A widower with three children is working on a business deal to get his family out of financial straits when he is killed in a taxi accident. With the aid of a paranormal researcher, he attempts to complete the deal from the beyond, ensuring his family will be taken care of.
In honor of his birthday, San Francisco banker Nicholas Van Orton, a financial genius and a cold-hearted loner, receives an unusual present from his younger brother, Conrad: a gift certificate to play a unique kind of game. In nary a nanosecond, Nicholas finds himself consumed by a dangerous set of ever-changing rules, unable to distinguish where the charade ends and reality begins.