decided , at the beginning of the game , to compete as members of the senior citizen generation ; a value of 500 to those players who had decided to compete as members of the baby boomer generation ; and a value of zero to those players who chose to play the game as members of the generation x generation . the valuation feature of the three - value card introduces a unique dynamic to this game . though players of traditional playing card games must rely , largely , on chance to acquire valuable playing cards , here attaining the highest value in three - value cards is a function of difficult strategic choices . since the value of a particular card varies from player to player , decision to deposit a particular card into one &# 39 ; s accumulated asset pile must consider not only the value of the card to the player who holds the card , but the potential value of the card to an opposing player should the card be placed back into circulation rather than retained . taking a card from the preferred embodiment , the social security card , as an example , a player who has chosen to play as a member of generation x would , in a traditional card game , have no incentive to retain , for his accumulated asset pile , a card with zero value . yet , because of the three value character of this game , a generation x player would have to think long and hard about discarding back into play a card that has such high value to his competitors . the retention of the social security card , however , might come at the opportunity cost of retaining a card of actual value to the generation x player . policy cards are cards that the players play against each other in order to slow each other &# 39 ; s accumulation of three - value cards . in the preferred embodiment , the policy cards represent , in effect , disruptions to the process of accumulating wealth or procuring services caused by various public events . an example of a policy card taken from the preferred embodiment is depicted in fig2 . policy cards have three features : ( 1 ) the title feature , ( 2 ) the instruction feature , and ( 3 ) the graphic commentary feature . this policy card disclosed is the &# 34 ; commuter line privatization &# 34 ; card . the public policy preference represented by this card is the privatization of a commuter rail line . this card represents a policy choice of requiring suburban dwellers to transfer assets into the 501 ( c )( 3 ) pile by dropping government support of mass transit . in fig2 the title feature 14 names the event that will place an obstacle in the path of the player against whom it is played accumulating three - value cards -- here &# 34 ; commuter rail privatization .&# 34 ; next , the instruction feature 15 contains text which serves to instruct the player against whom the policy card has been played about what they must do to comply with the requirements of the card . in the policy card that has been disclosed in fig2 the card states that the player against whom the card has been played must place one of the cards from her accumulated asset pile into the 501 ( c )( 3 ) pile . generally speaking , policy cards may be played by any player against any player . however , this policy card can be played only against a player who , before the initial cards were distributed at the start of the game , chose to be part of the suburban category rather than the urban category . the graphic commentary feature 16 provides an opportunity for editorial commentary on the policy instructions contained in the card . it achieves this editorial function by conjuring up many of the symbols that , in their short - hand fashion , call to mind significant events in popular and political culture , and the public ethos engendered by such symbols . in the policy card disclosed in feature 2 , the graphic commentary feature contains the image of an asphalt road running adjacent to , if not into , a building drawn to resemble a state legislature . through these graphics , the graphic commentary feature seeks to communicate the power of the road - building ( as opposed to , for example , rail - building ) interests in our society . it is also drawn to communicate that the road - builders have easy access to the halls of government . disaster cards represent natural and man - made disasters . these cards cause a catastrophic disruption in a player &# 39 ; s accumulation of three - value cards . disaster cards are not distributed to the players or included in the pick up pile at the start of the game . in the later part stages of the game , however , disaster cards might appear in the pick up pile . disaster cards are stored in the recycling bin and are entered into the game if and only if one or more cards is discarded into the recycling bin . if cards are discarded into the recycling bin , those cards are shuffled with the disaster cards that have been stored there , and are placed in the pick up pile . the game is thus continued by the replenishment of the pick up pile . the unfortunate player who , by chance , picks up a disaster card from the pick up pile must immediately follow the instructions on the face of the card . disaster cards have three features : ( 1 ) the title feature , ( 2 ) the instruction feature , and ( 3 ) the graphic commentary feature . the disaster card disclosed in fig3 is titled 17 &# 34 ; hurricane .