Make a Stink: A Preview of Fart Juice

This easy-to-learn card game is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter and was designed with the goal of amusing kids and engaging adults. It’s not afraid to be a little cheeky with its theme and you can tell its designers clearly had a lot of fun with it.

Gameplay

To start the game, every player is dealt a location. These oversized cards list which type of fart cards players need to collect in order to win the game. There are a wide range of different types of fart cards and some are more common than others. Every player will need one rarer fart card and four slightly more common, but still special, fart cards. In addition, every player will also need to collect six Normal Fart cards.

On your turn you draw up to eight cards. During your turn you may choose to take any of the following actions:

• Play one action card (these allow you to do such things as stealing a card from another player or taking a card from the discard pile)
• Play one or two fart cards onto your location
• Discard as many cards as you would like

Other card types present in the deck are interrupt cards, which you can play at any time, on any turn, and counter cards which can be used to defend yourself against other players' actions. You can also draw red cards which will either force you to discard a fart card from your location or take up space in your hand and prevent you from discarding it.

The first player that successfully collects all their needed fart cards and plays them onto their location wins the game.

Review

Fart Juice is incredibly easy to pick up, as pretty much all the information you need is either printed on the cards themselves or on a convenient cheat sheet on the back of each location. We never once came up against a situation in which we didn’t know how to interpret the rules or whether something was a legal move. The game is elegantly and simply designed in the best way.

The location cards are a nifty device, as having each player trying to collect a different set of cards means that you have to make some interesting decisions when discarding. It’s fun to see how each location differs and it adds a nice personal touch to each player’s objective.

Some players may find the humor and theme of the game a little uncomfortable. From farts to sharts, the game doesn’t hold back but it does remain strictly in PG-territory. The artwork is also very cute and kid-friendly and has a nice, simple style to it that is very appealing. If the title of the game amuses you, then you’ll have no problem with the game’s content.

The turns go by quickly and gameplay is lots of fun, keeping everyone engaged and posing some interesting choices. There are a lot of action cards that will keep you in the running even when it seems you’re far behind and it’s really anyone’s game up until the very end.

If you are looking for a lighthearted card game, and find the game’s theme amusing, then you will not be disappointed and should definitely go check out its Kickstarter campaign.

Pros: The location cards are a fun concept, turns are fast, gameplay is really easy to learn

Cons: Some players may find the humor too crude

Disclosure: this preview is based on our evaluation of an unpublished prototype of the game, which is subject to change prior to publication. While a modest payment was received to expedite the review process, our thoughts and opinions expressed here are honest and accurate.