Apples to Apples

You be the Judge

Party games predate most other types of games, much less “modern board games.” They routinely sell like hot cakes …. assuming you need to buy anything to play. Charades, Word Games of the type that Lewis Carroll might enjoy, Telephone, and the like require little more than imagination.

You certainly could buy a party game, like that gameshow you watch on TV.

But — like sports — party games are old. Even if they are subject to reinterpretation by every new culture and generation. Often the newer version are OK, typically just a fad. But sometimes gold is indeed struck.

Apples to Apples. I’ve seen estimates of 15 million sold (worldwide), but could not find numbers I trust. Image by Frederic Dubois

Matthew Kirby and Mark Alan Osterhaus’ Apples to Apples does have roots in ancient games … trying to please the Big Man (or Woman). You can see these games being played formally on Taskmaster (to win the game show), or informally on Bridgerton, where amusing Her Majesty is a shortcut to social success¹.

Apples to Apples has each player with a hand of red apple cards, which are Proper Nouns. One player (the Judge) draws a green apple card which is typically an adjective and all the other players rush to pick a card from their hand that they think best exemplifies that card. They have to be quick, because the last card tossed in gets booted unceremoniously.

In this case, a picture is worth a thousand rules².

Which card would you pick? Image by BGG User “Angus the Bull”

The Judge picks the “best” card, but is free to judge “best” however he or she wants. At least in my groups, “best” is often “funniest, while at least being vaguely correct” but hey, the judge is the judge. The winner gets the green card and becomes the next judge, unless they’ve got enough points to win.

So, Apples to Apples was a party game, but unlike Charades (etc) there is no “right” answer, and even if one particular card is perfect for a category, it might not show up at the right time. This wasn’t the first player judged game, but it was close and no other game had such wide appeal³.

It might be strong to call Apples to Apples a phenomena, but it has been a mainstay of game sections in stores that primarily sell clothes, household goods, books, or groceries (as well as game stores). I’ve played it with my children (playing the kids or junior version), at family gatherings, and at game conventions.

And then there are the knockoffs, the most (in)famous being Cards Against Humanity, which is what happens if Apples to Apples cards were designed by teenaged boys⁴. Cards Against Humanity’s massive cultural influence⁵ led to even more knockoffs⁶.

Imitators are the price of success and Apples to Apples had plenty. Part of the price of inventing (or possibly re-inventing) a great genre of party games. For that reason, I consider Apples to Apples worthy of inclusion in The 100 Most Influential Games of the 20th Century.

1. Well, at least in the short term.

2. The use of this image should not be taken as expressing that any of the particular cards are ‘Dysfunctional.’

3. Personal Preference is the only game I recognized that predates it, in the BGG “Player Judge” category.

4. I don’t like it, but if I’d been a teenager when it came … who knows?

5. Which included being licensed as a comedy/game show, thankfully never aired.

6. I did chuckle seeing Crabs Against Humidity at a comic store; but technically it is just an unofficial expansion.