Soulstrip Poker

Last summer a friend and I were doing research in Chile. There were a bunch of other interns and none of us knew each other very well. To facilitate socialization we invented a game called 'Soulstrip Poker'. It's a lot like regular poker, except instead of gambling with money you gamble with secrets. 'Truth or dare' for manly men.

The first game went pretty well, with people asking small superficial questions ('What's your favorite type of music?'). The second game was much nastier, with people drilling into each other's insecurities and character flaws. After the third game we unanimously agreed to never play it again and then called an ambulance. I don't know why I'm putting the rules online. But I am. This is the third and final draft. 'Enjoy.'

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YOU NEED

1 Deck of Cards
Coins: chips, in values of 1, 3, 5
Paper

SETUP

Everybody takes a piece of paper and writes everyone's names. This is their mat. Agree on how many points everybody starts with. Distribute that many points evenly among all of the names. Make a final piece of paper and put it in the center.

RULES

Play like normal poker. Choose poker rules.

All chips are 'tagged' with the person who owns them. When put into the pot, take them from one section of the paper and put them on the appropriate names. If you win the pot, put each set of chips over the appropriate name.

Example: A, B, and C are playing. A raises with two points. He puts one B chip and one A chip onto the appropriate places. B folds and C calls with two C chips. C wins, moving the C chips onto the C section (eww), the B chip onto the B section, etc.

After rounds everybody has a chance to ask one question. They take the appropriate chips from another person's section and give it back to them. Then they ask the appropriate person a question. The question must be answered truthfully. What kind of question you can ask depends on how many you spend.

1 point: a question that can be answered in yes/no
2 points: a question that can be answered in one word
4 points: a question that can be answered in a sentence
8 points: no limit

If the player has a number of your point equal to the number you spent on him, he can "pass" by giving them to you. You lose your question but do not lose the coins. Nobody else may ask him that question, or any question designed to draw similar info for the rest of the game. You may bump a question to a higher category to make it harder to pass, but may not go beyond 8 points.

Players may trade points with each other at any point. Players may ask questions about other people, but the target may pass for free.

A player may "bow out". Everybody gets an opportunity to ask as many questions as they can with their coins. After that they are out of the game. A player may also force quit, but then they're a wuss.

Play ends when everybody mutually agrees, everybody bows out or quits, or a fight breaks out.