Playing Rotten Apples involves a lively game of matching witty and often absurd answers to humorous prompts, much like a classic party card game. It's a game of creativity and knowing your audience, as players aim to impress a rotating judge with the best possible response.
Core Gameplay Mechanics
Rotten Apples is a social card game designed for laughs, where players choose the most fitting (or funniest) answer to a given scenario. The game revolves around "brown" prompt cards and "green" answer cards.
Getting Started
To begin a game of Rotten Apples, follow these initial steps:
- Determine the Judge: The player whose birthday is on or closest to January 4 becomes the first judge. This role rotates each round.
- Card Distribution: Each player receives a hand of green "answer" cards. Brown "prompt" cards are placed in a central pile.
- Game Objective: The goal is to collect the most brown cards by having your green answer card chosen by the judge.
A Turn in Rotten Apples
Each round follows a straightforward sequence:
- The Judge's Prompt: The current judge picks a brown card from the pile and reads aloud the sentence or phrase written on it. These prompts are typically open-ended and designed to be filled in with a variety of answers.
- Players Respond: The other players (the "Apples") look at the green cards in their hand. Each player selects one green card that they believe provides the best, funniest, or most appropriate answer to the judge's brown card sentence.
- Submitting Answers: Players pass their chosen green card face down to the judge. This ensures the judge doesn't know who submitted which answer.
- Judge's Decision: The judge shuffles the submitted green cards and then reads them aloud. After considering all the anonymous answers, the judge picks the one they like best.
- Scoring and Next Round: The player whose green card was chosen wins the brown card for that round. A new judge is selected (often the player to the left of the previous judge, or the player who won the round, depending on house rules or specific game editions), and a new round begins.
Winning the Game
The game continues for a predetermined number of rounds or until a player collects a specific number of brown cards. The player with the most brown cards at the end of the game is declared the winner of Rotten Apples.
Tips for Playing
- Know Your Judge: Understanding the judge's sense of humor is key. Do they prefer witty, absurd, or politically incorrect answers?
- Strategic Hand Management: Decide whether to play your best cards early or save them for prompts you feel particularly confident about.
- Embrace the Absurd: Some of the most memorable moments in Rotten Apples come from unexpected and ridiculously funny combinations.
Rotten Apples is a fantastic choice for game nights, parties, or any social gathering looking for a dose of spontaneous humor and lighthearted competition. For more information on similar social card games, you can explore resources on BoardGameGeek.
