You are staring at a bright orange card with the number 35 on it. It’s a disaster. If you take it, you lose thirty-five points, and in this game, points are essentially poison. But there’s a catch: the card is currently sitting in the middle of the table draped in seven red plastic chips. Those chips? They are your lifeblood. They are the only thing keeping you from being forced to take the next high-card catastrophe that rotates your way.
Welcome to the psychological warfare of the No Thanks card game.
Designed by Thorsten Gimmler and originally released in 2004 as Geschenkt! (which roughly translates to "Given!" or "No thanks!"), this game has no business being as good as it is. It’s just a deck of cards numbered 3 to 35 and a handful of chips. That’s it. There are no dragons, no complex tech trees, and no 80-page rulebooks. Yet, it manages to create more tension in twenty minutes than most "epic" board games manage in four hours. Honestly, it’s the kind of game that makes you realize your friends are much more devious than you previously suspected.
The Simple Math of Suffering
The core loop is dead simple. On your turn, you have two choices. You can put one of your hidden chips on the card in the center to say "No thanks," or you can take the card along with all the chips currently sitting on it.
Low scores win.
If you take a 25, you’re down 25 points. But if you have the 24 and the 26 to go with it, only the 24 counts against you. This "run" mechanic is where the game stops being a simple math exercise and starts becoming a high-stakes game of chicken. If I have the 29 and the 31, I desperately need that 30. Everyone else at the table knows I need that 30. They will sit there, stone-faced, passing the 30 around the circle, bleeding me of my chips because they know I can't afford not to take it eventually.
It’s brutal.
The deck is also rigged. Before the game starts, you remove nine cards at random and put them back in the box without looking at them. This is the stroke of genius that keeps the No Thanks card game from being solvable. You might be holding the 17 and the 19, praying for the 18 to appear so your score drops significantly, but the 18 might not even be in the building. It could be sitting in the box, laughing at you. You are gambling on information that literally does not exist.
Why the No Thanks Card Game Ruins Friendships (In a Good Way)
There is a specific kind of silence that happens during a game of No Thanks. It’s the silence of four people realizing that one person has run out of chips. When you have no chips left, you are "locked in." You cannot say no. You have to take whatever card is flipped over.
Watching a friend realize they have to take a 33, then a 32, then a 28 because they managed their "economy" poorly is a dark delight. It’s a lesson in resource management. You start the game with 11 chips (in a 3-5 player game), and once those are gone, you’re at the mercy of the deck.
The Strategy of the "Take"
Most beginners play too defensively. They see a 20 and panic, tossing a chip immediately. Experts look at that 20 and see an opportunity to farm chips. If you know nobody else wants that card, you can let it travel around the table. Each time it passes a player, it gains a chip. By the time it comes back to you, it might have four or five chips on it. Now, taking that 20 feels a lot better because those five chips act as negative points at the end of the game.
Basically, you’re getting paid to take a hit.
But if you wait too long? Someone else might realize the chip value has surpassed the point penalty, and they’ll "snatch" your card just to get the currency. The groan that follows a "snatch" is the signature sound of this game.
Modern Variations and Availability
While the original Amigo version is the classic, the game has seen several reprints by companies like Z-Man Games and Mayfair. The art changes—sometimes it's minimalist, sometimes it has little cartoon "bad luck" illustrations—but the math stays the same. It’s one of the few games that fits in a coat pocket but can be played by your grandmother and your hardcore gaming group with the same level of intensity.
Tactical Nuance: When to Fold
Let's talk about the 3-card run. If you have the 10, 11, and 13, you are in a power position. The 12 is the most valuable card in the world to you. It turns 34 penalty points into just 10.
But here’s the expert play: you don't take the 12 immediately.
If you have a healthy stack of chips, you "pass" on your own card. You force it to go around the table. You are essentially bullying the other players into giving you their chips for a card they know you’re going to take anyway. It’s a flex. It’s also dangerous. If someone else is low on chips, they might take your 12 just to stay alive, even if it hurts their score. They’d rather take a 12-point hit and get three chips than take a 30-point hit later because they were empty-handed.
It’s a game of chicken played with small red circles.
The Mathematics of the Box
The removal of the nine cards is statistically fascinating. In a standard deck of 33 cards (3 through 35), removing nearly 30% of the deck ensures that "perfect runs" are rare. You have to play with the assumption that the "connector" card you need is gone.
If you’re playing the No Thanks card game and you’re waiting for the 7 to connect your 6 and 8, you have to weigh the probability. Is it worth dumping five chips to avoid the 8? Or do you take the 8 and pray? Usually, you take the hit.
The game rewards bravery and punishes hesitation.
How to Actually Win
If you want to stop losing to your cousin every Thanksgiving, stop being afraid of the cards.
- Hoard Chips Early: In the first ten minutes, take a few mid-range cards (the 10s through 15s) if they have three or more chips on them. You need a war chest for the end-game when the 30s start coming out.
- Watch the Chip Counts: You aren't supposed to show how many chips you have. Keep them in your palm or under the table. But pay attention to how many times others pass. If you know the player to your left is out of chips, you can manipulate the board to ensure they get stuck with the high cards.
- The "Free" Card: If you already have the 25 and the 23, the 24 is literally free. It costs you zero points because it just completes the run. Don't take it immediately. Let it collect "rent" (chips) from everyone else first.
Actionable Next Steps for New Players
If you’re looking to add this to your collection, don't overthink the version. Whether it's the newer yellow box or the classic red/orange, the gameplay is identical.
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- Check the chip count: Ensure you’re playing with the right amount of chips for your player count. Too many chips makes the game too easy; too few makes it a bloodbath.
- Remove the nine cards honestly: Don't peek. The mystery is the only thing that keeps the veteran players from counting cards and ruined the fun.
- Play two rounds: The first round is always a learning curve where people are too "nice." By the second round, the spite-passing begins, and that’s when the game truly shines.
The No Thanks card game is a masterclass in "less is more." It proves you don't need a computer or a massive board to create a deep, psychological experience. You just need a way to make people choose between a bad card and a dwindling pile of hope. Honestly, just buy it. It’s cheaper than a pizza and lasts significantly longer.