Welcome aboard! Before we set sail, please review the following rules of the sea, presented by legendary mariner and Global Gourmet Games veteran John O’Hurley.

John O'Hurley explains the rules
Global Gourmet Games 2018 - The Rules - Click to Play

In case seasickness prevents you from watching that video, here’s a quick overview of the rules.

Our cruise will consist of a series of competitions that test each table's gastronomic and oenological skills as well as their ability to answer diabolically difficult (and largely internet-search-proof) trivia questions. The contests include:

The Food Competition: Our focus has always been on how easy it is to prepare delicious meals in healthier ways, and so our food questions are often based on nutrition. For instance, we may ask you to rank your courses by fat or calorie content.

The Red and White Wine Competitions: Two players from each team taste a series of wines from around the world and answer questions about their countries of origin, composition and ratings. No player may compete in both the red and white wine competitions – this is to prevent anyone from going overboard.

The Trivia Quiz: Quiz topics can range from math and science to ancient philosophy to geography to pop culture. The one quality all of our quiz questions have in common: they're exceedingly difficult.

The Master Tasting Competition: Each team captain will submit a mystery bottle of red wine. Choose carefully – your bottle will go head-to-head in a taste-test against other teams' entries. The 10 highest-ranking bottles will then enter the final round where they'll be tasted by leading wine aficionados. The winning bottles will earn their tables special prizes and additional points.

Feeling intimidated by the challenge? Don't. The evening's designed to be fun and collegial, and most of the competitions are multiple choice. You’ll get your sea legs after the first quiz (or the first cocktail).

And – most important – it's all for a good cause.

 
FasterCures. This Washington, D.C.-based think tank is removing barriers to progress against all life-threatening diseases.
 
globalgourmetgames.org