Components

• 1 Game Board
• 350 Poison Cards
• 48 Choice and Double Down cards
• one score sheet
• 5 blank Poison cards
• Rulebook

Object of the Game

Each round, combine two Poison cards to create a difficult decision. Pick the same Poison card as the majority of other players to score. The first player to 15 points wins the game.

Setup

All players should start with the following nine cards.

• 6 Poison cards
• 2 Pick cards (1 A card and 1 B card)
• 1 Double Down card

The player with the most recent birthday is the first Judge. The other players are the Picking players.

Game Play

Select Card A

The Judge chooses a Poison card from their hand and places it face up on the A spot on the game mat. This is card A for the rest of the round.

Submit

The Picking players choose a Poison card from their hand and submit it face down to the Judge.

Hint: players should choose a Poison card that will create the most difficult decision when compared to card A.

Select Card B

The Judge collects the Picking players' Poison cards and reads them aloud. The Judge selects one of these cards and places it face up on the game mat in the B spot.

This is card B for the rest of the round. The player who submitted card B gets one point. The other submitted cards are discarded.

Clarify

The Picking players can ask the Judge clarifying questions about the two Poison cards (card A and card B). The Judge can elaborate on each scenario however they like.

Hint: The Judge should try to balance the unpleasantness of the two poisons to make the choice as difficult as possible for the Picking players.

Pick

The Picking players now "pick their poison", indicating which poison they prefer (card A or card B) by playing their corresponding Pick card face down.

Doubledown

Picking players can play their Double Down card alongside their Pick card for double points.

When a Double Down card is played and the player scores zero points in the round they lose their Double Down card for the remainder of the game.

Reveal

Players reveal the Poison card they choose by flipping over their Pick card. Points are tallied on the score sheet by the Judge.

Reset

Discard card A and card B. Picking players retrieve their Pick card (and Double Down card, if they played it and didn't lose it).

All players draw Poison cards from the deck until they have six in their hand. The player to the left of the Judge becomes the next Judge.

Scoring

Each round is scored depending on how many players picked each Poison card.

Unanimous

If all Picking players choose the same Poison card they each get one point and the Judge loses two points. Hint: don't create such an easy "would you rather..".scenario next time, Judge.

Split

When some players pick Card A and others pick Card B the Picking players who agree with the majority get one point. All other players get nothing.

Tie

If half of the players pick Card A and half pick Card B, the Judge gets three points and the Picking players get nothing. Hint: When playing with an odd number of Picking players, see house rules

End of the Game

The first player to reach 15 points wins the game.

House Rules

Mix in these rules to make Pick Your Poison your own.

Odds To Even

When playing with an odd number of Picking players the Judge picks a Poison card alongside the other players. The Judge only receives points if the round ends in a tie.

Super Judge

In a split decision, the Judge gets one point for each player that didn't vote with the majority.

Two-for-one

The Judge chooses two Poison cards (for a double card A), and the players submit two Poison cards each, from which the Judge selects a double card B.

Lucky Draw

The Judge draws the top card from the deck instead of choosing a Poison card from their hand.

One Shot

When all but one Picking player chooses the same poison, the odd player out has to take a shot

Drink Up

Take a drink after every round that you fail to score a point.

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