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eleusis
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What is Eleusis?
Eleusis is a card game created by Robert Abbott. Martin Gardner first wrote about it in his "Mathematical Games" column in Scientific American in July 1959. A more refined version appeared in 1967 in Abbottâs New Card Games, with an extension published privately in 1977.
Eleusis is similar to crazy eights, where players discard cards that match the previous card. However, in Eleusis, the dealer makes up a secret matching rule. The other players try to figure out the rule by playing cards and seeing if the dealer allows it, which means it matches, or forbids it, meaning it doesn't match. Players can try to play a bunch of cards if they think they know the rule.
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Which type of playing cards are used in Eleusis?
Eleusis is a card game where players try to discover a secret rule invented by the dealer (also known as the prophet) by playing cards to a mainline. The standard deck of 52 playing cards, divided into four suitsâspades, clubs, hearts, and diamondsâis used in the game. Each suit contains 13 ranks, making each card uniquely identifiable by suit and rank.
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How do players take turns in Eleusis?
In Eleusis, players take turns attempting to play a card to the mainline, a horizontal line of valid plays. The dealer, or prophet, has invented a secret rule of matching that the other players must discover.
On their turn, a player observes the previous card(s) played and attempts to play a card that they believe matches according to the secret rule. The dealer then either allows the card to be played to the mainline, admitting that it matches, or forbids it, in which case it is played to a sideline of nonacceptable cards.
A player who is confident they have discovered the rule may attempt to play a string of cards that follow the rule. Also, a player who thinks they know the rule can take over the dealer's function, but will be expelled if they make a mistake.
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What is the main goal of Eleusis?
The card game Eleusis, invented by Robert Abbott, resembles the game of crazy eights, but with a twist. In Eleusis, players try to discard cards by matching them in a specified way to the previous cards played. However, unlike crazy eights, where the matching rules are known in advance, in Eleusis, the dealer, or prophet, invents a secret rule of matching.
The goal of the other players is to discover this rule. They attempt to play cards to the mainline and observe whether the dealer allows it, indicating that it matches the previous card according to the secret rule, or forbids it, in which case it must be played to a sideline of nonacceptable cards. The game mimics the process of scientific discovery by induction, as players formulate hypotheses and test them by observing which cards do and do not follow the rule.
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How does the 'dealer' or 'god' role work in Eleusis?
In the card game Eleusis, the dealer, also called the prophet, creates a secret rule that determines how cards can be played in sequence. The other players try to figure out the rule. They play cards to form a line, and the dealer either accepts the card, adding it to the main line, or rejects it, placing it on a sideline.
A player who believes they know the rule can take over as dealer and advise others on play. However, if they make a mistake, they are removed from the dealer role and become a regular player again.
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How does Eleusis teach about logic and pattern recognition?
The card game Eleusis teaches logic and pattern recognition by simulating scientific discovery through induction rather than deduction. Players must discover a secret rule determined by the dealer (or prophet) by observing which cards are accepted or rejected when played to a mainline. Players formulate hypotheses about the rule, test them by playing cards, and adjust their hypotheses based on the dealerâs responses. A player can take over the dealer's role if they are confident they know the rule, advising others on playability, but risk expulsion for mistakes. The scoring system encourages the dealer to create rules that are neither too easy nor too difficult to discover.
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eleusis, card game invented by Robert Abbott and first described in Martin Gardnerâs âMathematical Gamesâ column in Scientific American (July 1959). A more-refined version appeared in Abbottâs New Card Games (1967), with a further extension privately published in 1977.
Formally, eleusis resembles a game of the crazy eights family in that players try to get rid of their cards by playing to the layout a card that in some specified way matches the previous card or cards played. The difference, however, is immense. In crazy eights the rule or rules by which one card follows another are known in advanceâtypically, the next card played must match the previous one by rank or suit. In eleusis the dealer, sometimes known as the prophet, starts by inventing a secret rule of matching. The other players then seek to discover this rule by attempting at each turn to play a card to the âmainlineâ (typically a horizontal line of valid plays) and observing whether the dealer either allows it, thereby admitting that it matches the previous card according to the secret rule, or forbids it, in which case it must be played to a âsidelineâ of nonacceptable cards running at right angles to the mainline. A player confident of having discovered the rule may seek to play a string of cards of which the first properly matches the previous card played and the others follow accordingly.
The game is of philosophical interest in that it mimics the process of scientific discovery by induction rather than deduction. That is, in order to win, the players seek to discover the rule by observing which cards do and do not follow it in particular instances, formulating hypotheses as to what it may be, attempting further cards that test the current hypothesis, and modifying it accordingly. The scoring system is cleverly designed to encourage the dealer to invent a rule that is neither too easy nor too hard to discover. On average, it should give a randomly played card at least a one-in-five chance of being acceptable. For example:
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- 1. If the last card was odd, play a black card; if even, play a red card.
- 2. If the last two cards match in colour, play a high number; otherwise, play a low number.
- 3. If the last card attempted by the previous player was accepted, play a red card; if not, play black.
- 4. Each card must be higher than the last mainline card until a face card is reached, which must then be followed by a numeral card.
Each player in turn becomes the dealer, but within any given deal it is possible for a player who thinks he has discovered the rule to take over the functions of the dealer and advise other players as to whether they can play. Upon making a mistake, however, he is expelled and becomes an ordinary player again.
There comes a point in the play at which everyone is assumed to have had long enough to discover the rule, and anyone who thereafter contravenes it is expelled from the current deal.