The game of prophecies It is based on an apparently simple concept. The prophecies They are not just forecasts, sometimes they are ways for influence the future. For example, let’s imagine a prominent character who publicly declares that he predicts that the price of a certain good is about to go up to the stars: probably many people will hurry to buy the good in question and because of this increase in demands, according to the most classic market laws, the price of the property will rise. In short, the declaration of price growth is exactly what made him come true!
The game of prophecies, invented by the game designer Andrew Juell, is a game in which Two players they challenge each other numerical prophecies Trying each one to make their prophecies feel at the expense of those of the opponent: let’s see how to play and what the origins of the game are.
The origins of the game of prophecies
The game of prophecies is based on an important concept: say that an event is about to happen automatically changes the chances that this event will happen. And this is how the game is structured: the two players, in turn, try to predict what will happen, but at the same time they are influencing it! Clearly, in the end he wins the one who will have been right in his prophecies. Before seeing how it is structured, it is curious to know theHistory of its ideation.
This game was invented in 2011 in response to a challenge, the Thousand Year Game Design Challengewhich was giving away 1000 $ for those who had invented a game that had the potential to resist the passage of time and still be played after a thousand years, in 3011! Andrew Jeull presented this game with the name Close Doesn’T Countwho did not win the prize, but who in 2025 continues to be played (perhaps with different names), who knows that he does not survive until 3011 winning the challenge in fact?
How to play the game of prophecies
To play you need a sheet of paper e Two pens of different colorsone for each player. To begin with, the playing field is drawn, one Table 4 × 5 with 20 boxes that the two players fill in turn, with Numbers chosen from 1 to 5 or with some X following precise rules and taking into account that
The purpose of the game is guess Exactly how many numbers will be in each line and in every column at the end of the game.
In this game Each number is a prophecy: if I write 3 in the first box of the first line (as in the figure below) I am predicting that, at the end of the game, it is the first line and the first column will contain exactly 3 numbers.
Let’s see what the rules say in detail and then we comment on them by illustrating them with images.
- in turn it is filled a box empty with a number from 1 to 5 or with a X
- A number cannot appear twice in the same line or column itself.
- It is played until you have filled All the boxes
- Proceed to points count: Everything is fine prophecy that comes true guarantees a number of points corresponding to the number indicated by the prophecy
- The player with multiple points wins.
During a game the prophecies follow one another, turn after turn, and it is to avoid duplication that a number It cannot appear twice in the same line or column itselfa bit like in Sudoku! On the other hand, if a player wants, during his turn, he can give up expressing a prophecy: instead of a number he can put an X in a box, thus reducing the amount of numbers that the line and column concerned can contain, still influencing the future of the game!
When, at the end of the game, all the boxes are full, it occurs which prophecies have come true. In this regard, it is good to remember that each prophecy refers at the same time to one line and to one column, But they are in fact two different prophecies. It may therefore happen that a prophecy come true for the column concerned, but not for the line concerned, as in the figure below, in which the provision of the 3 numbers came true for the column but not for the row.
In other cases, a prophecy may be completely wrong, as in the figure under which the presence of 2 numbers was erroneously expected both in the first line and in the middle column.
It can happen, in the best of cases, that a prophecy is double valga obtaining points for both the row and the occupied column (see figure below).
For the counting of the points it is advisable to proceed by analyzing first all the prophecies of one player and then all the prophecies of the other, so as not to lose the account.
In our example, the blue player totaled 16 points while the red player has scored 18 points, so he is the winner.
The red player was better a predict the futurebut also to influence it, For example, when he put the number 5 in the first line he increased the chances that in the end there were actually 5 numbers in that line. The fact is that in this game, as in some real situations, say that an event is about to happen automatically changes the chances that this event will happen actually.
At this point you are ready to play, and when you feel quite safe you can try variants, perhaps by changing the size of the table, or the number of players, but be careful, this game can depend on!
