Musical Chairs is a whimsical card game that simulates a game of musical chairs but with cards instead of music. Each round, players start with a hand of eight cards. The starting player must play their lowest card, and then cards are played in ascending order until the current player does not have a legal move or chooses to not play one of the optional actions. In either case, the music stops, and everyone has to take a seat.

After every played card, players move their pawn around a circular board. Choosing where to stop is critical because the color of the chair you end up on determines which cards you score-both from your hand and from the cards already played.

If two or more players end the round on the same chair, a "butt battle" must take place, with players having the option to play cards from their hands in order to claim the chair. Players can also claim special cards and special power tokens during the game.