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Description
In the Old West, the wily snake oil salesman had a special talent, getting the most skeptical customers to buy the most dubious products. Now it's your turn! Invent your own zany two-word products – Rumor Mirror! Burp Balloon! – and sell them to all types of wacky customers. If the round's customer buys your product, you win the round!
To set up Snake Oil, each player takes six purple word cards. The customer for the round draws a customer card and announces it. Inventors quickly combine two purple word cards from their hand to form a crazy new product to sell to that customer. When ready, each inventor quickly pitches his or her product directly to the customer. The customer can end any pitch that goes longer than thirty seconds. The customer decides which product to buy and gives the inventor of that product the round's customer card as the prize. Inventors discard all used word cards and take two new word cards each. The player to the left of the customer becomes the next round's customer. Play repeats until each player has been the customer once.
Whoever collects the most customer cards wins the game.
Year Published
2010
Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 7
This page: 7
Sentiment:
pos 6 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 1
Showing 1–7 of 7
Video RZuBKD8ejps
Phenomenons top_10_list at 5:05 sentiment: positive
video_pk 9438 · mention_pk 27869
Click to watch at 5:05
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Inclusive and social
- Fun to improvise with friends
- Flexible online adaptation
Cons
- Humor is subjective; some pitches may miss the mark
Thematic elements
- Extroverted salesmanship and improv
- Product pitch to a customer
- Comedic and competitive
Comparison games
- Quiplash
- Avolved of improv-style pitches
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Customer reward — The customer awards points to the best pitch.
- Improv pitching — Players make up pitches for ridiculous products using two random words.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's easy the makers of the game have uploaded their own online version for people to use
- this is a collection starter and here are 10 board games you can play over zoom that aren't awful
- it's absolutely wonderful and you have no reason we should ever have another boring zoom call during lockdown
- st stay safe everyone let's get through this together
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video xgNI1-iDDDc
Adam Porter analysis at 18:42 sentiment: negative
video_pk 8098 · mention_pk 23825
Click to watch at 18:42
Overall sentiment (raw)
negative
Pros
none
Cons
- Requires players to be funny
- Awkward when humor levels differ
- Sympathy votes create social awkwardness
- Host refuses to play anymore
Thematic elements
- creativity
- sales pitch
Comparison games
- Funemployed
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Your cards are ordered, you must never change the order of your cards
- If nobody guesses my card I get zero points and if everybody guesses my card I get zero points
- I've got to come up with a clue that's just obscure enough that some people around the table will get it
- Evolution is my absolute favorite game
- It's like a jigsaw but you build it all together - a game can be this
- Social deduction games can get quite loud and aggressive
- I really don't like games which require you as a player to be funny
- I find it so awkward and cringy, to be honest I won't play these games anymore
- There are billions and billions of possible combinations that we could make
- Hand management is a really satisfying part of many many card games
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 3lmZDkejJxY
Unknown top_10_list at 8:56 sentiment: positive
video_pk 3373 · mention_pk 9977
Click to watch at 8:56
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- fun, imaginative product-pitch mechanic
- engaging for groups
Cons
- availability concerns (company went out of business)
Thematic elements
- creative product pitches
- market-up selling
- humorous, marketing-driven
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- buyer evaluation — the customer (judge) selects the best pitch
- customer-pitch mechanic — one player becomes the customer; others combine word cards to create a product and pitch it
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's brilliant it puts you in a corner which makes your attempts to get out of that corner all the funnier
- this game is a classic family party game great for dinner parties and Christmas
- Cards Against Humanity's greatest strength is its inclusive humor
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video hIX5uFH79AI
Board Game Club playthrough at 0:00 sentiment: positive
video_pk 3109 · mention_pk 9060
Click to watch at 0:00
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Easy to learn and quick to play, ideal for casual gatherings
- Strong potential for creative, humorous banter
- Flexible audience-friendly variants (family-friendly vs. adult version)
- Encourages improvisation and collaborative storytelling
Cons
- Humor can skew crude or off-color, potentially limiting audience
- Some pitches may rely on inside jokes or especially crass material
- Scattered rounds can feel chaotic without active moderation
Thematic elements
- Salesmanship and humor; creating absurd products from word pairs to win over a target customer.
