Apples to apples, by Matthew Kirby, is a classic judging game. It targets a wide audience of teenagers and adults as the lighthearted, fun cards appeal to many demographics. It can be played with 4-10 players, though for larger groups players can easily team up to have a very large number of players. The game comes with green “Description” and red “Thing” cards, with each player holding a hand of seven red cards. Each round, one player is designated as the judge, and draws a Description card. Every other player then selects a Thing card that matches the Description in a funny or entertaining way, and the judge picks the Thing card they like the most. The players then replentish their hands to seven again. The player who submitted the Thing card that the judge selects thereby wins the Description card, and play continues with the judge role rotating clockwise. The game continues until either a player reaches a designated number of Description cards, or the players complete a predetermined number of rounds. The player with the most Description cards at the end wins!
Apples to apples is a multilateral competition game, but the shifting role of judge throws a wrinkle in the game. The group I played with was very competitive, so often the judge would try to discern which cards were submitted by players that were ahead so that they did not extend their lead. Because of the various design elements such as the childish graphics and often silly topics, it seems that the designers intended for a more relaxed playstyle, so I’m not sure if our critical play was representative of how the majority of players would approach the game. Compared to a game like Cards Against Humanity, an explicit game based on Apples to Apples, this game does not require a player to get very vulnerable. The extent of personal information that could be gleaned from playing is that someone might match things to a description that others may not, but due to the inocuous nature of the topics, this is not significant. Because of this, the game can be played between strangers just as easily as between good friends. The success of this game depends largely on the cards, because a lot of the fun is created when interesting interactions are created that might be unexpected.
