THEORY WORKS: YOUR FRIENDS DON’T

About the Game

THEORY WORKS: YOUR FRIENDS DON’T

THEORY WORKS: YOUR FRIENDS DON’T is a 3–8 player multiplayer party game inspired by game theory.

You don't need to solve equations—you just need to know when your friends will get greedy, when they'll play it safe, and when they're about to drag you down with them.

The rules are straightforward. The decisions are anything but. Hidden information, temporary alliances, and shameless sabotage keep rewriting every “optimal” move. The host can build and reorder a custom playlist of game modes, tune each mode's settings, and turn every result into points on a running leaderboard.

The theory may hold. Your friendships might not.

Coin Game

One hundred coins sit in a shared pool.

Finish with the most? Your score is wiped to zero.

Finish with the least? Zero for you too.

Take coins openly or choose in secret, then use Double, Steal, Freeze, Swap, and Coin Bomb cards to wreck everyone's calculations. The safest place may be somewhere between greed and restraint.

Arms Race

Split your limited coins between Development, Defense, and Invasion.

Development becomes more profitable in later rounds, while your Defense is cleared after every round. As soon as someone comes under attack, the whole table may pile in for an Ambush.

Protect what you have—or risk everything and strike first.

Auction Game

Every item's appearance, quality, and list price are public. Its true value is known only to its owner.

Buy an item, then convince your friends to take it off your hands. Choose between sealed bids and an open English auction, using hype, doubt, and pure bluff to steer the table.

A treasure may sell for scraps. A piece of junk may start a bidding war.

Features

• Competitive multiplayer for 3–8 players

• Steam lobbies and friend invites

• LAN and dedicated server connections

• Bots to fill empty seats

• Customizable, reorderable game-mode playlists

• Cross-game standings

• In-room chat and preset taunts

• Comic-style visuals and presentation

The theory works. Your friends don’t.