GOPS
Game of Pure Strategy - a perfect information bidding game. Players simultaneously bid for diamond cards using their hand of spades and clubs. The highest total diamond value wins.
What You'll Need
About This Game
Game of Pure Strategy - a perfect information bidding game. Players simultaneously bid for diamond cards using their hand of spades and clubs. The highest total diamond value wins.
How to Play
- One player takes all 13 Spades, other takes all 13 Clubs
- Shuffle Diamonds face-down as prize pile
- Turn up one Diamond as the prize
- Both players secretly select one card from hand
- Reveal simultaneously; higher card wins the Diamond
- Tie = Diamond goes to next round (stacks with next prize)
- Played cards are discarded (used once each)
- Repeat for all 13 Diamonds
- Player with highest total Diamond value wins
- No luck involved - pure strategy and psychology
- Variant: Hearts as third-player or 4-player partnership
History & Background
GOPS (Game of Pure Strategy) was invented in the mid-20th century as a mathematical curiosity - a card game with no luck whatsoever. Its exact origin is unclear, but it gained popularity among game theorists.
The game is sometimes called "Goofspiel" (combining "goof" and "kriegsspiel"). It serves as a teaching tool in game theory courses because it demonstrates concepts like Nash equilibrium in an accessible format.
GOPS has been extensively analyzed mathematically. Despite its simple rules, optimal play remains complex enough that perfect strategy is still debated among theorists.
The game appeals to chess-minded players who dislike luck-based elements. Every piece of information is known to both players, making it a test of pure deduction and psychology - can you outguess what bid your opponent will make?