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Free perspective-taking game guide · TABLE Method™
The Gang
Reading others and honest self-assessment · Stage 3 (BGT suggestion)
What the Game Is
A cooperative take on Texas Hold 'em poker with no money and no betting. Players silently take star chips to rank how strong they think their hand is compared with everyone else's, adjusting as shared cards appear. A correct final ranking cracks a vault.
Why It Works at a Table
The Gang asks each player to make an honest, public estimate of where they stand compared with others, and then to revise it as new information arrives. The chips make those estimates visible, so a group can see who claims the top spot, who gives way, and who quietly takes the lowest chip. Because the team only wins when everyone's self-assessment fits together, it is a playful frame for talking about confidence, humility, and reading other people without words.
Try One Variation
Explain your chip (BGT house rule, not an official rule). After each showdown, each player may say in one sentence why they took their final chip.
- Targets: Perspective-taking
- Suits: Groups working on understanding others
- Watch for: Keep it optional and free of blame.
- Debrief prompt: “Whose reasoning surprised you?”
The TABLE Method™, Applied
A short excerpt from the full guide's TABLE plan. Anyone can pass, pause, or stop at any time.
Target
Notice how players claim or give up chips, how they respond when someone takes their chip, and how the group talks about a failed heist.
Assess
Check the player count, the time, and whether the game serves today’s goal.
- Does the poker theme fit this group and setting? For some people, including anyone working on gambling concerns, a different game may be a better choice.
Build
- Give everyone a hand-ranking overview card and keep it in view all game.
- Name that taking someone's chip is a message about your own hand, not a challenge to theirs.
Lead
- Deal one practice hand face up and rank it together before the first real heist.
- Help with reading hands at the showdown so no one feels tested.
Extract and Extend
Debrief in order: Board, Self, Us, Life or Work, Extension. Ask what participants make of the game. Do not tell them.
Game not included; play by the rulebook in your box. The Gang is not named in the BGT book; the guide applies the book's TABLE Method to it as a companion title. Independent companion. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by KOSMOS (Thames & Kosmos in North America). The Gang may be a trademark of its owner and is named only to identify the game. Board Game Therapy is not inherently psychotherapy. Copyright 2026 Solid State Strategies, LLC.