Adult themed card games seem to be making a comeback as of late. Take “Cards Against Humanity”, for example…almost every casual gamer I know (even teenagers who really aren’t supposed to be playing it) seem to know what it is and how to play it. “Farce”, a game that’s coming to Kickstarter in August of 2016, is similar to “Cards Against Humanity” but has quite a unique twist to it. Before I get started, I’d like to thank Game Creator Guy Walker for providing me with a prototype for preview purposes. It’s important to stress that prototypes are not often reflective of the final product, making everything you read about here (including the rules) subject to change. Like “Cards Against Humanity”, this game is not meant to be played by the easily offended, so you kids out there reading this should go do your homework or something.
Firstly, it’s important to explain that there are three types of cards in this game: Words, Fragments, and Connectors. There are a total of 568 cards in “Farce”, which is comparable to “Cards Against Humanity’s” 550. Like “You’ve Been Sentenced”, you’ll be using different cards to form a sentence…one that is more than likely going to sound both silly and dirty at the same time. To set up the game, the three card types are shuffled into their own separate decks. Once you do that, you’re ready to play! Yes, it’s that easy.
The game is broken up over a series of rounds, with the role of the dealer moving clockwise around the table each round. At the beginning of each round, each player is dealt 3 Word cards, 6 Fragment cards, and 3 Connector cards (12 in all). After receiving and looking at their cards, players may discard up to two cards to receive that many from the appropriate deck (like in “Poker”). If you discard two Fragment cards, for example, then you’d take two Fragment cards from the Fragment deck.
Players then have about two minutes to combine their cards in any way they wish to form a sentence. Players need not use every card, nor do they need to use at least one type of each of the three cards. Some cards have the text “You may use any ONE of the below”, meaning that players will choose only one of the bullet points listed on the card to form part of their sentence. The goal is to create the funniest sentence, regardless of its length. Each player reads their sentence aloud and the person who receives the most laughs is awarded a point. Ties result in each of the tied players receiving a point.
At the end of a round after points are awarded, players discard all of their cards and start a new round with a fresh hand of 12 cards. As mentioned earlier, the role of the dealer shifts clockwise with every new round. I couldn’t find an end of game point limit in the print-and-play file I was given, but honestly this game doesn’t need one…play until you feel like stopping like you would in “Apples to Apples” or the aforementioned “Cards Against Humanity”.
Some examples found in the PDF print-and-play include:
“Japanese tourists still hope to see Narnia whenever they open a wardrobe”
and
“The elephant in the room is slutty and proud”
As you can see from the above examples and card contents, it’s very easy for minds to go south shortly after diving into the game. There are somewhat clean sentences one can form, though I find that most winners of “Cards Against Humanity” and by extension, “Farce”, are the people who are the dirtiest minded. After all, people who want a clean game similar to this can play “Apples to Apples” or “You’ve Been Sentenced”.
While many variations of “Apples to Apples” and “Cards Against Humanity” exist, “Farce” gives the player a bit more options when thinking about their answer. There’s also no single “judge” from round to round…instead you’re graded so to speak by everyone in your group, every single time. This means no figuring out how to tickle one particular person’s funny bone, making “Farce” a smidge more social in nature.
If you enjoy games like “Cards Against Humanity” but have blown through the deck so many times that you have the cards memorized by heart, then give “Farce” a spin. You’ll probably find that forming dirty sentences never felt so good.
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Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/farcegame/farce-card-game-gets-everyone-laughing
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