Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Low interaction
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
Musical Chairs is a whimsical card game that simulates a game of musical chairs but with cards instead of music. Each round, players start with a hand of eight cards to play.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Read the full game description
Musical Chairs is a whimsical card game that simulates a game of musical chairs but with cards instead of music. Each round, players start with a hand of eight cards to play. The starting player must play their lowest card to begin the round. Cards are played in ascending order until the current player does not have a legal move or chooses to not play one of the optional actions. In either case, the music now stops, and everyone has to take a seat. After every played card, players move their pawn around a circular board. Choosing where to stop is critical because the color of the chair you end up on determines which cards you score — both from your hand and from the cards already played. If two or more players end the round on the same chair, a "butt battle" must take place, with players having the option to play cards from their hands in order to claim the chair. Players can also claim special cards and special power tokens during the game.