- A playful, improvised sales environment where traveling salespeople pitch ridiculous products to a customer/persona.
- Loose, improvisational, performative; heavily reliant on banter and crowd-response dynamics.
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Customer persona rotation — A different customer persona is presented each round (e.g., rock star, Santa, witch), guiding pitch relevance and humor.
- Improv and audience reaction — Players improvise selling points; the customer and others react with laughter or critique, influencing perceived quality.
- Point-based round structure — The customer awards points to the best pitch each round; the player with the most rounds won wins the game.
- Timed pitch rounds — Players have a fixed amount of time (30 seconds, with potential for increased time) to pitch their product to the customer.
- Word-pair product synthesis — Each player draws a hand of six words, selects two words, and fuses them into a ridiculous product name.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- you take two of those words, combine them together to make a product
- you've got 30 seconds to pitch your product
- whoever impresses the customer the most wins that round
- the adult version... thinking how crude can it be
- this is a magic eye puzzle that gets scarier the closer you look
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video m1KNVsG0EcQ
No Rolls B playthrough at 0:00 sentiment: positive
video_pk 2653 · mention_pk 7810
Click to watch at 0:00
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- easy to learn and quick to play
- great for streaming and in-person groups
- encourages creativity and humor
Cons
- humor can skew crude or uncomfortable for some players
- availability of card ideas can affect balance
Thematic elements
- Humorous marketing pitches for ridiculous products
- Old West marketplace
- Improv-driven, fast-paced, joke-rich
Comparison games
- Blood on the Clock Tower
- Phantom Inc
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- 30-second pitches — Players have a timed window to pitch their product to the buyer.
- buyer selection — One player acts as the buyer and chooses a product to purchase from the pitches.
- card drafting — Players select two cards from their hand to form a sellable product.
- two-card product creation — Compose a product by combining two cards into a single idea.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- look forward to doing business with you
- grease the wheels of commerce with their pitches
- the belly cannon can explode when you're ready
- you can't make a decision now water would be fair if I heard from your competitors
- it's not for sale I hope van hon comes and finds you
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video OYjxf_GBbmw
No Rolls Bard general_discussion at 1:56 sentiment: positive
video_pk 1025 · mention_pk 2887
Click to watch at 1:56
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- great for social play and streams
- high energy and accessible to new players
- strong crowd-pleaser for a live audience
Cons
- effectiveness depends on group chemistry
- may rely on improvisational skill more than strategy
Thematic elements
- persuasion, product-pitch competition
- Renaissance/fantasy market pitch environment
- light, fast-paced social interaction with playful competition
Comparison games
- Blood on the Clock Tower
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- bluffing and social persuasion — Players pitch products to customer cards in a rapid-fire auction-like setting, aiming to out-persuade others.
- character/customer-based prompts — Two customer cards or prompts guide the desired product pitch, driving creative wordplay.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- adam is always evil
- we promised it and we're nerds of our word so i'm very happy to
- i just personally want to say thank you to everyone who is subscribed to this channel
- get on board you already have
- 50 000 subscribers on no rolls bard
- we are going to be streaming for 10 uninterrupted hours of board game club live on no rolls bard
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video dHpVtR26JqY
Actual Oh top_10_list at 3:18 sentiment: positive
video_pk 93 · mention_pk 231
Click to watch at 3:18
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- creative, quick, great for parties
- highly entertaining, laugh-inducing
Cons
- not for everyone; some may find it daunting to present in front of a group
Thematic elements
- humorous invention-creation pitches
- parlor-style invention pitches
- improv/pitch-based humor
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- hand management — each round, players hold a hand of word cards to assemble inventions
- pitch/branding — players pitch combined cards to the judge (clown) within time limit
- player interaction — the clown selects the best invention; others try to persuade
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- there's no game out there that I would be happy to play it as much as this one
- it's all about money changing hands it's all about making deals and backstabbing
- this is the quintessential party game for me
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–7 of 7