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Description
In Poison, also available over the years as Friday the 13th and Baker's Dozen, players try to avoid overflowing cauldrons in the middle of the table, which means you take the cards from the central playing area. The more you take, the worse your score — unless you manage to take the most of one suit, in which case you get to throw those cards away!
In a round, each player gets a hand of cards, with the cards coming in three suits that have values from 1 to 7 and a fourth "joker" suit in which all the cards have a value of 4. On a turn, a player discards a card from her hand onto a pile of the appropriate color (with jokers being playable on any pile) and gives the sum of all cards now in that pile. If the sum is higher than 13, then the player must first take all of the cards already in the pile, leaving only her card behind.
The round ends once all the cards have been played, then players compare how many cards they have in each of the three suits; whoever has the most cards throws them away, while everyone else scores 1 penalty point per card. Each joker is worth 2 penalty points. Whoever has the fewest penalty points after each player has started a round once wins!
Year Published
2005
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Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 3
This page: 3
Sentiment:
pos 3 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–3 of 3
Video crHPEO_I8jE
Unknown Channel game_review at 0:50 sentiment: positive
video_pk 42268 · mention_pk 128223
Click to watch at 0:50 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Accessible and approachable like mass-market games
- Deep strategic choices without sacrificing play speed
- Vibrant table dynamics and social interaction
- Strong theme fit and humorous art across editions
Cons
- May not satisfy players seeking heavy thematic depth
- Edition quality and availability vary; some reprints re-theme the components
- Tracking color-majority effects can be subtle for new players
Thematic elements
- poison, risk management, and color-based scoring
- Alchemy laboratory with cauldrons; color-coded pots in play
- lighthearted, humorous framing around potion brewing
Comparison games
- Uno
- Phase 10
- Skip-Bo
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- color-majority scoring — If you have the most cards of a given color, you may discard those color cards from your scoring pile.
- Compound Scoring — If you have the most cards of a given color, you may discard those color cards from your scoring pile.
- end-of-round scoring — Rounds end after all cards are played; suits score with poison cards worth two points.
- hand management — Players shed one card from their hand each turn, choosing where to place it.
- low-variance pacing — Turn structure is simple and quick, enabling rapid rounds and lively table dynamics.
- poison risk — Poison cards create penalty pressure; players try to avoid being left with them or forced to collect them.
- pot management — Three color pots accumulate values; when a pot exceeds 13, the active player takes all cards in that pot except the most recently added.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Poison does a wonderful job of creating that boisterous fun loud environment around the table that I think a lot of people like about these kinds of card games with vibrant Dynamics forming between the players every turn as you're watching and you're counting down all the while not sacrificing the serious decisions you have to to make on each turn and all in all all of the engagement all of those weighty choices it's going to lead to a lot of fun and laughs around the table
- this version is absolutely Peak as you probably surmise from the thumbnail and the sketch at the beginning
- I think poison is the kind of game that everyone should have in their home
- I do like the art style and Vibes and I'd love for that to become widely available to everyone as well
- it's one of my all-time favorite little card games with colors and numbers on cards that's easy to pull out and teach to Gamers and non-gamers alike
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video ZecPhP1KRz4
Secret Cabal Gaming game_review at 6:40 sentiment: positive
video_pk 3989 · mention_pk 11616
Click to watch at 6:40 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Unique gameplay
- Clever scoring mechanism
- Beautiful artwork
Cons
- Newer version may differ from original
Thematic elements
- Potion mixing
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Trick taking — Unique trick-taking mechanism with multiple scoring strategies
- Trick-taking — Unique trick-taking mechanism with multiple scoring strategies
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- We're playing games all the time we're playing new ones we're going back to old ones
- I'm hoping that with this list maybe you'll find some games that you can take back to your family
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video Ix6I3OEU490
Unknown Channel general_discussion at 18:40 sentiment: positive
video_pk 2217 · mention_pk 6450
Click to watch at 18:40 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- easy to learn
- fun party game dynamics
Cons
- may rely on luck
- thematic variations can vary in quality
Thematic elements
- Hand management and potions
- Cauldron potluck of poisons
- Light, chaotic
Comparison games
- Love Letter
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- hand_management — Manage cards to avoid poisoning others while minimizing your own poison load
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Make this world a better place, one board gamer at a time.
- it's a big hit for our group
- it's all about money
- this is deluxe and exciting
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–3 of 3