High Keepers: A Novel Two-Player Card Game for Modelling Competitive Resource Acquisition, Strategic Forcing, and Value-Based Decision Making

This paper introduces High Keepers, an original two-player card game created by Misael González-Sequera. The game isolates competitive asset acquisition, forced exposure, and calculated risk-taking under incomplete information. Key Game Mechanics: Simultaneous Comparison: Players reveal the top cards of their Draw piles simultaneously; the higher card claims both into a public Kept pile. High-Card-Only Scoring: Victory is determined exclusively by acquiring high cards (10-Ace). Asymmetric Forcing Trade: Between rounds, players may execute a high-for-high trade. The Proposer immediately secures the received high card into their Kept pile, while the Acceptor is forced to place their received high card on top of their Draw pile - exposing it to risk in the immediate next comparison. Core Paper Contributions: Formal Description & Rules: Complete components, setup, round progression, and scoring mechanics. Mathematical Analysis: A formal proof (Proposition 1) showing that under risk neutrality, the Proposer's expected high-card gain equals the probability (p) of winning the forced comparison, making the trade zero-sum in expectation. Simulations & Proof of Concept: A written walkthrough using a 20-card deck to illustrate tactical trade execution. Interdisciplinary Applications: A broader examination of how the asymmetric trade mechanic models real-world phenomena in Economics & Industrial Organisation (forced asset deployment and real options), Strategic Trade Policy (pre-emptive market commitments), Consumer Behaviour (collectibles markets and status-driven acquisition), and Psychology (calculated risk-taking and forced exposure under asymmetric information). High Keepers provides a minimal, fully observable experimental and pedagogical platform for game theory, behavioral economics, and psychological research.