Algo-Rhythm (Card Game)

Can you keep up with the beat?

Study your cards and start at a slow pace. You'll get overflowed quickly if you tried a faster bpm right out of the gate.

— Algo-Rhythm player giving advice

A Musical Escape

Having downtime is a precious commodity amidst the gruesome working conditions and long hours in the city. To briefly escape the hustle and bustle most endure, Ciers have appreciated the card game Algo-Rhythm for its fast-paced play and easily mobile components.

Execution

Preparation

First, everyone must have their own deck of cards to play with and make sure it is shuffled. Players must program their wireless speaker with a specific song, agreed by all players, to sync the song's bpm with the physical card deck. After syncing is complete, the cards are able to recognize when a player's move coincides with the rhythm of the beat. Players then start the game by activating the speaker to start playing the music with a voice command in unison with other players joining in.

Algo-Rhythm in 1...2...3!

Gameplay

Players aim to have the most cards in their finished algorithms pile by the end of the song in order to win. Once the music starts, players must start counting off their stock by putting the first three cards face down, and then flipping over the fourth card to determine if that card can be put on the playing field. When the deck is all face-up, the player must pick it up, turn it over, and start again.

Remember, every flip and placement of the card has to be at the sound of the beat!

Terminal cards are the first cards sought out to start an algorithm on the table, then other compatible symbols that can connect to each other can be put down. Eventually, these visual logic trees built by the cards will grow. If a player closes an algorithm with another Terminal card, that player gets to collect the entire chart into their finished algorithm pile. The minimum cards an algorithm can have is three (Terminal + Flowline + Terminal). Players can strategize if they want to try risk growing an algorithm as big as possible to get more cards in the end or claim smaller algorithms early if they have a Terminal card in their hand ready to play.

If you're out of sync, you'll get a small shock in your fingers. It's definitely an unwanted distraction and can throw you off for the rest of the game if you're not careful.

Ending Condition

The game ends once the song ends. Very rarely do players' decks run out before the song ends, but this is also another valid end to the game. Then players count their cards to see who has the most in their pile.

Participants

Players of two or more can participate in an Algo-Rhythm game, but the more players mean more space needed to accommodate the cards.

Components

An Algo-Rhythm base deck consists of six types of cards with specific symbols in different amounts. These cards come nestled in a speaker box with an indentation to hold the cards.

• Flowline (Arrowhead)
• Terminal
• Process
• Decision
• Input/Output
• Annotation/Comment

An expansion of the base deck was released later to include the following card types:

• Data File or Database
• Document
• Manual operation
• Manual input
• Preparation or Initialization

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by Hanny Naibaho

The Musical Mastermind

The game was designed by an Entertainer Wizaud, Frey Quincy, who created the game as a passionate side hustle from her usual gig at Sector 1: The Hub . After synthesizing her first prototypes and playing with her fellow colleagues, the game quickly spread in popularity. Demand increased for more decks, so she collaborated with other Wizauds of the sector to create a healthy production of musical decks that everyone can enjoy.