Pandora's Box 2010

A timeless game of psychology and curiosity

To Hesiod and the Ancient Greeks, womanhood began with Pandora. Her very name meant she was gifted in every way by the gods: beautiful, wise, musical, persuasive, confident . . . and curious. She was given a jar that contained all of the world’s evils, and also one good spirit, Hope. In the end, she chose to open it, and set the course for humanity.

Pandora's Box provides a simple and deep abstract party game for a group of players to analyze how well they know the strategic planning of their friends. Each player receives a few white and black stones (good and evil spirits) that they drop into a box in the center of the play area. They may also switch the stones in their hands with other players throughout the game. When someone drops her last stone into Pandora's Box, the box is opened, its contents revealed and taken by the player who opened it, and each player scores points for white stones in hand and loses a point for black stones in hand.

Though it sounds incredibly simple, the game is fast, deep, thrilling, and offers tremendous psychological fun and unexpected results. Despite having no random elements, it has plenty of hidden information that makes each game play out differently.

Pandora’s Box is offered as an entry to the Thousand Year Game Design Challenge.