Panique Aux Archives

Carelessness in the administration of the C.I.B. (Central Office of Patents): the archives are far from being up to date. Alas, a general inspection has been announced. An all-out panic among the archivists is necessary to get their records current! This task is not easy to perform in a hurry because the system of classification mixes different types of numbering! Players play the role of archivists struggling to clean up their offices and file all of their patent documents (cards) in the Central Archives before the impending General Inspection. Play happens simultaneously and as fast as possible, where players must move, with one hand, cards one at a time from their hand or from the top of a small number of piles in front of them, to the Central Archive, a common play area among all players. In order to properly file away patents in the Central Archives, a "1" patent may be played on the table, but any other patent must be played atop an existing pile whose patent number is one rank lower than the card being played (a "2" must be played on a "1", a "3" must be played on a "2" and so on). The trick is that a patent may have an Arabic numeral, a Roman numeral, or a written-out number (e.g. "6", "VI", or "Six"), which are all treated interchangeably. Once any "10" is filed in the Central Archive, play pauses and an Event card is resolved. The game is over when a player has filed all his patents or when no player can file any more patents.