Corporate Brain Drain - Card Game

Corporate Brain Drain – Rules v1.1

“It’s not burnout, it’s character development!”
A workplace survival card game about nonsense, chaos, and staying sane.
© 2026 All rights reserved.

⚖️ **Disclaimer:** 
This game is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real companies, people, meetings, or HR policies—living or dead—is purely coincidental. No actual employees were emotionally harmed in the making of this game.

Part 1 – Core Rules: Survive the Office

Welcome to Corporate Brain Drain, the game where HR policies hit harder than deadlines and office politics is a full-contact sport. Your MSP (Mental Stability Points) is your health bar—protect it, outsmart your colleagues, and survive another day in the corporate jungle.

1. Setup

• Each player starts with 12 MSP. Think of it as your sanity meter—when it hits 0, you’re done.
• Each player draws 5 cards.
• Hand limit: 7 cards. If you ever exceed it, discard down to 7 immediately (pretend you were “reprioritized”).
• Randomly assign a Role card (Manager, Worker, Engineer, Sales Guy, Quality Guy, HR Specialist, Marketing Personnel, Buyer). Roles define which cards get your Superpower boost.

2. Components

• 144 cards across 8 categories (the 8 Roles).
• 8 Role Cards with MSP health bar (Manager, Worker, Engineer, Sales Guy, Quality Guy, HR Specialist, Marketing Personnel, Buyer).
• Wooden heart figure (to track your MSP points on the Role cards).
• 1 six-sided die (d6), shared by all players.

 

3. Turn Sequence
   
   Corporate time moves in circles. On your turn:

1.) Play 1 card from your hand. You must play a card each turn.

2.) Resolve its effect immediately.

3.) Draw 1 card.

4.) Pass the turn clockwise.

Cancel, Reflect, and Redirect cards can be played out of turn only when you’re under attack—because real heroes interrupt meetings.

Cancel, Reflect, and Redirect may chain in response to an attack.

The last reaction card played determines the final result.

If you play a card that damages yourself, you cannot immediately use Cancel, Reflect, or Redirect to block that same effect.

 

Booster Cards

Whenever you play a card that matches your Role, resolve its effect normally.
Instead of discarding the card, place it next to your Role card as a Booster.

Boosters do not activate their effects again.
They simply act as multipliers for a future Superpower.

When a Superpower is activated, boosters may be spent to increase the effect.

Two boosters double the effect. Three boosters triple the effect.

All used cards are then discarded.

Maximum number of stored boosters: 3.

If you already have 3 boosters, additional matching cards are discarded normally.

4. Card Effects Summary
Attack – Make another player lose MSP (a mental jab!).

Cancel – Cancel an incoming attack.

Reflect – Bounce the attack back to the attacker.

Redirect – Change the target of the attack to another player.

Discard – Force someone to discard cards. A true budget cut.

Special – Unique tactical effects that do not fit other categories (e.g. drawing cards, gaining MSP, stealing cards, or other unexpected office “solutions”).

Chaos – Global events that affect multiple players, such as meetings, role contests, card or MSP swaps, 1-to-1 Reviews, All-Hands Meetings, or anything that breaks morale.

5. Superpowers — “Caffeine for Pure Chaos”

Each Role has a Superpower — a rare burst of caffeinated brilliance that can double or triple your card’s effect.

Core Superpower Rules

• Roll a 6 to activate.
  The card played from your hand provides the base effect.
  Stored boosters multiply that effect.
• Two boosters double the effect. Three boosters triple the effect.
• The card played from your hand must have a proactive effect that changes MSP or card count.
• All cards used in a Superpower combo are discarded after resolution.

 

Character Superpower Modifiers

Manager

Executive Decision

Superpower triggers on 5–6.

Engineer

System Overclock

You may reroll your Superpower die once.

Worker

Union Miracle

After your Superpower resolves, gain +2 MSP. (“self-care day”).

Sales Guy

Verbal Blackhole

Your first stored booster may be any Role.
Additional boosters must match your Role.

Quality Guy

Process Resurrection

You may take 1 card from the discard pile as a booster.
Its effect does not activate.

