Why Balance is in the deck
Balance took the place of Confidence, which overlapped with Pride because both can read as arrogance. It also filled out the Work cluster. In Deloitte’s 2024 survey of Gen Zs and millennials across 44 countries, work-life balance was the top priority when choosing an employer (Deloitte 2024). For some players, it’s the word their working week is built around.
How people read it differently
The first reading is the one in the survey: hours at work against hours for everything else. Even inside that reading, players split. For one, balance means a hard stop at 6 p.m. For another, it means a long week now and a long break later.
Balance can also be physical or emotional. The first can bring a first bike ride or a grandparent’s cane. The second can bring keeping steady, or the day someone lost it.
A team that draws this card can find out how differently its members count a good week. A couple can find out the same thing about a good weekend.
The other side: Watch
The back of the card is a Watch. In a forum thread about clearing out a late mother’s things, people describe keeping a parent’s watch after they died, including one “that needs repair” and was never repaired (Mumsnet). A watch can also be a gift, a first grown-up purchase, or the thing someone checks too often.
Balance and Watch were paired by a random draw, and both happen to be about time.
How to play this card
Draw the card. Choose a side: Balance or Watch. Roll the die. Look at the word from that side.
The faces are MEMORIES, BODY, PEOPLE, VALUES, CHILDHOOD and FUTURE. Say as much or as little as feels right.
The others ask what they’re curious about, gently: What did that feel like? Who else was there? Has it always meant that to you?
Related words
From the Work cluster: Success, Work. Close by: Money. See the deck, draw a card in the free online game, or read the research.