Publish or Perish — Academic Publishing Party Game

Publish or Perish is a satirical party card game about academic publishing, created by Max Hui Bai. This is the physical English-language base game for 3–6 players, ages 14+.

Welcome to the chaotic life of academic publishing! In this game, you will publish useless nonsense, sabotage your colleagues’ research, and provide unhelpful comments, Reviewer 2 style. Your goal is to gain as many citations as possible when the game ends, ideally with your sanity and self-respect intact.

Ages: 14+ | Players: 3–6 | Playtime: 10 minutes per player

A gift for academics, and a game to play together

For PhD students, researchers and professors who enjoy academic humor, Publish or Perish can be a birthday, graduation or thesis-defense gift. Bring it to a lab party, graduate-student gathering or conference game night, or give a copy as a conference prize. Plan for about 10 minutes per player.

See PhD and academic gift ideas, games for labs and graduate-student events, and conference gifts and prizes for practical suggestions and customer stories.

Reviews and press coverage

Read Nature’s coverage of the Publish or Perish card game and our customer reviews and independent press coverage.

Components

• Game Rules: 1 copy
• Game Rules Summary: 8 cards
• Manuscript Cards: 55 cards
• Action Cards: 92 cards
• Trivia Cards: 100
• Award Cards: 3
• Storage Bag: 1
• Stickers: 4

Choosing between editions or planning a larger group? Read our game guide to players, ages and expansions.