Set: A Family Game

The three families who tried this game had similar experiences. The game quickly turned from competitive to raucously cooperative—all of the players constantly jumping in to find SETs, which is not as easy or as obvious as one would think. Most impressive about the game was how it could be played by all ages. One test group ranged from three six-year-olds, a ten-year-old, two parents, and a grandparent, with the youngest as engaged and involved as the adults. During the recent holidays, there always seemed to be a game of SET being played at the kitchen table, mostly by a group of two or more (that’s when the yelling and objections rang out—very empowering for the first graders, who loved nothing more than pointing out when the adults had mistakenly identified a SET), but often solo—very meditative.

How SET is played:

The game challenges players to race to find as many SETs as they can. A SET is three cards in which each individual feature (color, shape, number, and shading) is either all the same OR all different. The first player to see a SET calls out “SET” and grabs the cards—there are no “turns” and no luck involved. Not only is it fast-paced fun, it also builds skills and exercises the brain. Because it has a rule of logic, and because players must apply this rule to the spatial array of patterns all at once, they must use both left brain and right brain thought processes. At the end of the game, the player with the most SETs wins. SET is perfect for a wide age range and number of players, including solo. It’s fun to play over and over again.

It’s perfect for travel, too–an easily transportable deck of cards—but endlessly fun.

Ages: 6+; for 1 to many players