This immensely popular Chinese game, whose title translates to “Killers of the Three Kingdoms,” is played with a specially made deck—you may have seen the cards being sold around People’s Square by street vendors. It was created in 2008, based on that favorite Chinese epic The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Players draw cards to determine their characters (each one has a backstory and unique abilities) and roles—either lords, traitors, loyals or spies—and then try to destroy their enemies, with the rebels going after the lord, the loyals protecting the lord and the spy out to kill everyone else. Further cards are drawn to determine the outcome of attacks and battles.

“It’s very addictive,” says Theresa Lim, a digital planning director in Shanghai who plays at work with her colleagues. “We play on a daily basis. At first, games take a few hours, but once you know what you’re doing, they only take about 20 minutes.”

Lim says you don’t need to speak Chinese to play, but it helps if you have some understanding of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. “Get online and work out who the main characters are and what sort of personalities they have,” she says. “Then buy a set of cards and work out what everyone does. Once you’ve figured that out, you can play without having to speak any Chinese. Our CEO doesn’t speak a word of Mandarin but he plays with us.”

The basic set of cards costs about RMB 60 but there are currently four expansion packs with more characters and more elaborate rules. Lim says she has learned a lot about those she plays with by watching the tactics they employ. “It’s very revealing, and now when I hold job interviews I always ask candidates whether they play. Asking them about their tactics gives me an idea of how they think.”

There’s currently no English-language version of the game, though there are online tutorials in English and an English-language walkthrough page on Facebook. You can also play online and there’s a version for smartphones. Once you’ve got an idea of how the game works, head to one of the cafés in town where San Guo Sha fanatics gather. Lim suggests the Qing Feng Renjia café in the Merrylin Hotel. “It’s packed every night and throughout the weekends with players. Buy a pot of tea and they serve you free dumplings and noodles. I once played there for 13 hours straight.”

Difficulty:3 out of 5

Number of players: 4 to 10

9 San Guo Sha Cards You Should Know

These cards represent your character’s level of health. Different characters start at different levels; lords get a bonus health point at the beginning.

Known as one of the great beauties of ancient China, Diao gets to draw an extra card per turn and can force two male characters to duel each other.

When you draw one of these cards into your hand, it can be used as your defense mechanism. Players can only hold one defense card at a time.

Zhu is a master strategist and the general of the Shu Kingdom. One of his special abilities is that he can’t be attacked when his deck is empty.

This card indicates the player's role in the game. Other than the red lord card (shown above), all other role cards must be face down.

These weapon cards come in different varieties, but players can only have one at a time. Different weapons do different amounts of damage.

These are the cards you play each turn. You can either attack (shown), defend or "eat a peach"—i.e. use your turn to regenerate health.

Known as a benevolent ruler, Sun is the general of the Wu Kingdom, and can regenerate an extra unit of health when he is close to death.

Cao is the emperor of the Wei Kingdom. He is known to be ruthless and intelligent, and can “steal” weapon cards after he is attacked by them.