It's Contagious!

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It's Contagious! is a COVID-19 pandemic inspired climbing card game designed by Tigre Pickett, Lola Pickett and their children. Artwork is by Sarai Sánchez. It is currently on Kickstarter as a project looking to raise US$10,000 via crowdfunding. The goal of the game is to finish with the least amount of cards (which is called your "Viral Load") at game end. It's Contagious! is described as a "strategic card game featuring lighthearted scenes of pandemic life."

Game rules

All cards are shuffled and six cards are dealt to each player. The remaining cards form the draw pile. The last player who was sick (or the last person who lost) goes first by playing one of their cards face up next to the draw pile announcing its value out loud, thus creating the active "Viral Load" pile. The player then draws a card from the draw pile to maintain six cards in their hand.

Play continues clockwise to the next player who has to beat the number value, match it ("Matched Play"), or play a "Power Card" to pass the play to the next player.

If a player is unable to play a card to pass the play to the next player, they must take the active Viral Load and it becomes their Viral Load. The last player to play a card starts the next round by playing a card to begin the next active Viral Load.

Once all draw pile cards are exhausted, play continues until the first player plays the last card in their hand. Any remaining cards in the active Viral Load goes to the next player who would have played next. All other remaining cards in player hands go into their respective Viral Loads.

Each player then counts the total number of cards in their Viral Load. The player with the lowest number of cards is the winner.

Matched Play

Matched Play allows players to play a matching Number Card (no Power Cards apply to Matched Play rules). E.g. If the top card of the active Viral Load is "3" and the value is three, then the next player may play a "3" making the value six. If it was two "3's" with a value of six, and the next player played a "3", then the new pile value is nine for the next player.

If a Power Card is on top of Number Card, a player cannot match the card as it has to be at the very top of the pile for Matched Play to work.

Players may use Matched Play for the Wild 2–8 Power Card, but the value is whatever the original Wild 2–8 was. E.g. A player plays a "2" and a Wild 2–8 making a total value off four. The next player, if they have it, may play a Wild 2–8 with the value of two making the new active Viral Load value six.

Paired Play

Paired Play allows for multiple cards to be played per turn. E.g. three "2's" may be played during a turn making a play value of six. Pairing may happen with Wild 2–8 Power Cards as well, but the Wild 2–8 must take the value of the Number Card being played or must all share the same number value if multiple Wild 2–8's are played.

Game contents

The original game consists of 72 cards and instructions. Fifty-nine cards are "Number Cards" ranging from 1 to 13. There are 13 "Power Cards" that give the player certain play opportunities or powers that impact game play.

Power Cards

• Wild 2–8 (Qty. 4) The Wild 2–8 card allows a player to chose the card value or pair it (see Paired Play) with other cards to increase the total play value. E.g. A Number Card #2 plus two Wild 2–8 cards equals a play value of "6."
• Contagion (Qty. 1) This Power Card allows the player to choose whom to send the active Viral Load to. The current round immediately ends and the infected player then gets to start the next round.
• Shield (Qty. 2) Originally called Immunity, Shield acts as a free pass and sends play to the next player. Shield also acts as a protective defense against the Power Card "Contagion." If Contagion is played against a player with Shield in their hand, the Contagion "bounces back" to the sending player thereby infecting them. The played Shield Power Card goes to the final infected player's Viral Load. If the player who sent the Contagion card also has a Shield then the play returns to the original "Contagied" player.
• Blowback (Qty. 2) When played, Blowback reverses game play direction and passes the active Viral Load to the next player in that direction.
• Flatten The Curve (Qty. 2) When played, Flatten The Curve reverses the card counting direction from up to down. The active Viral Load value passes to the next player in the current direction and they must play a lower card than the current active Viral Load's value. Matched Play is deactivated in Flatten The Curve, and Paired Play still works as long as the paired value is lower than the current active Viral Load's value. Once someone is unable to continue play and has to take the active Viral Load, gameplay resumes counting up as normal.
• Antibodies (Qty. 2) These Power Cards allow a player to purge or cleanse themselves of their current collected Viral Load. Players play the Antibodies card and place their Viral Load face up underneath it. They also must announce what the pile's value was as it now passes to the next player who must beat it or take the active Viral Load.

Reviews

Circle of Nerds Kickstarter Preview & How To Play

Daddy Louie of Circle of Nerds was the first published review of the First Edition of It's Contagious! "The game has a lot of heart... the [made the game] with a lot of light."

Press

It's Contagious! received news coverage here:

• The Zevely Zone on CBS 8
• Positively San Diego on ABC 10 News
• North County Section of The San Diego Union-Tribune
• The AJ & Sara Show<ref="ajsara">"Feel Good News: Meet the local family that created a pandemic themed family game!"
• Board Game Halv Interview

References

This article "It's Contagious!" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:It's Contagious!. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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