Salaryman Madness^*

Salaryman Madness from HABA's XOXO line is a frantic maths card game for 2 to 4 players aged 10+. Everyone plays at once, and cool heads win.

What is it about?

Office workers Kim and co. suffer from a severe fear of numbers. That is a problem, because they have just been made bookies at the Lucky Cat Fights. Is shock therapy the cure? The game is part of HABA's "XOXO Ludomatic Universe", where every title tells a piece of an ongoing story.

A round

1. Two face-up cards add up to a target number.
2. Everyone races to play a matching card onto one of two discard piles.
3. Spot a mistake and shout "Stop!" to penalise it.
4. The round ends when someone empties their hand or no valid play is left.

The Sacred Prohibitions

Some rules must never be broken:

• The two visible cards must not add up to 10.
• They must not show the same number.
• They must not share the same colour.

If you notice your own mistake too late, you penalise yourself. Round winners collect autograph cards, and the first player to gather enough of them wins.

For experienced players

Advanced variants add special cards with negative numbers or flexible values. The mental maths gets much trickier, and the table gets even more chaotic.

Conclusion

Salaryman Madness is fast, loud and a real test of mental arithmetic under pressure. Players who love speed games and numbers will have a blast. If time pressure makes you freeze, pick something calmer.