High Society
1995
Compete for wealth-building cards while managing your cash and avoiding negative effects that can ruin your chances.
30
minutes
3 - 5
player(s)
10+
Light
About this board game
High Society is a bidding game for 3–5 players that takes about 30 minutes to play. First released in 1995, it challenges players to acquire the trappings of wealth while carefully protecting their remaining cash.
Players bid against one another for cards that can improve their position. The available cards include positive-number cards and multiplier cards, offering valuable additions that may help build a winning total.
However, wealth comes with risks. Alongside the desirable cards are negative-number cards and divisor cards, which represent the pitfalls of high society. Choosing when to compete—and when to avoid a costly card—is central to the experience.
- Positive-number cards: Potentially increase the value of a player’s collection.
- Multiplier cards: Add another way for acquired wealth to contribute toward victory.
- Negative-number and divisor cards: Introduce unwelcome effects that players must try to avoid.
- Limited cash: Remaining money matters throughout the bidding and at the game’s conclusion.
Every bid must be weighed against the cash still in hand. A player may gather several cards that appear to point toward victory, but spending too freely can create a serious problem at the end of the game.
When the game ends, the player with the least money is not considered for victory, even if their positive-number cards add up to an impressive result. This makes cash management just as important as competing for valuable cards.
With its blend of competitive bidding, tempting rewards, and dangerous pitfalls, High Society creates a concise contest in which apparent wealth is never the only thing that matters.
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Board Game Rules for
High Society
A GAME BY REINER KNIZIA
Illustrated by MEDUSA DOLLMAKER
You are the cultural elite, the quintessential bon vivants, the true icons of the age. The competition is fierce amidst highborn and nouveau riche to assert your status and earn prestige in the eyes of your peers. Adorn yourself with splendid jewellery and high fashion, enjoy fine cuisine and fizzing champagne, and waste away money in casinos and at the races. Show off your exquisite palette and excellent tastes, but don’t be caught penniless or be cast out as an impostor!
Fashion is fickle but style is forever. Show them what it really means to be a member of High Society.
Players are socialites trying to live as lavishly and frivolously as possible, outbidding each other to prove they are living life to the fullest.
At the end of the game, the poorest player (or players) will be cast out of the group. The remaining player who has managed to become the most fashionable, by collecting the highest value status cards, will earn the envy of all and win the game.
16 Status Cards
- 10 luxury cards: numbered 1 to 10, and increase your status.
- 3 prestige cards: multiply your status, and count down to the end of the game.
- 3 disgrace cards: decrease your status in different ways.
5 Sets of 11 Money Cards
- Give each player a set of eleven money cards of the same colour to keep secret in their hand.
- Shuffle the status cards and place them as a face-down deck in the middle of the table.
- The player who shuffled the deck starts the game.
Auction Rounds
At the start of each round, flip the top card of the status deck face-up – this card will now go to the highest bidder. The starting player must either bid or pass.
Bidding
To bid, you must play one or more money cards face-up in front of you and announce the total of all your face-up money cards. If you have already bid this round, you can only increase your bid by adding new cards to the ones already on the table – you cannot pick up cards you have already played. You can only bid if your new total is higher than the previous bid made this round.
Passing
If you don’t want to bid, you may pass instead. If you have already bid this round, return all of your face-up money cards to your hand. You may no longer bid this round.
When a player has either bid or passed, the turn moves to the player to their left. The last remaining player after everyone else has passed wins the auction! It’s possible (but rare) that everyone will pass without making a bid, in which case the last remaining player gets the card for free. Place the contested status card face-up in front of the winner. Discard all of the money cards on the table face-down. The winner of the auction becomes the starting player for the new round, and reveals the next status card from the deck.
Disgrace!
If the revealed status card is a disgrace card, the auction works slightly differently. This time you are bidding to avoid taking the card, and the round will end as soon as any one player passes. That player picks up their money cards as usual, but must take the disgrace card and place it in front of them. All other players must discard their money cards on the table face-down. The passing player starts the next round.
If a player takes the Faux Pas card, they must immediately discard one of the luxury cards in front of them (their choice). If they currently have no luxury cards in front of them, they must discard the next luxury card they receive. Once a luxury card has been discarded, discard the Faux Pas card. Note that only cards with a value between 1 and 10 are luxury cards. Discarded status cards are returned to the box.
- The Passé card reduces a player’s status by 5.
- The Scandale card halves the player’s status at the end of the game.
Game End
Four cards in the status deck have a dark green background – the three prestige cards, and the Scandale card. As soon as the fourth one is revealed, the game ends immediately, with no bidding for the revealed card.
Cast Out!
All players reveal their hands and announce the total of their remaining money cards. The player or players with the least remaining money are cast out, and cannot win!
Scoring
Each luxury card awards status equal to its value. Each prestige card doubles the owning player’s status, while the disgrace cards decrease the status. The player with the highest status that hasn’t been cast out wins.
If there is a tie, the player with the most money left wins. If there is still a tie, the player with the single most valuable luxury card wins.
Clarifications
- The status cards a player has accumulated are always visible face-up in front of them. The money cards they have spent are always hidden face-down.
- If you have two prestige cards, multiply your status by four. If you have all three, multiply your status by eight.
Scoring Example
Rahul has the following status cards in front of him:
He first adds up his luxury cards for a total of 12. He then has to lose 5 due to being caught Passé, for a total of 7. Rahul then gets to double his status twice because of his prestige cards, for a total of 28! Finally, the Scandale card halves his status, leaving Rahul with a total of 14.