&# 34 ; the instruction feature 18 tells the player against whom the card has been played that , if they have home owner &# 39 ; s insurance ( one of the three - value cards described previously ), that player must wait two turns for the insurance company to process his insurance claim before that player may rejoin the game . the card states that if they player against whom this card has been played is not insured ( i . e . that player does not have an &# 34 ; insurance &# 34 ; three - value card ) that player must distribute all of their cards , in a clockwise direction until that player has distributed all of his cards to the other players . then , after waiting for three turns , the player against whom the hurricane card was played , takes all of the cards in the 501 ( c )( 3 ) pile . the graphic commentary feature 19 presents the image of an umbrella being held up by a fist full of dollars . the editorial comment made by this feature of the policy card is that it takes a lot of money in order to be sheltered from the disastrous effects of a hurricane . the card holder 20 has four separate card holders . these holders are the repositories for the pick up pile 21 , the recycling bin 22 , the litigation fund 23 , and the 501 ( c )( 3 ) pile 24 . the pick up pile 21 enters the playing cards into the game . each player initiates his turn by taking the top card from the pick up pile and adding it to the six cards held in that player &# 39 ; s hand 31 . the cards in the recycling pile 22 extend the duration of the game . once all the cards have been picked up from the pick up pile , the cards that have been discarded into the recycling bin are shuffled and placed face - down in the pick up pile . the recycling bin is also the repository of the disaster cards . disaster cards are not distributed with the asset and policy cards at the beginning of the game 28 . instead , they are all placed , face - down , in the recycling bin . if no player discards into the recycling bin , the disaster cards remain , inert , in the recycling bin and the game concludes as soon as the last card in the pick up pile is drawn . if , however , so much as one card is added to the recycling bin , that card will be shuffled with the disaster cards and added to the pick up pile once the pick up pile is depleted 33 . thus , a player who discards into the recycling bin makes a deliberate choice to enter all of the disaster cards into play . the cards that are placed in the litigation fund 23 represents the portion of society &# 39 ; s resources dedicated to the legal process . the cards collected in the litigation fund serve as a safety net for players who are victimized by certain policy or disaster cards . at the beginning of the game , there are no cards in the litigation fund . contributions to the litigation fund are generally voluntary , though certain policy cards and disaster cards will force contributions to the litigation fund . players must exercise their discretion with regard to how many cards it is appropriate to have in the litigation fund . typically , there are never enough cards in the litigation fund when one is forced to rely upon it . however , when one &# 39 ; s competitor collects from the litigation fund , there always seem to be too many cards in that pile . the 501 ( c )( 3 ) pile 24 is the repository for cards that players seek to donate to charitable institutions . as with the litigation fund , the 50l ( c )( 3 ) pile holder is empty at the start of play . the cards accumulate in the 501 ( c )( 3 ) pile by players voluntarily discarding cards into it . some policy cards and will force contributions to the 501 ( c )( 3 ) pile . like the litigation fund , various players will have to rely on the 501 ( c )( 3 ) pile when certain policy cards are played against them or when a player is unfortunate enough to have picked up a disaster card from the pick up pile . the litigation fund and the 501 ( c )( 3 ) pile are referred to broadly as deposit piles since cards from a player &# 39 ; s hand are deposited into these piles . this is in contrast to discarding a card into the recycling bin or playing a policy card against another player . in preparation for play , each player must make an initial choice of &# 34 ; who &# 34 ; they will be for game - playing purposes by choosing from several predesignated categories 27 . in the preferred embodiment , a player must first identify the generational group to which they belong . these generational groups are the world warriors , those with birthdays in 1945 and earlier ; the baby boomers , those with birthdays between 1946 and 1964 ; and the generation x &# 39 ; ers , those with birth years between 1965 and 1981 . the game will encompass future generation groups as they are identified . second , each player must identify a sub - category to differentiate him or herself from the other players who may have picked the same initial cateaory . in the preferred embodiment , each player must announce whether he or she is a resident of the city or a resident of the suburbs . these identifications are critically important to the play and outcome of the game because the particular value of three - value cards and the effect of certain policy cards will vary depending upon the initial category choices of the player who holds the card . once the players have selected their fictitious roles , and after the asset and policy cards are shuffled together , each player is dealt a predetermined number of cards ( in the preferred embodiment , each player is dealt six cards ) 29 . the cards that have been dealt to each player are held in - hand , i . e . secluded from view by the other players 25 . though the composition of the cards that are held in - hand will change throughout the game , each player must hold , at the end of his turn , the pre - determined number of cards ( six cards in the preferred embodiment ) in order to continue in the game . if a player , for reasons described in more detail below , finishes his turn and does not have the required number of cards in - hand , that player is eliminated from the game . after the dealer has dealt cards to each player , the remaining cards are placed , face - down , in the pick up pile 30 . the pick up pile enters the playing cards into the game . each player initiates his turn by taking the top card from the pick up pile and adding it to the cards held , secluded from view , in that player &# 39 ; s hand 31 , 36 . a turn is complete when the player chooses an appropriate discard leaving that player with the required number of in - hand cards 37 . there are five discard options available to a player . first , a player may add a card to her accumulated asset pile 38 . second , a player may opt to make a contribution to the litigation fund 39 . third , a player may opt to make a contribution to the 501 ( c )( 3 ) pile 40 . fourth , a player may choose to discard into the recycling bin 41 . fifth , a player may opt to play a policy card against another player 42 . regardless of the choice that is ultimately made , a player must balance the addition of the card taken from the pick - up