From the rules sheet "The Glass Plate Game is a cooperative thinking game for four to eight players. This conversation game uses idea cards and markers. The challenge is to build chains of thought by finding interesting connections between cards. The goal is to stimulate creative dialogue." "The original version of the Glass Plate Game came out of the effort of several people to develop rules for the Glass Bead Game, alluded to in Herman Hesse's novel, Magister Ludi."