How to play

Preparing For Play

1. Separate all Friend cards from the deck.
2. Place 3 Friends in front of each player.
3. For every player, put 1 Friend into the deck.
4. Shuffle the deck, and deal 7 cards to each player.
5. Play all Friend and Bond cards in players' hands.

Taking Your Turn

1. If you have fewer than 7 cards, draw to 7.
2. Play 1 blue, pink, or yellow card.
3. Your turn is finished.

Taking Other Actions

1. You may play green Special cards at any time.

Losing and Winning the Game

1. If a player loses his last Friend, he loses the game.
2. If a player is the sole survivor, he wins the game.

How The Cards Work

Friend One blue Friend card may be played as one turn. Place in front of you until lost, then remove from play.

Bond One blue Bond card may be played as one turn. Place on a Friend card until lost, then discard. One Friend can have any number of Bonds.

Whip One pink Whip card may be played against another player's Friend as one turn. That player loses one bond from that Friend or loses the Friend if he has no Bonds. Discard.

Über-whip One pink Über-whip may be played against another player as one turn. Follow the instructions on the card, then discard.

Special One yellow Special card may be played as one turn. Follow the instructions on the card, then discard.

Special Green Special cards may be played at any time. Follow the instructions on the card, then discard.

Whipped Hints and Etiquette

Note: For the actual rules that are included with the deck, please scroll to the bottom of the page.

On Friends

There are 24 Friends included in the deck. This means that up to six players can start the game with 3 Friends in front of them, and an addition Friend for each player in the deck.

6 Players X 3 Friends + 6 more Friends in the deck (one for each player) = 24.

It also means that up to eight people can play without altering the game too much. With eight players, there just are no extra Friends in the deck. In that sense, it makes for a slightly more desperate game!

On Card Distribution At Game Start

It sometimes happens that you start the game having been dealt many of one type of card. This happened in game testing, and we did nothing to prevent it from happening in the final game. If you desire to make house rules which allow one to trade in his hand because he has x number of some card type etc., either before the game starts, or during one's turn, that is fine. Go for it. However, we don't play that way. We consider getting dealt a disproportional hand, tough luck. If you want to stay in the theme and enjoy the parody to the fullest, you have to take what life gives you. You have to play the cards you were dealt. Also, it is just a whole lot of fun playing the “Relationship Counselor” on someone whom you suspect has a mitt full of PINK, or conversely, playing “Join Women's March” so that you can dump your handful of PINK on someone else. These scenarios have occured on many occasions and it is another reason why Whipped! is so fun to play again and again. As my eldest said when comparing the game to Parker Brother's Careers and Uwe Rosenberg's Bohnanza, Whipped! is always different [Careers and Bohnanza are always the same experience].

On Specials

There are 13 Yellow (full turn) and 13 Green (anytime) Special cards. Here are some general principles to help avoid complication or confusion. When you play a Special, place it in front of you, or in case of a targeting Special, place it in front of the target, and leave it there until the instructions have been followed completely. This way, when they are used to alter the effects or direction of Whips or Uber-Whips, the Specials do not get in the way. Countering cards against either the Whips/Uber-Whips or Specials can then be used and the results should be easier to determine. Again, there are so many possible combinations of card interactions, that it is best to just be clear and consistent in conflict resolution. Placing the Specials in front of you or the target, as the case may be, facilitates this.

There is an exception to this. When playing “What Goes Around Comes Around”, I suggest that the awful card (usually an Uber-Whip) that is going around gets placed on top of the “What Goes Around Comes Around” and stays there as the two cards make their way clockwise around the table. This makes the effects of defensive Green Specials very easy to resolve.

For example, if “What Goes Around Comes Around” is carrying an Uber-Whip and someone plays “The Buck Stops Here”, the “What Goes Around Comes Around” is nullified, and both it and the Whip riding it are placed in the discard pile. If, on the other hand, someone plays “Not So Fast Mister” that player avoids the effects of the Uber-Whip, but the “WGACA and the Whip” continue merrily around the table to the other players.

On Winning

Though the rules card indicates the winner is the sole survivor: the player who still has Friends after all others have lost theirs. It is fun to play First Man Out, and thus, as in the honorable and venerated game of Diplomacy, all remaining players share equally in the victory – only the first person to lose all their Friends loses.

Regardless of which victory conditions are set, we have discovered various patterns of play that immerge. Each player is free to chose the target of Whips, Uber-Whips, and unfortunate events that happen through the Specials. So, who do you whip? My boys and I have come up with 4 styles of gameplay which we declare and agree upon before commencing play.

1st – Free Play

Target whomever you like.

2nd – Evil Rich

Always target the player who is the most “blessed” in terms of Friendships and Bonds. The exception to this is when you think you can take a weaker player right out of the game and thus win (if you are playing First Man Out).

3rd – Pile on the Poor

Only the strong survive – very Darwinian – survival of the fittest and all that crap. As soon as someone shows signs of weakness, all attacks are directed on him/her. ;)

4th – Revenge

Focus all your malice on a single enemy that may have treated you with disrespect and in an unmanly manner in some previous game.

On Losing

We have a tradition that when someone loses all their Friends, we chide the loser by making the sound of a whip cracking and gesturing Indiana Jones style.

On Phone Calls that Occur During Game Time

If a player receives a phone call from his Special lady, game continues without him. If he happens to lose while he is on the phone, that is just the way it goes. (Phone calls from others merit a disruption in play.)

On Play Time

A typical game of Whipped takes between 30 seconds and a half-hour. This deserves mentioning because some may think that they are not doing it right if the game ends in 30 seconds. Rest assured. There is nothing wrong with you (nor your interpretation of the rules). Have you never had a friend who met that special lady and then simply disappeared...until the day he knocked on your door to ask you to be his best man? I have. Anyway, when play testing, I was delighted to discover that some games ended in only one or two rounds. How realistically life is depicted in this game!

On Children Playing Whipped!

There are a few cards that may turn the heads of some parents. For my children, 4, 7, and 9 years of age, Whipped! is like a great Pixar movie. Some of the jokes they get, some of them just go sailing right over their heads. When questions have been asked, it has provided the opportunity to give them a little sage advice. Take “Hair of the Dog” for instance. I don't know about you, but I neither want to wake up looking or feeling like that guy, nor do I want to “lose a turn” in life. Done. You decide, but I play regularly with my boys. It is a wonderful time of laughter and BONDing.

On House Rules

We encourage house rules. When we were play testing, we found that it was fun to play the game in a variety of ways. Agreement before playing and consistency during play will ensure fun for everyone. This game actually has considerable depth. The sheer number of combinations in which cards can be played, makes for a game that is always fresh and full of little strategies that can be learned.

Have fun!
MEG