This play example goes through the first couple of turns in a 2-player game, to give a feeling for the flow of how things might go in a typical game of Dough Nuts!.

Our two players are Alex and Betty. Before playing they threw down rock-paper-scissors, and determined that Alex would play first. (Alex: "Good old rock, nothing beats it.")

After setting up the game per the rules, they're ready to go.

Alex begins by turning the clock.

Then, he collects his resources: one Doughnut card (alas! Only 1 Doughnut), and $100 from the bank. He checks his Action cards, sees that he has three, and so does not draw any Action cards.

Now, he's into his "Do Stuff" phase. He decides that buying equipment early will probably pay off in the long run, so he pays $100 to draw an equipment card into his hand (Extended Warranty).

Alex decides that, while he likes the card he drew, it won't help him until later, so he pays another $100 to draw a second equipment card - the Cash Cow. It costs $400, so he pays out the rest of his cash and puts the Cash Cow into play.

He looks over his Action cards (Doublin' Doughnuts, Bank Robber, and Ice Machine). He decides not to play anything for now, and figures that Ice Machine probably won't help him that much since Betty has no equipment yet, so he discards it. Since he didn't play an action card on his turn, it frees him up to play one on Betty's turn. Following the discard, he lets Betty know that it's now her turn.

Betty starts her turn by turning the clock (it's now upside-down).

Next, she collects her resources - a Doughnut card from the deck (woohoo! A 10!), $100 from the bank, and verifies that her hand is already full of Action cards (Bavarian Gasoline Filled Doughnut, Cherry Filling, and Rats!).

Alex gets jumpy at this point, and interrupts Betty's turn to play Bank Robber. Both players lose half their cash (in this case, Alex loses nothing!), and Betty is reduced to $300. (Betty:What a jerk!).

Betty decides that she'd better retaliate if she doesn't want the table to get too lopsided, so she plays Bavarian Gasoline Filled Doughnut. The card costs $200, leaving her at $100, and destroys Alex's Cash Cow. Alex looks wistfully at the Extended Warranty, since it could've stopped this from happening... had he only had the money and another turn.

Betty spends her $100 to draw an Equipment card (Sprinkler). She can't afford it quite yet, but knows that she will be able to on her next turn, if things go alright for her.

Betty decides she'll hang onto the 10 doughnuts for now, and discards Rats! since a) that would only hurt her right now, and b) Betty would rather try to save the children. She tells Alex that he can go.

Alex starts his turn by turning the clock (only one more to go before it comes off!)

He then collects resources - one Doughnut card (a 2... not great, but better than last turn), $100 from the bank, and two Action cards to bring his hand back up to 3 (Bake Sale and 6am! Time to Make the Doughnuts!).

This time around, he knows that Betty can't mess with him until her turn again, because she already played her Action card for this turn. Looking at his hand, he decides to play 6am! and draw two more Doughnuts (a 1 and a 5, putting him at 9).

Alex doesn't want to sit on too many doughnuts at once, so he donates 8 (the 5, 2, and a 1) and gets $200 from the bank ($25/doughnut) as a reward.

He spends $100 to draw an Equipment card (Flush-o-matic) and decides he'll just save up his money for a bit so he can buy that later.

Alex looks over his cards, and decides to discard Bake Sale, since he also wants to save the kids. He lets Betty know it's her turn.

Betty goes to turn the clock, but sees that it's ready to come off the stack instead (it would be turned so it's right-side up again). She removes it from the pile, and goes on with the rest of her turn.

Betty collects her resources: one Doughnut card (oh well, just a 1), $100, and two Action cards (Sweet, Sweet Espionage, and It's Raining Doughnuts!).

She's now sitting pretty with that Cherry Filling and 11 Doughnuts waiting to be donated. She plays Cherry Filling, which increases the value of her doughnuts to $50 apiece for this turn, and then proceeds to donate the 10 Doughnuts for a whopping $500. (Not pictured: Alex plotting his revenge.)

Betty goes ahead and buys the Sprinkler that she'd drawn earlier, which gives her a permanent bonus when donating doughnuts.

She also pays $100 to draw a new equipment card (Presidential Doughnut Contract). Even though it's free, she's already purchased a piece of equipment this turn, so she'll have to wait until next turn to play it.

Betty decides that she likes her hand for the time being, and declines to discard. Play passes to Alex.

Will they save the kids in time? How will Alex catch up? Will Betty crush Alex into the dirt? The only way to know for sure is to get a deck and try it for yourself!