The Blame Game
Print these on letter paper, cut along the card borders, and you have a real deck. Card stock holds up better than copy paper, but either works.
This is the printable version. You can also play The Blame Game online.
In the print dialog: Letter, portrait, margins None, "Background graphics" on, scale 100% (not "Fit to page"). Scale is the one that matters, or the cards miss 2.5″ × 3.5″ and won’t fit sleeves.
100 cards instead of these 18.
First email includes a hidden page not linked anywhere else.
If you play this, tell me which blames kept winning, which never got picked, and whether it started repeating. Contact form at the bottom of this page, or the Discord.
The Blame Game: Sample Pack
What's in this set
4 problem cards and 14 blame cards, enough for a full game with 4 players. The full deck has .
The print-and-play deck: .
Setup
- Separate the cards into a problem pile and a blame pile. Problem cards have a red border, blame cards a blue one.
- Shuffle both piles and put them face down.
- Each player draws 3 blame cards. Keep them hidden.
- Pick a judge for the first round. The judge doesn't play cards.
Playing a round
- The judge draws a problem card and reads it out loud.
- Everyone else (the lawyers) takes a turn clockwise. On your turn, play one blame card and argue why it caused the problem.
- Draw a new blame card to replace the one you played.
- The problem card stays the same for everyone that round.
Voting and scoring
Once every lawyer has played, the judge picks their favorite argument. That lawyer takes a point. Pass the judge role clockwise and start the next round.
The game ends when someone reaches 5 points and everyone has been judge the same number of times. Most points wins.
Running low on cards: this sample is small on purpose. Shuffle played blame cards back into the pile whenever it runs out, and reuse problem cards once you've been through all four.
Other ways to play
- Reverse: the judge reads a blame card, and lawyers play problems that it caused.
- Blame chain: no judge. The first player links a blame to a problem, and each player after that blames a new card for the previous player's blame card. Vote on the best link when you're done.
- Teams: if over 8 players, split into teams and answer together.
- House rules: change whatever you want, like more cards per turn or a different winning score. Just agree before you start.
Want the rest? The full printable deck goes out to the mailing list at kylebob.com. A hundred cards instead of these eighteen.
Played it? Tell me which blames kept winning and which never got picked. Contact form at the bottom of kylebob.com.
The Blame Game by Kyle Bob. Play it online at kylebob.com/blame.
