Everyone is falling. And fighting. The object of the game is to hit the ground last. It's not much of a goal, but it's all you could think of on the way down.

Falling was the first real time card game from James Ernest, way back in 1998. It's a frenetic card game with an average play time of 90 seconds.

One player deals while the other players fall. There are no turns; everyone is playing at once. Players can play cards on each other, called "riders," that change how the dealer will deal to them. A "Hit" means "give me more cards." A "Skip" means "don't give me anything." And so on. Those Skips are really handy at the bottom of the deck, when the dealer starts handing out the Ground cards. Because when you get a Ground card, you're out.

Falling was nominated for an Origins award for best traditional card game of 1998, and was listed in the GAMES 100 for the same year.