First published in Great Britain in 2018 by Osprey Games,
an imprint of Osprey Publishing Ltd
c/o Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
PO Box 883, Oxford, OX1 9PL, UK
Or
c/o Bloomsbury Publishing Inc.
1385 Broadway, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10018
Osprey Publishing, part of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
OSPREY and OSPREY GAMES are trademarks of Osprey Publishing, a division of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
© Dr. Reiner Knizia, 2018. All rights reserved.
This edition © 2018 Osprey Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.
www.ospreygames.co.uk
For more information or replacement parts, email: [email protected]
Osprey Publishing supports the Woodland Trust, the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. Between 2014 and 2018 our donations are being spent on their Centenary Woods project in the UK.
Introduction
A GAME BY REINER KNIZIA
Illustrated by MEDUSA DOLLMAKER
You are the cultural elite, the quintessential bon vivants, the true icons of the age. The competition is fierce amidst highborn and nouveau riche to assert your status and earn prestige in the eyes of your peers. Adorn yourself with splendid jewellery and high fashion, enjoy fine cuisine and fizzing champagne, and waste away money in casinos and at the races. Show off your exquisite palette and excellent tastes, but don’t be caught penniless or be cast out as an impostor!
Fashion is fickle but style is forever. Show them what it really means to be a member of High Society.
Players are socialites trying to live as lavishly and frivolously as possible, outbidding each other to prove they are living life to the fullest.
At the end of the game, the poorest player (or players) will be cast out of the group. The remaining player who has managed to become the most fashionable, by collecting the highest value status cards, will earn the envy of all and win the game.
Components
16 Status Cards
- 10 luxury cards: numbered 1 to 10, and increase your status.
- 3 prestige cards: multiply your status, and count down to the end of the game.
- 3 disgrace cards: decrease your status in different ways.
5 Sets of 11 Money Cards
Setup
- Give each player a set of eleven money cards of the same colour to keep secret in their hand.
- Shuffle the status cards and place them as a face-down deck in the middle of the table.
- The player who shuffled the deck starts the game.
How to Play
Auction Rounds
At the start of each round, flip the top card of the status deck face-up – this card will now go to the highest bidder. The starting player must either bid or pass.
Bidding
To bid, you must play one or more money cards face-up in front of you and announce the total of all your face-up money cards. If you have already bid this round, you can only increase your bid by adding new cards to the ones already on the table – you cannot pick up cards you have already played. You can only bid if your new total is higher than the previous bid made this round.
Passing
If you don’t want to bid, you may pass instead. If you have already bid this round, return all of your face-up money cards to your hand. You may no longer bid this round.
When a player has either bid or passed, the turn moves to the player to their left. The last remaining player after everyone else has passed wins the auction! It’s possible (but rare) that everyone will pass without making a bid, in which case the last remaining player gets the card for free. Place the contested status card face-up in front of the winner. Discard all of the money cards on the table face-down. The winner of the auction becomes the starting player for the new round, and reveals the next status card from the deck.
Disgrace!
If the revealed status card is a disgrace card, the auction works slightly differently. This time you are bidding to avoid taking the card, and the round will end as soon as any one player passes. That player picks up their money cards as usual, but must take the disgrace card and place it in front of them. All other players must discard their money cards on the table face-down. The passing player starts the next round.
If a player takes the Faux Pas card, they must immediately discard one of the luxury cards in front of them (their choice). If they currently have no luxury cards in front of them, they must discard the next luxury card they receive. Once a luxury card has been discarded, discard the Faux Pas card. Note that only cards with a value between 1 and 10 are luxury cards. Discarded status cards are returned to the box.
- The Passé card reduces a player’s status by 5.
- The Scandale card halves the player’s status at the end of the game.
End of Game & Scoring
Game End
Four cards in the status deck have a dark green background – the three prestige cards, and the Scandale card. As soon as the fourth one is revealed, the game ends immediately, with no bidding for the revealed card.
Cast Out!
All players reveal their hands and announce the total of their remaining money cards. The player or players with the least remaining money are cast out, and cannot win!
Scoring
Each luxury card awards status equal to its value. Each prestige card doubles the owning player’s status, while the disgrace cards decrease the status. The player with the highest status that hasn’t been cast out wins.
If there is a tie, the player with the most money left wins. If there is still a tie, the player with the single most valuable luxury card wins.
Clarifications
- The status cards a player has accumulated are always visible face-up in front of them. The money cards they have spent are always hidden face-down.
- If you have two prestige cards, multiply your status by four. If you have all three, multiply your status by eight.
Scoring Example
Rahul has the following status cards in front of him:
He first adds up his luxury cards for a total of 12. He then has to lose 5 due to being caught Passé, for a total of 7. Rahul then gets to double his status twice because of his prestige cards, for a total of 28! Finally, the Scandale card halves his status, leaving Rahul with a total of 14.
Credits
First published in Great Britain in 2018 by Osprey Games,
an imprint of Osprey Publishing Ltd
c/o Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
PO Box 883, Oxford, OX1 9PL, UK
Or
c/o Bloomsbury Publishing Inc.
1385 Broadway, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10018
Osprey Publishing, part of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
OSPREY and OSPREY GAMES are trademarks of Osprey Publishing, a division of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
© Dr. Reiner Knizia, 2018. All rights reserved.
This edition © 2018 Osprey Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.
www.ospreygames.co.uk
For more information or replacement parts, email: [email protected]
Osprey Publishing supports the Woodland Trust, the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. Between 2014 and 2018 our donations are being spent on their Centenary Woods project in the UK.
