BACKGROUND
On road trips, my friends and I often play a game similar to Would You Rather -- which I'm sure many other people play -- where we throw out two people, places, or things, then ask, "If only one could exist, which would you choose?" Depending on the choices, the ensuing conversation can range from funny to philosophical. Often the best rounds have (a) very difficult choices (of course), and (b) highly unrelated but relatively equally weighted things (e.g. "Carpool Lanes or Sushi", "Star Wars or Cheese", "YouTube or Concerts", "The Olympics or Memes", etc.).
TL;DR
The game is a cross between Cards Against Humanity and Would You Rather.
Each round there is a judge, and everyone else puts down two cards which they think will be difficult for the judge to choose between. For each pair, the judge picks the card they would rather exist, then they choose the pair of cards which were the most difficult to pick between. The owner of the selected pair of cards wins the round.
DETAILED EXPLANATION
Starting Out
Each person draws one card at random and lays it face up. The group collectively decides which card would be the hardest to live without.
The owner of the selected card is appointed judge for the first round, and the cards are discarded.
Gameplay
Each person draws ten cards.
Once everyone is familiar with their cards, each person (except for the judge) picks two cards which they think will be difficult for the judge to choose between and places them face down together.
Once everyone's pairs are in play, the judge places them face up. The judge reads each pair aloud and picks the thing they’d rather exist (i.e. the card which would be the hardest to live without). Optionally, the judge can give a quick explanation of their choices to incite anger and playful banter amongst the group.
When ready, the judge picks which pair of cards was the hardest to choose between. The owner of the winning pair gets a point and keeps the cards as a token of their superiority.
Discard all of the played cards and have each person take two more cards. The person sitting to the left of last round’s judge is appointed the new judge.
Rinse and repeat until the disagreements cause irreversible fractures in your relationships, then crown the victor.
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QUESTIONS
- Are the premise and gameplay generally sound? What needs tweaking?
- Is the right audience for this the same as something like Cards Against Humanity?
- Are there too many similar "comparison" party games (I'm not sure what the technical category would be)?
- If this is a category of games you're interested in, is this something you would play?
1) I agree. I thought it was a fun introduction to the game, but definitely not necessary.
2). When I tested it with my friends, we just put our pairs in front of each other. Other ways to solve for it would be having the judge close their eyes, or using something like a paper clip the keep the cards together, then mixing up the pairs.
3) Yes, make sense. Good point -- will do.
Dully noted.
Thank you!