What you usually have to get upset about and causes frustration is brought to fun perfection here, promising to make your next lab party or other gatherings of chemists even more entertaining and engaging. In this new card game, players take on the role of completely unethical researchers, striving to get as many citations as possible for their nonsensical papers while sabotaging their colleagues with unhelpful peer reviews. The description reads: “Your goal is to have as many citations as possible by the end of the game, ideally while maintaining your sanity and self-respect.”
We loved the concept of this satirical take on academic publishing and look forward to playing the game—feel free to share your experiences if you’ve played it already!
The creator Max Hui Bai admits that there were many moments when he doubted whether creating a satire about academia as an early-career scholar was a good idea or something people would want. Max Hui Bai earned a B.A. in Psychology and a Ph.D. in Social Psychology (with a minor in Political Psychology) from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, USA, in 2021. From 2021 to 2023, he served as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Stanford Impact Labs, USA.
- Publish or Perish, Kickstarter 2025.
Also of Interest
Spotlight: Tips for Writing Better Science Papers
Explaining scientific principles in simple and understandable language is a valuable skill: Insider tips on taking care of what you write
Spotlight: 12 Tips for Referees
Some of the issues faced by reviewers, from the perspective of an editor’s seat