pile with a corresponding discard to ensure that only the required number of cards are held in that player &# 39 ; s hand by the end of that player &# 39 ; s turn . there will be times when a player will collect a number of cards during a single turn . such a situation will arise , for example , when a policy card or disaster card instructs a player to collect all of the cards in the litigation fund or the 501 ( c )( 3 ) pile . in such a situation , a player must discard however many cards is necessary to comply with the six card rule . there will also be situations in which a player finishes his turn and finds that he does not have six cards held in - hand . such a situation arises when , for example , a player has been hit with a policy or disaster card that instructs the player to surrender in - hand cards in exchange for cards in the litigation fund or the 501 ( c )( 3 ) pile yet the player discovers that there are less than six cards available in those piles . in such a situation player who does not have six cards in his hand is eliminated from the game . to play a policy card against another player , the player seeking to play the card initiates his or her turn in the usual manner , i . e . taking the top card in the pick up pile . to complete his or her turn , however , the player places the selected policy card adjacent to another player &# 39 ; s accumulated asset pile . a player who has a policy card played against him must wait until it is his turn before complying with the terms indicated on the card . when that player &# 39 ; s turn arrives , the player who has had the policy card played against him must comply with the terms listed on the policy card before picking the top card from the pick up pile as he would ordinarily do to initiate his turn . using fig2 as an example , suppose player a decides to play the &# 34 ; commuter line privatization &# 34 ; card against player c ( who , by the terms provided on the card , must be a resident of the suburbs ). player a begins her turn as she normally would by taking the top card from the pick up pile . then , to play the policy card , player a discards by placing the &# 34 ; commuter line privatization &# 34 ; card next to the &# 34 ; accumulated asset pile &# 34 ; of player c . after a has completed her turn , player b completes his turn . next , it is player c &# 39 ; s turn . before picking up the top card in the pick up pile , player c must read and comply with the terms of the &# 34 ; commuter line privatization &# 34 ; card . as the instructions on the commuter line privatization card read , &# 34 ; your commuter line has been privatized . place one of the cards in your accumulated asset pile into the 501 ( c )( 3 ) pile to cover the cost of increased fares .&# 34 ; once player c complies with the terms on the policy card , he can then initiate and complete his turn as he normally would have . disaster cards are put into play only after there has been a discard into the recycling bin . cards that are deposited into the recycling bin are shuffled with the disaster cards that are stored there and then placed face down in the pick up pile once the cards in the pick up pile have been depleted . using fig3 as an example , the player who is unfortunate enough to take the &# 34 ; hurricane &# 34 ; card from the pick up pile had better have a homeowner &# 39 ; s insurance three - value card . if the player has a homeowner &# 39 ; s insurance three - value card , then that player will only have to miss two turns to wait for his claim to be processed . if the player does not possess a homeowner &# 39 ; s insurance three - value card , then that player must distribute all of the cards that are in the player &# 39 ; s accumulated asset pile , wait three turns , and then take all of the cards that are in the 501 ( c )( 3 ) pile . an encounter with such a disaster card may force a player from the game if , when it is time for that player to take &# 34 ; all the cards &# 34 ; from the 501 ( c )( 3 ) pile , there are no cards to be had . a lot can happen from the time a disaster card forces a player to surrender all of his cards , and when that player is entitled to take from the 501 ( c )( 3 ) pile . for example , other players may have to rely on the 501 ( c )( 3 ) pile leaving no cards at all . conversely , a player might look into the 501 ( c )( 3 ) pile after being hit with a disaster cards and see no cards at all . in such a situation , it is within the power of the other players to either keep that unlucky player in the game by depositing cards into the otherwise empty 501 ( c )( 3 ), or to deliberately eliminate this player from the game by leaving the 501 ( c )( 3 ) pile empty . play continues until the cards in the pick up pile are depleted 32 . when there are no more cards to be distributed , the players count the value points of all the cards in their accumulated asset pile 34 . the player with the most points wins .
a collectable card game that represents the unwitten rules of politics , economic and popular culture is disclosed . the game is designed for play by three to six players . larger groups are accommodated by additional decks of cards . to play the game , each player must adopt fictitious roles based on predetermined demographic characteristics . in the preferred embodiment , these roles are based on a generational affiliation and a place of residence . the accumulation of card points is dependent upon these generational and residential choices . the game has a card holder and a deck of playing cards . the card holder is designed to hold four different piles of cards : the pick up pile , the recycling bin , the litgation fund , and the 501 pile for replacement cards . six cards are dealt to each player to begin the game . each player is required to hold six cards in hand at all times . to accumulate points , each player collects three - value cards in his or her accumulated asset pile located directly in front of him . the game continues until all of the cards have been picked up form the pick up pile . the winner is the player with the most points relevant to his particular demographic category in his or her accumulated asset pile when the last card has been taken from the pick - up pile .