Bad Grandmas
Bad Grandmas Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
You need 16 Grandma cards, 1 regular six-sided dice, paper and a pencil to keep track of the scores.
Aim of the Game
Score points by pitting your Grandmas against each other. The player with the most points after 7 rounds wins.
Set-Up
Shuffle the Grandma cards and set aside 2 at random, face down. Deal 7 cards to each player. Reveal one of the set-aside cards and read the upside-down "rule modifier". This modifier applies for the whole game.
How to Play
In each round both players select one of their Grandmas and place it face down. Reveal the cards simultaneously. The winner of the round is the player with the strongest Grandma (unless this has been modified). The difference between the two strengths (once any modifier has been applied) gives the points scored by the winner (unless the points have been modified!).
Points scored by the winner of a round:
- 1, 2 or 3 = 1 point
- 4 or 5 = 2 points
- 6 or more = 3 points
End of the Game
The game ends when all the Grandmas have been played. The player with the most points is the winner (unless, of course, the winning condition has been modified!).
Grandma Cards
Each card has a number, a suit icon (a spool or a rolling pin), a name with a subtitle, and a strip along the bottom. Cards with a spool icon and cards with a rolling pin icon are the two suits. Card 0 and the dice card are also included among the 16 Grandmas.
Spool Grandmas
| No. | Name | Subtitle | Card strip (as printed) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Queenie: The Bag Lady | Incontinent mendicant | Icon strip: +1, arrow, spool VS rolling pin |
| 2 | Great Aunt Ada | Rotten-mouthed curtain-twitcher | Icon strip: +1, arrow, spool VS rolling pin |
| 3 | Mrs Function | Bothersome old battle-axe | "Only fights score" with spool VS rolling pin (printed upside-down) |
| 4 | Mrs Shortbread | Irksome coffin-dodger | "All strengths: +" with dice icon (printed upside-down) |
| 5 | Helga von Maintenance | Pension-drawing Teutonic nightmare | "Highest strength each round: +1" |
| 6 | Granny O'Tea |
Rolling Pin Grandmas
| No. | Name | Subtitle | Card strip (as printed) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hilda Conversation | Interfering old rat-bag | Icon strip: +1, arrow, rolling pin VS spool |
| 2 | Doris Karloff | Ancient horror | Icon strip: +1, arrow, rolling pin VS spool |
| 3 | Cissy Nipwiggs | Mithering busybody | "Only fights score" with rolling pin VS spool (printed upside-down) |
| 4 | Betty Criminal | Nosey crone | "All strengths: +" with dice icon |
| 5 | Thora! Thora! Thora! | Meddlesome octogenarian | "Highest strength each round: +1" |
| 6 | Grandmere Fromage | Horrible, just plain horrible |
Dice Grandma
| No. | Name | Subtitle | Card strip (as printed) |
|---|---|---|---|
| (none) | Dame Nellie Cadaver | Grand old mistress of the stage | "Lowest strength wins each round" (dice icon and rolling pin on the card) |
Card Strip Notes
- The strip on a set-aside card, read upside-down, is the rule modifier for the whole game (see Set-Up).
- The icon strips on the Queenie, Great Aunt Ada, Hilda Conversation and Doris Karloff cards are reproduced as described in the table above. The sheet prints no key for these icons, so no meaning beyond what is shown on the card is given here.
- The card strips are transcribed as printed. The sheet does not give further explanation of the modifiers.