OBJECT OF THE GAME
In each hand of Corporate Shuffle, the object is to get rid of your cards as soon as you can. After all, the person left holding the cards is always responsible, and responsibility equals blame. The faster you get rid of your cards, the more often you'll avoid blame, and the higher you'll climb up the corporate ladder.

SUMMARY OF PLAY
The entire deck is dealt out and players play their cards in turn. Players' positions on the corporate ladder are determined by how quickly the players can empty their hands. When all players have emptied their hands, everyone changes places to his or her new position on the corporate ladder, the deck is reshuffled and dealt, and play starts again.

THE DECK
The lower the number on a card, the better the card. For example, a Human Resources card (5) is better than an Accounting card (6). The number also tells you how many copies of that card are in the deck; for example, there are five Human Resources cards and six Accounting cards in the entire deck. Two wild Dogbert cards (look for Dogbert and a big "W!") take whatever value between 1 and 10 the person playing the Dogbert card chooses.

Specials: Three cards have a large "S!" above their number ("Ratbert", "Twirling Wedgie", and "Dogbert, World Ruler"). Just like regular cards, these "specials" have a value equal to the number indicated on the card. However, each special also has a unique ability that is explained on the card.

Example: Twitling Wedgie (6) reads: "When you play this card, choose a player. That player must pass for the rest of the trick. Ouch."

Specials do not have a large "W!" on them, so they are not wild (but they are special, so you should treat them that way. We'd recommend flowers, but they cost money. Try meaningless compliments instead).

SETUP
Shuffle the deck and let each player draw and reveal a card. Players arrange their seating to reflect which cards they drew: the person with the best card (the card with the lowest number) is called the Big Boss and takes the seat of his or her choice. At this point, if you're the Big Boss, you should establish your authority by muttering words like "Must maximize resource utilization!" and "I've got the biggest paradigm!" The person who drew the second-best card sits to the Big Boss's left and is called the Little Boss. If you're the Little Boss, you should make certain to agree with any inane phrase that the Big Boss utters. This process continues around the playing area. The loser of the draw (the person who drew the card with the highest number) is the Junior Intern. The Junior Intern is in the game so everyone else can gloat that no matter how low they are at least they're not the Junior Intern. The person to the Junio Inter's right is the Senior Intern. All other players are Workers. Remember, the lower the number, the better the card. Break ties by drawing additional cards nad redraw any Dogbert wild cards. Finally, return the cards to the deck once you determine the initial corporate hierarchy. You didn't think the company would really let you keep anything they gave you, did you?

PLAYING THE GAME

The Deal: The Junior Intern is responsible for shuffling, dealing, and collecting the cards. He or she shuffles the cards and deals them to all players, starting with the Big Boss. Cards are dealt one at a time, clockwise around the playing asrea, until the deck is exhausted. Some players may get more cards than others. Players collect and organize their cards.

Corporate Takeover: If you are dealt both Dogbert wild cards, at the beginning of the hand you may declare a corporate takeover. You now become the Big Boss, the player to your left becomes the Little Boss, and so on. You may now take advantage of your new position (and your employees) and collect your executive bonus.

Executive Bonuses: At the beginning of each hand, the Big Boss passes any two of his or her cards to the Junior Intern and in exchange gets the Junior Intern's best two cards. Dogbert wild cards are considered as the very best cards; otherwise, the lower the number the better the card. At the same time, the Little Boss passes the Senior Intern any one of his or her cards and receives in exchange the Senior Intern's best card.

The Play
Each trick starts when the player who has the lead plays a set of one or more cards with the same number (face up). The Big Boss takes the lead in the first trick. Play proceeds clockwise. For the rest of that trick, players can only play a set of the same number cards with a numerical value lower than the most recent set played. (Remember, the lower the number on the card, the better the card.) Play continues clockwise until all players have decided to pass. (Note: You can choose to pass and then play a card if play comes back around to you again and you have the appropriate card.)

Example: You lead with three Sales cards (8). The player to your left may play three of any number lower than 8 (three 7s, three 6s, and so on). So, we'll say he or she plays three Accounting cards (5) and mocks your pathetic attempt of corporate domination. Now, the next player can only play three 4s or better or pass. Remember, you led with three cards, the other players have to play three-of-a-kinds for the rest of that trick. If no one plays on the set of 5s, the person who played the set of 5s win the trick.

When all players have passed, the trick has ended and the Junior Intern collects the played cards. The player who made the last play then gets to lead for the next trick.

Going Out
When you have played your last card you are said to have gone out. (Going out occurs the second you play your last card. It doesn't matter who wins the trick. All that matters is you're not to blame.) The first player who goes out wins the hand and becomes the Big Boss in the next hand. This is generally considered a cue for that player's IQ to suddenly plummet and for his or her eyes to glaze over in the patented Management Zombie Stare. (Actually we haven't patented this, but if you send us 20 or 30k and do all the work we'll think about patenting it for you.) The second person to go out becomes the Little Boss and sits to the left of the Big Boss, and so one around the playing area.

After a player goes out, play continues clockwise as usual. If no one plays a better set, then the lead passes clockwise to the next player who still holds cards.

Winners and Losers
Each hand of Corporate Shuffle is played for its own sake: becoming the Big Boss is winning and becoming the Junior Intern is losing, and all the other plasyers are somewhere in between. Corporate Shuffle, like corporate life, isn't fair, and it is often very difficult to hold your position, let alone claw your way up the corporate ladder, We'd advocate cheating, but that would be wrong. Of course "wrong" is a relative term, and we always get that ethical/nonethical distinction wrong anyway. But the other players will probably beat you up, and your company undoubtedly won't pay the bills.

Joining a Game in Progress
The Interns should not deprive of the joy of working their way up the corporate ladder. Thus a player wishing to join a game enters at the beginning of any hand as a Worker, halfway between the Big Biss and the Junior Intern. If there is a choice of positions, the Big Boss decides which will be taken by the newcomer.

Strategy Tips
You should try and save your best cards to win a trick, and lead with the junk your boss undoubtedly gave you. Otherwise, you'll end up staring at a few bad cards and a new job title -- Junior Intern. Just like in the corporate world, in Corporate Shuffle you won't get very far by just playing any card you can whenever you can. Breaking up a set might let you play a card early, but then you won't be able to take as much advantage of your fellow players later on. Don't be afraid to pass in order to keep a set together. When passing cards during executive bonuses, you may want to give the Intern a slightly better card in order to keep a set together. If you can figure out how often you need the lead to go out (and avoid blame), you might have a chance at an executive washroom of your own. And remember, if you're the Big Boss, people will fear you. Use their fear. Make them think you are an omnipotent and they'll become certain your hand contains nothing worse than a 1.