Price: $24.52
(as of Oct 26, 2024 05:24:13 UTC - Details)

Drug use, personal demons, wild episodes, and more. Side Effects is a "take that" card game where you race to treat all the diseases in your psyche with drugs and therapy. You'll start with 4 Disorder cards dealt face up and then take turns trying to find (or steal) the right Drug cards to treat your Disorders. But beware! Drug cards will also leave you open to receiving new Disorders from other players! 2018 SXSW Gamer's Voice finalist In addition to being wickedly fun to play, Side Effects is a gorgeous piece of art within itself — the gilded box contains 89 beautiful cards and an instruction booklet. A pleasing gift for anyone, it takes only minutes to learn and can play from 2 to 8 (ages 14 and up).
Engage in Strategic Fun: Dive into a "take that" card game where 2-8 players race to cure their psyche using prescriptions and therapy, making every play a unique challenge. Perfect for teens and adults with a playtime of 10-30 minutes.
Easy to Learn, Hard to Master: With very simple rules, Side Effects promises an addictive gameplay that is easy for beginners to pick up, yet offers deep strategic options for seasoned players​.
Award-Nominated Design: Experience the intrigue and competition in a game that was a finalist for a SXSW Gamer's Voice award, ensuring a quality and engaging gameplay experience​.
Dynamic Player Interaction: Start with four disease cards and navigate the risks of treatment versus potential side effects. Use episode cards to affect your fate and that of your opponents for thrilling twists and turns.
Beautifully Crafted with Mature Themes: Designed by Jade Shames and Kat Thek, and illustrated by Ben Bronstein, Side Effects combines strategic gameplay with a visually appealing design that tackles mature themes with a touch of humor​.
Reviewer: Annamaria
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Added a rule!
Review: This game is so much fun! We bought the expansion for it immediately after a round of playing. The expansion adds some extras that add to the mechanics of the game. One house rule we decided to add was activating a new disorder as soon as you play it in someone. Makes it a little extra fun! But it is such a fast and easy game to learn. We’ve had it for a week now and have played it every night since getting it! The artwork is amazing and cards are well made. Definitely recommend!

Reviewer: Jesse
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: This game is awesome!!
Review: Wife and I frequent the nude beaches and resorts and we’re looking for small games to take with us to play hanging out on the beach, and we found this game(which is small) and doesn’t take up much room, it’s super easy to play and has some good strategy to it, the card and box art is awesome, definitely one of our go to beach games for sure, and quite a few of our friends have liked it also!

Reviewer: Doctor Octoroc
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: I love this game so much, and I'm not a card game guy!
Review: I first played this game at a friend's house and boy did we turn on each other quick. One second we were all friends sipping our wine and chatting about life and the next, we were ganging up on each other. Who would have thought that trying to destroy your friends' mental health would be so much fun!Seriously though, the game mechanics are so easy to learn and straight forward and even helped me to formulate my own card game. I doubt I'll follow through on that since I always have new projects popping up but it's nice to know I can play a card game that's this rewarding without the commitment of MTG and without breaking the bank.I'd say the game is suitable for more mature players given the theme. I have middle-aged friends who have been through a lot in life and don't love it while others find it to be therapeutic.Definitely a good quick party game for 4-8 people but be warned - eventually, there will always be that one person that doesn't want to stop playing and the one that will secretly want to quite after not winning a few rounds but stay silent and hold it against the rest of the group. I am somehow both of these people on some nights.

Reviewer: M.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Fun and easy to learn! Great little card game!
Review: 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!

Reviewer: Scott Jones
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Clever game, nice production values
Review: 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.

Reviewer: Blake
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Super awesome
Review: We loved this game. It is always interesting and unique every round. Totally worth the buy.

Reviewer: Chance of a Lifetime
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Super fun and great artwork!
Review: 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 learnCan 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.