No Thanks

• Designer: Thorsten Gimmler
• Publisher: CMYK
• Players: 3-7
• Age: 8+
• Time: 20 minutes
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

No Thanks! is a card game designed to be as simple as it is engaging.

The rules are simple. Each turn, players have two options:

• play one of their chips to avoid picking up the current face-up card
• pick up the face-up card (along with any chips that have already been played on that card) and turn over the next card

However, the choices aren’t so easy as players compete to have the lowest score at the end of the game. The deck of cards is numbered from 3 to 35, with each card counting for a number of points equal to its face value. Runs of two or more cards only count as the lowest value in the run – but nine cards are removed from the deck before starting, so be careful looking for connectors. Each chip is worth -1 point, but they can be even more valuable by allowing you to avoid drawing that unwanted card.

The deck is comprised of 33 cards, numbered from 3 to 35.

Take those cards, shuffle them and then set aside 9 of them unseen. The remaining 24 cards are placed as a face down deck on the table. Each player is given a starting supply of chips (11 chips for 3-5p) – your supply of chips should be held in your hand and remain a secret during the game.  A start player is determined.

The start player flips up the top card of the deck. He then has two choices:

A] Take the card and place it face up in front of him. If you take the card, you get any counters that had been placed on it earlier.

B] Say “No Thanks”, refuse the card, and place one of his chips on it; the next player clockwise then has the same two options.  Continue until someone takes the card.

Once someone takes a card, the next player in turn order flips up the top card of the deck and the game goes on.  Continue until the final card in the deck is shown.  At this time, players calculate their scores.  Each card is worth negative points equal to its number.  However, if you have cards of consecutive values, you only take the lowest value for the entire set.  Each chip you have left is positive one point.  Whoever has the fewest negative points wins.

My thoughts on the game

No Thanks has been a classic filler card game since its initial release in 2004.  The fact that it has been reprinted multiple times – including a new version with some extension modules in it – show that it is a game that has and will stand the test of time.

This new 2025 CMYK version is just the base game – as far as I can tell, the rules are the same as the 2004 version.  The game still gives players a straightforward (but oftentimes difficult) decision of taking a card OR saying “No Thanks” and placing a token on the card.

Trying to figure out how to get cards in sequential order as this will allow you to collect multiple cards but only take a single negative penalty.  In addition, you’ll possibly be able to pick up a bunch of chips from the other players as they might not be overly interested in taking a “26” card, while you’re not too bothered as it is essentially free for you as you already have the “25”.

I have toyed with strategies of actually taking a few high numbered cards early in play to give myself these opportunities to gain chips as others try to avoid similar cards.  Not only does that move not cost me many further points, but if my opponents run low on chips, they really lose their ability to be flexible with the card decisions.

The new CMYK version is box #5 in the Magenta line, and it comes in the same magenta slipcase as the four games that came before it.  The inner box has the silver and lime green color motif that you will also find on the cards.  Although I have been mostly in favor of the CMYK palette choices on previous games, this graphic design concept completely misses for me.  

Though the photos here don’t seem to show it, I find the green on silver to be extremely hard to read and somewhat headache inducing for me.  Obviously, your own mileage may vary, but this one is hard for my eyes to play with.

On the other hand, the tokens are utterly delightful.  Instead of using plain plastic chips, this version opts for wooden discs that have whimsical faces screened on them.   Each time this version of the game comes out, there is an added bit of delight as players chuckle over the tokens coming out.

No Thanks is a classic game, and this version will make the third different version to remain in my game collection.  Will they all be there in a year or two? Honestly, maybe not.  But I’ll admit it’ll be really hard to remove a game which is part of a numbered series of identical slipcases…

Thoughts from other Opinionated Gamers

Larry:  (played probably 50 times or so) – I love No Thanks! (aka Geschenkt, the name of the version I own) and it will never leave my collection.  It is perhaps the most elegant design I’ve ever encountered, with only two rules, and yet it is a delight to play.  My favorite part of the game is to play it with newbies and to see the increasing horror in their eyes as their initial chip supply slowly dwindles down and they realize their impending doom.  I always make a point of grabbing a reasonably valued card with some chips on it early on, to keep me from running short at an inopportune time, but there are multiple strategies that can work, which makes the game even more impressive.  It’s a classic and I’m very happy to see yet another version of it, ensuring that the game will continue to get played.

Matt C: (71 plays back when I tracked plays) While it might not always have the cache of more meaty games, I would be safe in saying No Thanks! is in my top 10 games of all time. There was a period of time where I took it with me to events/retreats of all kinds as a great way to introduce non-gamers to the possibilities of modern boardgames. It’s so easy to teach – set up the deck and jump in, explain as you go, and it makes a baby-step into new territories for a non-gamer. They may understand an auction, but a reverse-auction is often entirely new. The theory is easily grasped but, as Larry suggests, there are deeper consequences that arise later in the game. My favorite moment is when someone realizes they COULD take a card but if they don’t it will almost surely go around again and get more chips. Every other player can only look on in horror as they lose yet another chip to a pot that won’t be headed their way. It’s a tiny package that serves as a great gaming ambassador to anyone who’s only gaming experience is from the boardgame aisle in their local mega-mart..

Ratings from the Opinionated Gamers

• I love it!  Larry, Simon W, Matt C, Jim B
• I like it. Dale Y, Erik Arneson
• Neutral.
• Not for me…