This is not a game you want to play if you're looking for something quick or NOT mentally challenging. Let me put it this way - MENSA considers it one of the top games to play.
Gameplay:
You're trying to identify a "set" of three cards from 12 cards laid out. Each card has a symbol which is a color, has 1/2/3 symbols on the card, and is a different type of shading. A set must be the same feature on each card, or different on each card. It's MUCH more difficult than it sounds!
Lay out your twelve cards like so:
As you see a set, remove it and prove it to the other players. The magic rule to keep in mind is "If two are, and one is not, it is not a set."
This is a not set:
Although all have different colors and different shadings, two of the cards have the same symbol.
This is a set:
All have different colors, all have different symbols, all have different numbers, and they all have the SAME shading.
This is a set:
All have the same color, all are ovals, all have two symbols, and all have different shadings.
As you remove sets, add three more cards at a time to the layout.
Verdict:
We like this game, but it is very mentally tiring. It is not that easy to find sets. But when you find one, you feel so accomplished! We typically set a time limit and then count how many sets we have, or just play until we feel so tired mentally that we're done with the game. It's a very flexible game in that way!
Great for Learning:
How to be challenged intellectually, finding patterns, visual perception, spatial relationships, logical reasoning, right brain/left brain, critical thinking