Marketing Personnel

Hype Overdrive

If the base effect targets 1 player, it may target +1 additional player.

Buyer

Budget Alchemy

The next MSP loss you would take is halved (round down).

HR Specialist

Emotional Firewall

The next MSP loss you would take is reduced by 2.

Example
Worker rolls a 6 and plays:
→ “Not Paid Enough for This” (Target -2 MSP).
Has 3 Worker cards as boosters → Target now loses 6 MSP total, and Worker gains +2 MSP. (“self-care day”).
Worker immediately feels alive again — for five minutes.

These modifiers change only what they state. Otherwise, Superpowers follow the Core Superpower Rules.

6. All-Hands Meeting — “Mandatory fun. Attendance required.”

Effect: Everyone participates.

1. Declare a role (e.g. Manager, Engineer, Sales).
2. Roll 1 die and resolve the result below.

Die Results

1–2 — Pointless Meeting

“This could have been an email.”

• All players lose 1 MSP.

3–4 — Standard Meeting

“Some people talk. Some suffer.”

• Player(s) with the highest number of cards of the declared role gain 2 MSP.
• Player(s) with the lowest number of cards of that role lose 2 MSP.
• Only cards in players’ hands are counted. Stored Booster cards do not count. The played card counts if its Role matches the declared Role.
• If multiple players tie for highest or lowest, all tied players are affected equally.
• If all players have zero cards of the declared role, nothing happens.

5–6 — Productive (Somehow)

“Shocking, but here we are.”

• Player(s) with the highest number of cards of the declared role gain 2 MSP.
• Only cards in players’ hands are counted. Stored Booster cards do not count. The played card counts if its Role matches the declared Role.
• All other players draw 1 card (no MSP loss).

7. 1-to-1 Review — “It’s not personal, it’s performance-based.”

Effect: Choose one target player.

1. Declare a Role (e.g. Manager, Engineer, Sales Guy).
2. Both players reveal all cards in their hands of the declared Role.
3. Compare the total number of revealed cards.

Resolution

• Player with more cards of the declared Role wins.
  → Loser –2 MSP.
• If both players have zero cards of that role
  → No effect (HR shrugs).
• If the totals are tied (including non-zero ties)
  → Both players roll 1 die.
  → Higher roll wins; loser –2 MSP.
  → If the die rolls are tied → both players –1 MSP (“mutual burnout”).

Only cards in players’ hands are counted. Stored Booster cards do not count. The played card counts if its Role matches the declared Role.
Only the played 1-to-1 Review card is discarded. All other revealed cards are returned to players’ hands.

 

8. Bluff Play

Bluffing is optional.
When you play a card, you may Bluff instead of playing it normally.

How to Bluff

1. Play one card face-down from your hand.
2. Declare its Role, effect and quote.
   (e.g. “Manager Attack – lose 2 MSP”).
3. Any player may immediately shout “BLUFF!” to challenge.
4. The quote must clearly match the card text. Minor wording differences are allowed.

Resolution

If no one calls Bluff

• The declared effect resolves exactly as announced.
• Discard the card.

If someone calls Bluff

Reveal the card:

• If the card matches the declared Role, effect and exact quote as announced
  → The challenger loses 2 MSP.
  → Discard the card. (No effect resolves.)

• If the card does not match the declared Role, effect and exact quote as announced
  → You lose 2 MSP.
  → Discard the card. (No effect resolves.)

Bluff Restrictions

• Bluffs can never use Superpowers.
• Face-down cards cannot trigger or benefit from Superpower rules.
• A Bluff always resolves as a normal, single effect only.

9. Winning
   
   Stay sane the longest.

• When a player reaches 0 MSP, they are Burned Out and immediately leave the game.

  All remaining players complete one final round.

  After the final round ends, the player with the highest MSP wins.

Tie-Breaker – Final Performance Review

If multiple players are tied for the highest MSP when the game ends:

1. Each tied player reveals their hand.
2. Only positive MSP effects in hand are resolved.
3. The tied player with the highest remaining MSP wins.

If players are still tied:

1. Each tied player draws 1 card.
2. Any positive MSP effects on the drawn card immediately resolve.
3. Repeat until the tie is broken.