Side Effects
Side Effects Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
There are 4 types of cards in the deck:
- Disorders (skull icon)
- Drugs (Rx icon)
- Episodes (skull-with-X icon)
- Therapy (blue Rx icon)
Separate all the Disorders from the deck. Shuffle them and deal out 4 per player face up in front of them. This is henceforth referred to as their Psyche. If you're playing with 6+ people, deal out only 3 Disorder cards for their Psyche.
A Psyche can never hold 2 of the same Disorder, so if this happens, simply place the card on the bottom of the deck and deal out the next one.
Next, shuffle the remaining Disorders into the deck and deal out 4 cards per player face down. This is henceforth referred to as their Hand.
The rest of the deck becomes the draw pile. Discarded cards should be placed face up next to it (discard pile). Turns move clockwise. The player who had a nightmare most recently goes first.
How to Win
Using the contents of your Hand, be the first to treat all the Disorders in your Psyche. You may keep playing until there's 1 loser left.
Turns
Start your turn by drawing 2 cards. You can play up to 2 cards on your turn, but you're not compelled to play anything if you don't want to. At the end of your turn, you cannot have more than 6 cards in your hand—if you do, place extra cards into the discard pile.
Here are the ways you can play your cards (remember only 2 per turn)...
Treat a Disorder in Your Psyche
If you have a Drug that treats one of the Disorders in your Psyche, you can place it on top of that Disorder.
Give Another Player a Disorder
When someone has a Drug on top of a Disorder card in their Psyche, they are vulnerable to receiving any of the Disorders from that card's list of side effects. If you have a Disorder in your hand that another player is vulnerable to receiving, you can add that Disorder to their Psyche.
You can only give the Disorders listed on the Drug card to another player. A player who doesn't have any Drugs in their Psyche is not vulnerable to new Disorders.
It's important to point out that no Psyche can have 2 of the same Disorder. So even if someone is vulnerable to receiving a Disorder, once they've got it, they can't get it again. This includes Disorders that are being treated with Drugs.
Use a Therapy Card
This is like a wild card. You use it by taking any Disorder from your Psyche and placing it, with the Therapy card, into the discard pile.
The only card that Therapy does not work on is Tremors. It's also worth mentioning that there's no Drug for Anorexia—you must treat this with Therapy. The only downside of treating a Disorder with Therapy is that the Disorder is no longer in your Psyche and that means that you could, in theory, get it again.
Give Someone an Episode
Use this card to trigger any of the punishments listed on another player's untreated Disorders.
Take a look at your opponents' Disorders and read the punishments written on them. Once you've found the punishment you'd like to trigger, place your Episode card onto that Disorder. The other player MUST comply. Discard the Episode card after use. You may laugh at their misery.
A turn ends when a player makes 2 moves (or they can choose to end it early). Once there are no more cards in the draw pile, shuffle the discard pile and use that as the draw pile. Discarding cards from your Hand doesn't count toward your 2 moves.
Turns continue until someone treats all their Disorders—they are the victor!
Bargaining
You may make deals with other players, but be sure to adhere to these rules:
- You cannot put more than 2 cards into play on your turn.
- You cannot put any cards into play when it's not your turn.
- You may give and receive cards when it's not your turn as long as they're not put into play.
House Rules
Want to have 2 of the same Disorder in your Psyche? Want to use a Drug from your Hand to treat someone else's Disorder? These are not officially allowed, but neither is collecting everyone's taxes when you land on Free Parking! Your house, your rules.
Basic Strategies
- Pay attention to the punishments in your Psyche: This is absolutely essential to strategic gameplay. Read the punishments listed on the Disorders in your Psyche. Know what you're vulnerable to. Play accordingly.
- Beware of Madness: The punishment for Madness makes you discard all the Drugs on your Psyche. If you have an open Madness Disorder on your Psyche, wait until you can treat it, but don't wait too long. Sometimes you just have to take a risk and start putting down Drugs so that you're not too far behind other players.
- Hoarding Drugs is not always best: There are many punishments that will make you give up cards. You may think that waiting to treat yourself is a good idea, but it really all depends on the Disorders in your Psyche.
- Deprive others of what they desire: Maybe that Gambling Addiction Drug doesn't mean anything to you, but it's the only card your opponent needs to win. Hang on to it, discard it, or make a trade—your choice.
- Bargain: You're allowed to make deals with others. Make someone an offer they can't refuse.
Quick Reference: Basic Rules
To set up: Deal 4 Disorder cards face up in front of each player (the Psyche), and 4 cards to each player (concealed Hand).
Each turn consists of drawing 2 cards to your Hand and playing up to 2 cards.
Place the correct Drug card on top of its Disorder in your Psyche to treat it.
The side effects listed on the Drugs are Disorders that other players can add to your Psyche (provided you don't have them there already).
A Therapy card removes an untreated Disorder card from your Psyche (discard both after use).
An Episode card triggers any of the punishments listed on another player's untreated Disorders.
Be the first to treat all Disorders in your Psyche to win.
Game Key
| Disorder | May Cause (Drug's Side Effects) | Episode Punishment |
|---|---|---|
| Madness | Tremors | Discard all drugs on psyche |
| Suicidal Thoughts | Madness | Discard entire hand |
| Depression | Suicidal Thoughts, Impotence, Anorexia | Sit out 1 round |
| Tremors | Gambling Addiction, Depression, Madness | Discard 3 cards in 3 seconds, or discard entire hand |
| Gambling Addiction | Impotence | Inflictor may draw 3 cards from your hand at random |
| Anxiety | Suicidal Thoughts, Depression, Madness | Show hand to inflictor, inflictor may take 1 card |
| Impotence | Anxiety | Do not put down cards for one round |
| Anorexia | (no Drug treats Anorexia — use Therapy) | Do not draw cards for one round |
A Word on Mental Health
If you like Side Effects, you'll love MUD. This and more available at pillboxgames.com.
With a slash, I can stop a war / A few more and I could make you smile / When I skate across a crisp white plain / I'll stain it with my toxic bile / I've made fictions flourish and jesters dour / But without you to hold me, I lose all my power
Draw a picture of me and mail it to us. If you get it right, we'll send you a prize!
A brief word on the subject of mental illness: We fully support efforts to provide better advocacy and availability of mental health resources. The drugs and disorders featured in this game are all too real—this was done to add a touch of gravity to an otherwise lighthearted parlor game. In doing so, we hope to facilitate open and honest communication about these issues.
For more information on mental health issues, including where to get help, here are a few useful resources:
- mentalhealth.gov
- fountainhouse.org
- wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines
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