In The Shrimp Curse, players are competing in a trick-taking game, aiming to match low ranked cards and high ranked cards. The higher ranked cards show one or two fried shrimp icons, and the lower ranked cards show empty plates. When a player wins a trick, any cards showing shrimp stay face up in front of themselves. If they later win plate cards, these can be matched and moved to a score pile. However, if a player acquires a plate before a shrimp, the plate is removed from the game. Players who still have shrimp in front of them at the end of a hand cannot score positive points. The person with the most points at the end of the game wins.