“Okay,” said Alana, dealing the cards. “The name of the game is ‘Arms Race’. Everyone starts with two arms and two cards. Got it so far?”

I took a sip of beer and smiled at Emily sitting next to me. I’d met her a couple weeks back and we’d hit it off, but I ended up leaving the party without getting her number. Now we were both at Alana’s “Magic Game Night”, and things had picked up right where we left them.

Emily shifted a bit closer to me on the couch, our legs touching.

“Now, here’s how the game works,” said Alana. “Everyone gets to look at your cards. You can swap positions if you want, but when they go back on the table, left is left arm, right is right arm. You’re playing against the people on either side of you. You get to bet either lower or higher than your neighbor.”

There were seven of us seated around the coffee table. I was one of only two guys there, besides Mike who was Alana’s boyfriend. Emily was on my left, and Elsa was seated to my right.

“If you’re both right, it’s a wash and nothing happens. If you’re right and your neighbor is wrong, you owe them an arm. If you’ve got a surplus, you can trade those over first. But! If you’re both wrong, both your arms go into the center, which we’ll just keep under the table.”

Alana was, well, a magician. She’d studied at some kind of academy for this stuff, and toured around performing before settling down to get a ‘real job.’ Her parties were lots of fun though.

“When you’re down to one arm, you only get one card dealt, and you still have to bet against both neighbors. And once you’re out entirely, you *can* buy back in with your legs. That is optional, but you can’t wager your legs until you’re out of arms. When you run out of everything, you’re out. Winner is the last person in. Everyone got it?”

“That seems clear enough,” I said.

“I can’t wait to take your arms away,” said Emily.

“Oh yea, that’s a lot of talk coming from someone who’s about to lose all her limbs,” I shot back.

“Okay, everyone ready?”

I picked up each of my cards. A six and a nine. Not great. I set the nine to my left, might as well try and make good on my threat to Emily. The six went to my left.

“Okay, make your bets! You signal ‘high’ by turning the card sideways, just so nobody changes when they’re not paying attention.”

I bet high on the nine next to Emily, and low on the six. Emily countered me, betting she had the high card, while Elsa bet high, meaning we were both in it together.

“Flip ‘em over!”

Turned out Emily was right. A queen. Luckily Elsa had a ten, so I was able to keep my right arm.

“Ha-ha!” said Emily, sticking her tongue out at me. She reached up and pinched my shoulder, and as she pulled, there was a popping noise. My arm disconnected from my body, and Emily laid it across her lap.

Around the circle we saw other limbs being exchanged. Alana gained an arm from Erin, and Rachel kept both of hers.

It wasn’t a total win for Emily though, as her left arm, along with Mike’s right, both went to the center on a seven-eight pair that went the wrong way for them.

Alana made sure everyone made the proper swaps, and then dealt a new hand to everyone.

I only got one card this time, an Ace. I smirked and countered both Elsa and Emily’s bets, betting higher than Elsa and lower than Emily.

It came time to turn the cards over, and I went from only one arm to three. I stuck Elsa’s left arm where mine had been, and Emily gave me her right and replaced it with the one she’d taken from me.

The flow of the game was chaotic. One round you were up, another you were almost out. I went from three arms down to one the next round, losing one to Elsa and another to the center with Emily. Emily, now without any arms, wagered a leg and won back an arm from Mike while I held my ground. The next round after that, I lost my arm to Emily. Elsa, also now armless, bet her leg against mine and lost. Emily soon lost her arms as well, and I lost the extra leg I’d gained pretty soon after that.

Rachel was the first to go out entirely, losing all her limbs. Next to her, Erin, was the leader, at least for now.

Soon after that, the center pile was growing and I was down to only a leg. Emily had lost both legs, but had gained an arm from somewhere. It was down to this last hand.

I had one card. A nine. These were tricky, but I bet low. Emily bet high. We flipped them over.

Two nines. Both of us were out.

We laid back on the sofa, finally done with the game. Nothing either of us could do but squirm, really.

Emily leaned into me and whispered, “My head versus your head.”