Side Effects

Side Effects initially caught my eye because of its cool art style. Its skeleton-mental health theme gives it a morbid (and often funny) aesthetic and the box art is gorgeous! The long, skinny "tarot" sized cards are lovely to hold and sturdy, with beautiful artwork on both sides and vertically mirrored effect text that makes it easy to read cards sitting across the table. This small format detail is incredibly important to gameplay. Mechanically speaking, Side Effects is a fabulous, fast-paced little card game with a kind of rock-paper-scissors dynamic! Because you need to sort out conditions to deal out each player's "psyche" and then reshuffle them into the deck, you are going to have to shuffle these cards A LOT, and I could see that wearing them out in the long term. Side Effects gives each player a psyche full of illnesses that they must treat. But treating them with medication leaves you vulnerable to other conditions, and while you're attempting to treat yourself you also need to prevent other players from outpacing you or penalizing you. There is a fair amount of strategy to be had here, but it is light enough to be quite beginner-friendly. The game dynamic causes quite a bit of laughter and playful "punishing" moments. For more seasoned board gamers, this game is a wonderful palate-cleanser between games or for the end of a gaming session!

I saw this boardgame on store with a higher price and decided to get it from Amazon. It is such a good and fun game with unique gameplay. My husband and I started with the basic pack but decided to get the expansion one after a few days. The game is very easy to learn as well

This game has been more fun than it had any right to be. There are nights me and my group of players just don't play other games because we want to play this. And whoever did the game design is top tier, brilliantly put together. The card quality is roughly that of a tarot card little bit thicker maybe, the print is beautiful full color, and the actual artwork used in the various cards are stunning. I think the thing I like most of though is the actual box with its gold foiling it's just such a beautiful little container that you can kind of take anywhere. If you're traveling a lot and want a game that you can just whip out and teach somebody in like 30 seconds this is the game. Should fit in any pack easily. Here's a quick run through of what the game looks like. Everyone is dealt for random illnesses such as anxiety, depression, impotence, etc. Everyone draws four cards and you can get a mix of treatment cards that cure your illnesses, other illnesses that you can inflict on other players who are susceptible to them, and then there are therapy cards that cure almost anything, and lastly a car to trigger episodes. Each illness has a specific side effect that you will experience through the game as a great example if you are mad and someone makes you have an episode all of the cures you've used on your illnesses are gone. Each treatment, with the exception of therapy, will make you susceptible to different things so depression makes you susceptible to impotence or anorexia or suicidal thoughts. When you see a player susceptible to a illness can give it to them to prevent them from winning. You win by hearing all of your diseases. Great fun for I would say probably somewhere around the lines of 13 and up there's a little bit of a morbidness when you're talking about illnesses such as Suicidal Thoughts. With a group of adults this is a blast, it can accommodate up to six players roughly, turns go by really fast, and the game doesn't last more than like 20 minutes unless you have max players and everyone is playing optimally.

We play a lot of games - basic ones and more high strategy ones. This game was actually pretty easy once you got the hang of it. It does take some slight strategy and you definitely have to pay attention to what cards you have and the disorders your opponents have. You cane cure yours, give others more disorders, or make them have an episode, but any action can backfire on you too. My adult son and I played and really enjoyed it! We laughed and had a good time. One game can be very quick or take a but if time - it just depends on the luck of the draw. This is definitely a game we can play over and over again. Pros: Easy to learn Can play with 2-10 people, so more options for group size. We have only played with two and it was fun. The artwork on the cards. It is fun. Cons: The cards are larger than regular cards and harder to shuffle. You have to separate out the disorders, shuffle and deal them out, and then shuffle them back in the deck each game. That is time consuming. Some complained about the fact that it calls out or makes fun of mental health. It is actually accurate on the treatments and side effects of them, so it isn't making fun and is realistic. Yes, players can give each other disorders and such and make it fun, but it is a game folks! I have a psychology degree and have family members with mental illness and I do not take offense to this game. If you do, don't play it. I highly recommend this game if you don't mind the content of it.

Do yourself a favor and buy the expansion pack too, trust me. Great game to play with teens, it's slightly edgy but also destigmatizes mental illnesses by opening the door to discussion. The information is mostly accurate (pretty sure Madness isn't in the DSM). It is easy to learn, you'll just want to keep the instructions handy to refer back to so you can strategize. Shuffling with the expansion pack is no small feat, but well worth the time and effort. My kid love giving each other mental breakdowns and plotting revenge. We added a couple of our own house rules: (1) you can force a treatment on someone (and then give them one of the side effects after). (2) Made it so the Restock card also lets you discard your whole hand. We're still thinking of changing the punishment for Dry Mouth as it is pretty weak. We can't wait for the new Vice cards to be released!

We were pleased to find the positive messages and mental health resource links in the instructions. For a game that could be accused of making light of serious subjects, this was tastefully done and comes off as a positive not a negative. The cards look and feel a little like Tarot Cards in their size, card stock, and presentation. Game rules are not too difficult. Replayability, maybe middle of the road. This is a really clever game with a novel subject matter, and vary fun to show off to the right audience. Gameplay is a little like Mille Bornes but not as engaging. They use generic names of all the medications, to avoid copyright issues presumably. Sort of wish they could have used the more common names. Buy this one for the subject matter. The design and artwork is delightful. No regrets, go for it.

This is very fun, and easy to play. I wouldn't play with anyone younger than maybe 16 or 17. The art on the cards and the box is very nice, I was really impressed with it and it is quite funny. It's not a huge box, so you can easily take it to game night, or it won't take up too much more space in your closet full of board games if you are like me.

This game is so fun. I play it with my adult sons, and we have a great time. The instructions are easy to follow and learn. The cards seem to be a good quality.

Excellent game, lots of fun if it matches your sense of humor, easy to understand and makes for a great games night

Side Effects è un gioco semplice e divertente da giocare con i propri amici. le regole si imparano in 5 minuti ed è assolutamente geniale. il tema un po' dark delle malattie mentali lo rende un gioco intrigante che propongo sempre a tutti i miei amici come alternativa ai soliti giochi di carte. (nelle foto ho censurato solo un codice sconto che ti danno per l'acquisto di un gioco della pillbox) Dato che il gioco è disponibile solo in america non mi aspettavo arrivasse veramente, sono rimasto piacevolmente sorpreso quando ho aperto il pacco e mi sono ritrovato la scatola perfetta e intonsa!

Can't wait to buy the expansion!

Really fun game lots of playability. Gets pretty dark

Excelente envío, llegó en buen estado y recomiendo el juego, está muy divertido.