Cerebria: The Card Game

About this board game

Cerebria: the Card Game is a turn-based card game for 2–5 players that takes about 30 minutes to play. Players shape their Mindsets by filling them with Bliss and Gloom Emotions while responding to a dynamically changing pool of cards called the Impulse.

During the game, players invoke Emotions into their Mindsets to gain Identity Fragments. These Fragments represent progress toward fully developing an Identity, but they also fuel the effects of Emotion abilities. Choosing whether to keep Fragments as victory points or spend them for greater efficiency is central to each player’s strategy.

Emotion abilities can affect other Mindsets, players’ hands, and the Impulse. Their effects can also be cancelled by discarding Emotions of the matching type, creating opportunities to disrupt plans and respond to changing circumstances.

Whenever the Impulse is emptied of Emotions, each player’s Mindset is scored. This grants Bliss or Gloom Identity Fragments according to the developing personality. The game ends when a player achieves one of two Identity goals: a fully single-minded personality with eight or more Fragments of one type, or a balanced personality with at least five Fragments of both types.

• Players: 2–5
• Play time: 30 minutes
• Components: 96 Emotion cards, 80 Identity Fragments, 5 player aid cards, and a Mood Marker

With its focus on timing, interaction, and the tension between scoring and spending, Cerebria: the Card Game turns the landscape of the mind into a constantly shifting contest for identity.