W Wits All Decks Print the Cards

Wits: Empire

A bluffing card game for you and two computer opponents. Every card carries a fact from one camp (a side in the period's argument) on one issue. On your turn, play a card and declare its camp out loud. First to empty a five-card hand wins.

The card never says which camp it belongs to. You work it out: is this the camp, or is this the issue? Anyone can challenge a declaration. Stuck with a card you cannot place? Play it anyway and name a camp — roughly seven bluffs in ten go unchallenged.

Which deck?

Choose your table

Pace

You at the table

📱 Turn your phone upright The table needs the height.
In play
—
You 0 0 in the deck

How a turn works

One question a card

Is it the camp, or is it the issue? Every card is one camp and one issue, and the card never tells you which. You work it out.

Your turn — do one of these four

1. Match the camp. Play a card of the same camp as the one in play, and name it.

2. Outwit. A different camp, but the same issue. Say both, and the camp becomes yours.

3. Bluff it. Play any card at all and name a camp anyway. About seven bluffs in ten go unchallenged.

4. Draw one. Play it if it fits, otherwise your turn ends. One card, no more.

Playing a card

Tap it, or drag it up onto the table. Let go over your hand to put it back.

Challenge — anyone, any time

Think somebody named the wrong camp, or called an Outwit that does not match? Call it. They lied, the card goes back and they draw 2. They told the truth, you draw 2 instead. An action card names no camp of its own, so there is nothing on it to challenge.

The action cards

Wild Wit — play on anything, name the camp that comes next. It buries the issue with it, so the next player matches the camp or draws.

Witless — the next player loses their turn.

Outwit — the next player must Outwit on the issue or draw 2. No action card saves them.

Going out

Down to one card? Say "Wit!" before the next player moves. Caught silent, draw 2. First player out of cards wins, and you cannot go out on a Wild Wit.

Image credits

The table sheet

What happened

Declare its camp