Almost Even

How to play

1. 1

   Almost Even supports 3–12 players. One player is the Author each round. With 3–5 players everyone authors twice; with 6–12 everyone authors once. A full cycle always finishes before any role repeats.

2. 2

   The Author has 40 seconds to build. Only they receive two private editorial cards, each with three ready-made, low-pressure twists. They choose one of six complete dilemmas, review the preview, and lock it. The game contains no free-text input.

3. 3

   Once locked, everyone sees the dilemma and its two equal sides. The Author does not vote. Every other active player gets 25 seconds and may change sides until pressing a separate confirm button; an accepted choice cannot change.

4. 4

   Before the shared reveal, a voter sees only their own receipt and the aggregate ready count, never another side. The Author sees readiness only. Observers and anyone joining after the start receive neither private cards nor an action token.

5. 5

   Only confirmed votes enter the result and omissions are excluded. If fewer than two votes are accepted, or either side is empty, the Author scores 0.

6. 6

   Let M be the smaller side and I be half of all accepted votes rounded down. When M equals I, the Author scores 500; one vote short scores 300; two votes short scores 150; a wider gap scores 0.

7. 7

   If the Author runs out of time, the server opens a preselected safe rescue dilemma so the room can still play. That round always awards the Author 0, whatever the split.

8. 8

   Reveal lasts up to 18 seconds and the host may continue after 5. Both groups, omissions, distance from ideal balance, the Author’s award, and the updated overall ranking appear together.

9. 9

   Reconnection restores the role, current stage, and only that player’s accepted receipt. An identical retry cannot duplicate an action, while stale or changed requests are rejected. A timeout never invents a vote for a player.

10. 10

    After the last equal author turn, the highest total wins. Tied leaders share the win; there is no random or hidden tie-break. Points are not money and cannot be bought, transferred, traded, or redeemed.