Brook (Pronounced Ba-roo-k)

Brook is a card game that was invented in MIT's Maseeh Hall. It can be played with as few as 3 people, but ideally is played with 5-10.

Shuffling the deck is always important to maintain the integrity of the game. Make sure you do it before you start.

If anyone you are playing with is named Brook (not Brooke but Brook), they automatically start the game. If not, every player draws a card, and the player with the highest card goes first. If two players have the same high card, they pick another card, and the higher of those goes first. Shuffle these cards back into the deck.

After the deck has been shuffled, every player should take a card from the top of the deck and put it somewhere that all of the players can see it except for themselves. It is important that the player cannot see their card but everyone else can.

Every player gets to ask two questions to try and figure out what card they have. Starting with the player who is going first and going clockwise, every player asks a question (Players to do not ask questions consecutively, but rather ask one, wait for every other player to ask, and then ask their second question) about their card relative to one (and only one) other player's card. The most common questions to ask are:

• Is my card the same color as [name]'s?
• Is my card the same suit as [name]'s?
• Is my card greater than (or equal to) [name]'s?
• Is my card less than (or equal to) [name]'s?
• Is my card the same divisibility by two as [name]'s?

Aces are considered low cards, and for cases of divisibility, Kings and Jacks are considered odd while Queens are considered even.

After every player has asked two questions, everyone (starting with the player who went first) tries to guess what card they have based on the information they received from their questions, as well as what other cards they can see (previous winners, current cards in play). Players who guess their card correctly keep it face up on the playing table. Cards that are not guessed correctly are shuffled back into the deck for the next round.

After the deck has been reshuffled, players repeat Steps 3-5 until the winning criteria has been met (see Step 7). To determine who goes first in the next round, follow the following procedure:

1. If you have a player named Brook (not Brooke), and they won, they automatically go first.
2. If only one player won, they go first.
3. If multiple players won and a player named Brook did not win, the player closest to Brook goes first. In the event these two players are equidistant from Brook, whoever had the higher winning card goes first.
4. If multiple players win and there is no player names Brook, the player with the highest winning card goes first.
5. If multiple winning players had the same high winning card, they draw a card from the deck, and the higher of these goes first.
6. If no player won and you have a player named Brook, they go first.
7. If no player won and you have no player named Brook, follow the procedure from Step 2.

The first player to get four cards (guess four cards correctly) wins the game. In the event of two players or more reaching the four card plateau in the same round, overtime rules come into play.

Every player plays in overtime, regardless of how many cards they won during the original game. Additionally, all cards, including those won during the original game, are shuffled back into the deck. Step 2 is followed to determine who goes first, and a regular round of the game is played. At the end of this round, any player that wins a card continues playing. If no one wins, everyone continues playing. Overtime is continued until only one player wins a round, at which point they are declared the winner.

NOTE: If a round of the game is played with only two people, a third person must be present to answer questions that are asked.