High Society: Hobnobbing with rich folks while trying not to go broke

I had heard about High Society from folks online because of its gorgeous artwork. Then the game went on sale for $10.99 from Book Depository (with free shipping!), and I immediately snatched up a copy without knowing anything about the game. And folks, I have no regrets!

High Society is a bidding card game from Osprey Games that plays 2-5 people in about 20 minutes in which you’re hobnobbing with rich folks and showing off your fancy style while trying not to go broke. It’s designed by Reiner Knizia, and the artwork is done by Medusa Dollmaker in this 2018 reprint. The cards feature a diverse cast of characters, which is wonderful, all illustrated in an Art Nouveau-inspired style.

There’s something about bidding games that makes my friends and me lose our freaking minds. It truly becomes this intense game of chicken, and we have so much fun egging on folks to make the next bid. Hilarious bidding escalation always ensures, but you cannot go broke or be the one with the least amount of money at the end of the game before the scoring phase or else you’re eliminated. The first time I played this, we immediately played it again a second time. It was that fun!

Each player begins with their set of 11 money cards, in values from $1 to $25. As you can see, there aren’t cards for every value in this range. The money cards will be used to bid for various socialites as they come up in the deck. Socialites are worth different points, and some will double your points at the end of the game.

To bid, a player must play one or more money cards in an amount that’s higher than the previous bid. If you pass, you pick up all the money cards you just played and return it to your hand. You’re then out of the bid. The player who bids the most money wins the socialite and discards his or her money cards. The winner then flips over the next socialite card and starts the auction round again.

There are also three disgrace cards, which change the bidding ever so slightly. If you are unable to bid or outbid a previous bid on a disgrace card, you will end up taking the card. The disgrace cards either remove one of your socialites, reduce your score by 5 points or half the amount of points you have at the end of the game.

There are four cards with the green background in the deck, the prestige cards. When the fourth green card comes up, the game ends immediately. But before scoring can happen, the person with the least amount of money is instantly eliminated from the game. Then players can score their socialites, and the person with the most victory points wins the game!

High Society is a short, but delightful, bidding card game that’s easy to teach. The box is small and easily transportable, and the card quality is excellent. Plus, seriously, look at that art! The only people I see not liking this are those who don’t like bidding games. So if you don’t mind bidding games, High Society is a great card game to add to your collection. Who out there has played this?