Apples to Apples

Apples to Apples is a fast-paced party game of pairing words. It takes about half an hour to play.

Equipment

• 108 green cards (green apples) each of which has an adjective such as frightening or obnoxious printed on one side.
• 324 red cards (red apples) each of which has a noun such as Eleanor Roosevelt or lollipops printed on one side.
• A tray for holding the cards.

Rules

From four to ten may play. At the beginning of the game each player is dealt seven red apples (nouns), and one player is selected to the first judge.

On each turn the judge draws a green apple (adjective) and places it face up for all to see. The remaining players each quickly select a one red apple and place it face down. The slowest player to select a red apple is disqualified for that turn, and retains all of his red apples.

The judge shuffles the selected red apples so that it is unclear which player contributed which, and then reveals them. The judge decides which of the red apples is most nearly described by the green apple, and one point is awarded to the player who contributed the winning red apple.

Players draw cards to increase their hands back to seven red apples, and the responsibility of being judge passes to the left.

The winner is the player who first reaches a predetermined number of points.

Strategy

Lobbying for the appropriateness of certain matches is allowed and encouraged. For example one may say, "Don't you think Michael Jackson is rather frightening? Remember the baby incident..." One is not required to lobby for one's own apples; on the contrary it is both fun and sporting to praise interesting matches offered by other people.

It is wise to play to the judge. Some judges are prone to look for the most technically correct match, whereas others tend to vote for the funniest or most creative association. Also be aware of the judge's biases. If the judge is a chain-smoking Democrat, and he turns the green apple disgusting, you may have a better chance of scoring with George W. Bush than with cigarettes, regardless of how much you personally like them apples.

When none of your red apples seems likely to win, it may be wise to throw away a boring one simply to earn the opportunity of drawing a new card.