Based on a Fake Product (Snake Oil)

Say, son, you look mighty down in the dumps.  Well, Doc Connor can cure what ails ya.  If you be pirate, caveman, or ninja, look no further than Doc Connor Miracle Snake Oil.  Don't you believe those naysayers, this Snake Oil is top of the line, honest-to-goodness guaranteed to bring your mood from down in the dumps to up to cloud nine.  Buy 2, get 1 free!  It's Doc Connor's Miracle Snake Oil, good to last 50 years on your shelf, but you'll never see it there that long!

GAME DESCRIPTION:  Snake Oil is a card game published by Hasbro and Snake Oil, LLC. for 3 to 10 players.  The game consists of pitching "real" products to various players and attempting for their product to be the most convincing to buy.

SET-UP:  Each player is dealt a hand of 6 cards.  Then, select a player to be the customer this round.  That player draws a green Customer card, and chooses from the front or back which character they are playing this turn.

SELLING:  Once the Customer has been chosen, players take 2 words from their hand to make a product that the Customer would find helpful or compelling to buy.  Players may pitch in any order, but all players must pitch something.  If any pitch takes longer than 30 seconds, the Customer may cut them short.



WINNING:  Once all pitches are made, the Customer chooses the best product, and gives the winning player the Customer card.  The next player to the left of the first Customer becomes the Customer for the next round, and game continues until everyone has become the Customer once.  The winner is the player with the most Customer cards.  In case of a tie, a non-tied player is the Customer, and only the tied players play one more round.

CONCLUSION:  Snake Oil is a party game like Apples to Apples, Joking Hazard, or Cards Against Humanity.  The biggest difference for Snake Oil is that the players always know who the other players are.  This, however, never proves to be a problem unlike the other games, as personality and wit are just as important here as in the other games, they're just used differently.  If your group tends to be the kind that plays "optimally", with every person scoring evenly and fairly, this might be a pass.  But, if you are someone who loves these types of games, Snake Oil definitely has the right charm for you. Just, maybe play longer than one round with a small group.