To decide who makes the tea.
There must be a minimum of 3 players for a tea game to be official.
A player becomes exempt when they lose a game. They are able to use this exemption to become the Dealer on a subsequent game. Exemptions are usually tracked via the #tea-gamers Slack channel, but they are managed by the honesty of players.
The Dealer of a game can be one or many players who are exempt. If there are multiple dealers, then the deck is split between them and non-exempt players take a card from each dealer.
The loser of any previous games.. "The tea making loser" (dealer) shuffles and deals the cards out to be chosen.
Each player picks a card. The person who draws the lowest card is the loser, and must make the tea/coffee for every player. They take orders for all participating players, then take all cups down to the kitchen.
If a player pulls the 'Action Card':
They must contribute 10p to the biscuit fund.
They must collect monies from players, or use the biscuit fund, and buy the biscuits (within 48 hours).
The reverse joker reverses the results of a normal tea game, making the player with the highest card lose.
The player is exempt for the rest of the day, unless they draw a Joker again, causing automatic loss. If the reverse joker is pulled in the same game that a Joker is pulled, the Joker still exempts the player and they do not lose the game.
If a player is joker exempt and they pull the reverse joker in another game that day, then that player is no longer exempt for the rest of the day, but does not lose that game.
If everyone pulls the same number except for a single player, that player makes the tea. (Minimum 4 non-exempt players)
When in a multiple exemption or redraw (or both), having multiple of the same value card is always considered the highest number. Therefore, a player would require 3 of the same value card to beat 2 of the same valued card. Jokers still trump this rule and reverse jokers make these the worst hands.
If two or more players all have the lowest scoring hand, they must draw the same number of cards from the deck again. Any cards drawn in the first round have no bearing on these newly drawn cards. This is repeated until a loser is found.
If the total value of the biscuit fund reaches £2, all regular players present in the office must take part in a biscuit deathmatch. All players pull a card, the player with the highest card is out and the drawn cards are set aside. Players continue to draw cards until 2 players are left. The player who pulls the lowest card in the final round must take £1 and buy biscuits.
Fair play must ensue, and underhand play will result in a forfeit decided by the majority group.
As long as agreed, any pack of cards (small or large) may be used.
Valid orders include:
- Any pre-bagged tea, including herbal teas
- Instant coffee
- Hot water
Other types of drink (nespresso, hot chocolate, etc.) can be made at the loser’s discretion and are optional.
If an incorrect tea order has been delivered it must be replaced by the correct tea order as soon as the error is reported to the tea maker. It is the responsibility of the tea maker to keep track of all tea orders.
If a player knows that they can't start making the tea within 10 minutes of the game ending, then they should announce this before play begins. This gives other players the opportunity to withdraw from the game if wanted. If a player does not announce this, and it is evident that they knew of their time delay before the game began, then the player forfeits their exemption.
Players are exempt on their birthday and Clock birthday.
After the game has been played, the losing player must collect the other players old cups and mugs. Winning players can request a clean mug or offer the loser the option to reuse their old mug.
If a player wants to have more than one drink delivered in the same tea game they must draw an equal number of cards to the number of drinks that they want.
Multiple drink orders are subject to the following conditions:
- A player must declare the number of drinks they want BEFORE drawing any cards
- Only the lowest value card drawn will be considered
- Exempt players can draw one less card than the number of drinks they want
New rules can be implemented but must be agreed by a majority of at least 3 players, by the means of a +1/-1 on a pull request. The person suggesting the rule change cannot vote on the ruling. Pull requests must be open for a minimum of a week.
When a player has lost and must make the drinks, in order to validate their exemption for the next game they wish to play, they must rely on three other players to remember that they lost. Over long time periods such as at the end of the day or Christmas - it is wise to detail the exemption somewhere! If at least three players cannot verify the player losing, then he/she forfeits their exemption, and exemption is void. It is also noted that attempting to actively "skank" (refuse) a legitimate exemption claim is not wise as it has previously resulted in active tea game players retiring from the game early in their career.