Welcome to The Committee — the party card game where a gloriously incompetent group of bureaucrats must solve increasingly ridiculous crises. Everyone has a terrible solution. Everyone has a secret agenda. And absolutely nothing will go according to plan.
The ocean is carbonated. Gravity takes Tuesdays off. Handle it.
Release the bees. Rename the problem. Consult a horse. All valid.
Make any solution better — or spectacularly worse — with fine print.
You're not here to help. You're here for gloriously selfish reasons.
Five colour-coded decks. Each one a different kind of trouble.
Play until the Crisis deck runs out — or by agreement after 8+ rounds. Each round is one disastrous committee meeting.
Flip the top card of the Crisis deck and read it aloud. This is today's catastrophe. React accordingly.
Each player secretly picks one Solution card from their hand and places it face-down. You may also pass. Chaos card "New Business" may be played here to add a second solution.
All solutions are flipped face-up simultaneously. Read them aloud.
Players may attach Amendment cards to any revealed solution — including their own. Amendments add mechanical effects: use them offensively to sabotage rivals or defensively to boost yourself. Chaos cards "Procedural Objection" and "Executive Override" may be played here.
The floor is open. Argue for your solution, tear apart others, make deals, break deals, lie about your agenda. Crosstalk encouraged. Chaos cards "Point of Order!", "Emergency Recess," "Filibuster," and "All In Favor?" may be played here.
All players simultaneously point at the solution they want to win. You cannot vote for your own. Votes can stack. You may abstain unless "With Mandatory Attendance" is in play. Chaos cards for vote manipulation may be played here.
Most votes wins: proposer scores +3 pts win bonus, plus +1 pt per vote received. In a tie, per-vote scoring still applies but the +3 win bonus becomes +1 for each tied proposer. Check Amendment effects before finalising. Chaos cards "Casting Vote" and "Second Opinion" may be played here.
All players draw back up to 6 cards from the Action deck. If the deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile to form a new draw pile.
Voting is where deals are made and broken. Here's exactly how it works:
Your solution got the most votes. In a tie, +1 instead of +3.
Every vote your solution receives — win or lose — earns you +1 pt. Applies in ties too.
Applied at end of game. Each agenda rewards a specific pattern of play across all rounds.
Most total points after the Crisis deck is exhausted wins the title of Committee Chair for Life.
Dealt secretly at the start. Revealed simultaneously at the end of the game. Each agenda rewards a specific pattern of play — bonus points applied retroactively across all rounds. Shape every vote around it, but don't get caught.
Each round the winning solution creates a document, policy, committee, or report.
Each round you voted for the winning solution.
Each round you voted for a solution that did NOT win.
Each round a Chaos card was played and visibly altered the outcome.
Each time a Crisis is tabled or deferred without being resolved. Agenda bonuses still apply even when round points are blocked.
Each round the winning solution had at least one Amendment card attached.
Each time any of your solutions receives at least one vote — win or lose. Once per round maximum.
Each round the player to your left's solution did not win.
Promise your vote to someone in exchange for theirs. Then break it at the exact worst moment.
Amend the leading solution with something absurd so it aligns with your agenda instead of theirs.
Don't make it obvious. Vote in ways that seem logical, not agenda-driven.
Sometimes it's better for nobody to score than for your rival to win the round.