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So, you have given into madness and took a gamble on Side Effects and now you are curious as to how to play this unique little card game? The interns are ready to hold you down to spoon feed you your medicine, then let me teach you how to play this simple game.
The aim of the game is to be the first player to cure yourself of all the disorders in your psyche. That is all.
Set-Up
Being a small game consisting of nothing more than a deck of cards, set up is a simple process.
Separate all the disorder cards from the rest, shuffle, and deal everyone 4 disorders. If anyone ends up with multiple of the same disorder, then they are dealt new disorders until they have 4 different ones. This is because your ‘psyche’ can not hold more than one of each disorder.
Your ‘psyche’ refers to the cards you have in front of you. All cards played are placed face up.
Then shuffle the remaining disorder cards into the rest of the cards and deal out 4 face-down cards to each player. This is their starting hand. The rest of the cards get placed in the middle to form a draw deck.
The process is exactly the same for 2-5 players. For 6-8 players, everyone is only dealt 3 disorders instead.
Turn Structure…
According to the rules, the player who most recently had a nightmare goes first, and play continues in a clockwise fashion. This is just a silly abstract way of determining though. I am sure every game group has a pre-determined way to decide the start player.
The game plays in 3 simple phases. Draw, play, end.
You start your turn by drawing 2 cards, which brings you up to 6 cards if it is your first turn. You can play up to 2 cards on your turn. This means that you can choose not to play any card if you do not wish to.
If you have more than 6 cards in your hand at the end of your turn, then you need to discard back down to 6 before the next player starts their turn. That is all there is to the turn structure. There are no counter cards or anything of the ilk, so whatever you choose to play (or not to play) cannot be stopped, but the same is true for your opponents. It all comes down to timing and strategy.
Card Types:
There are 4 different card types you can possibly have in your hand.
- Disorder cards are the ones that you have face-up in your psyche, they can be used on your opponents when they are open for them.
- Drug cards let you heal specific disorders in your psyche. There is only ever one type of drug for each disorder. These are played on top of disorder cards to treat them, but it leaves you open for other disorders to be played on you as side effects.
- Episode cards are played on your opponents’ disorders that are NOT being treated with drugs. This triggers an ‘episode’ and forces them to do a variety of actions. Each disorder has their own triggered ability, and you get to choose which one to place the card on.
- Therapy cards are a trump card that allows you to treat any disorder in your psyche. When you play this card, however, the disorder you chose to treat leaves your psyche (along with the therapy card) and goes into the discard pile. This will open you up to be afflicted with that disorder again.
Worthy Notes:
- Anorexia can ONLY be cured with therapy as there is no drug for it.
- Tremors is immune to therapy cards. This is because it is a physical condition and not a mental one.
- A psyche can never hold more than 1 of each type of disorder, including ones that are under drug treatment.
- The disorder cards show the trigger ability both facing you and your opponents, and the drug cards show what side effects they open up in the same fashion. All the information you will need will be in front of you at all times.
Bargaining…
This can only really be implemented with higher player counts. If you are playing a 2-player game, the option is still there for you. The chance of getting a successful bargain is slim to none, for obvious reasons.
There are 3 rules you must keep in mind during bargaining:
- No matter what bargain is made, you can not play more than 2 cards per turn.
- You can not play any card if it is not your turn.
- You can give and receive cards no matter who’s turn it currently is, but you can not play them unless it is your turn.
House Rules…
The player guide mentions that you are free to use house rules if you wish, such as having more than 1 of each disorder in your psyche at any time or using drugs to treat other people’s disorders (which is not something you can usually do). The game is simple enough for you to get a little flexible and find a rhythm that suits your group the most. I find some of these rules to be more engaging, especially during negotiations. “I will cure your tremors if you use your episode card on Markus and not me”, things like this make the game more light-hearted.
Things to Keep in Mind…
Side Effects is a simple little card game with interestingly simple mechanics at hand. That being said, there are still a few things to keep in mind that can give you a tactical upper hand.
- There are a few episode triggers that allow you to steal cards from another player’s hand. Use that wisely if you think they have the drug you need. But also, be wary of your own disorders, they may be able to do the same thing to you.
- Be extra mindful of keeping ‘Madness’ exposed in your psyche. If someone triggers an episode on that, they essentially reset the game for you.
- Think a few turns ahead, but not too far. There are a lot of ways you can be forced to discard cards, give cards away etc. Holding onto all your drug cards is not usually the safest option.
- Keep an eye on what drugs your opponents need. If playing in groups, offering a trade if you can cure them of an ailment may just work to your advantage. If they can cure one of yours.
- Remember that if you offer a bargain to someone, you do not have to keep your side of the deal. And they might not hold true to their promise either!
And that is all you need to know in order to play Side Effects. Hopefully, you found this guide useful. Stay tuned for more How to Play content!