In Trial by Trolley, one player acts as the Trolley Operator and must choose where to send a murderous, out of control, trolley. Every other player at the table plays cards and argues in order to convince the operator to spare their lives and condemn everyone on the other track to a gruesome death-by-trolley.
Each round, one player will act as the trolley conductor. This person will be the judge, and will choose which track the trolley will murder.
Each other player is divided evenly among teams, and each player(s) will have a role for the round.
To begin, one player will draw 3 angelic tracks, choose one to play to the table, and then randomly reveal a 2nd angelic track from the deck to add to the track. Another player will draw 3 demonic tracks, and choose to add one to the opposing teams track, attempting to sabotage them, and spare their own tracks. Finally, player(s) will draw track modifiers to place on any track card on the table. They can play on their own tracks, to sway the judge, or they may play on their opponents, to further sway the judge into murdering their opponent's track.
The judge will ponder this conundrum, and eventually decide to murder one track. The track that was spared is the winner for the round!
Play continues for a number of rounds pre-determined by the number of players at the table.
Trial by Trolley is a game for 3-13 players, and plays in about 30-90 minutes.
—description from the publisher
- engaging ethical discussions and humor
- accessible party-game feel with social dynamics
- replayable variety through cards and arguments
- can be uncomfortable due to sensitive topics
- arguments can become lengthy or chaotic
- humor may not land for all players
- Moral philosophy, utilitarianism vs deontology
- A modern-day live group debate about a trolley problem
- Debate-driven, improvisational, humorous
- Call of Cthulhu
- Chess
- Game of Thrones
- Hues and Cues
- The Matrix
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card drafting / allocation — Players draft innocent, evil, and modifier cards to place on their tracks.
- Conductor role and track selection — Each round the conductor selects a track; teams vie to influence the decision.
- Death tokens as scoring — Removing tracks inflicts tokens; fewest tokens at the end wins.
- Hidden information and social interaction — Card contents are kept secret until played, driving discussion.
- Modifiers on tracks — Modifier cards can change outcomes on either side of the tracks.
- Public debate / persuasion — Players argue why their track should be chosen.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- the game brought to you in part by cyanide and happiness is a game about having to make difficult decisions inspired by the trolley problem
- this is a party game
- find out as we play trial by trolley
- the game of arguing who should live and who should get crushed under the wheels of a runaway trolley
- A planet full of people that can't die is a planet that is doomed to die
- Killing Keanu Reeves would generate world peace
- world peace is down our side of the track
References (from this video)
- great for a group with a sense of humor
- produces many laughs
- relies heavily on players' sense of humor
- potential for perceived crassness
- ethical choices and humor
- moral dilemma trolley problem party game
- satirical and humorous
- Stupid Death Museum? (fictionalized; not a real comparison)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- voting / scoring by consensus — players judge which outcome is funnier or more justified
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- we are going to give away board games to you
- this is such a great game
- stronghold games thank you so much for supplying this