Beer Money

Two excellent things, one of which can be used to buy the other.

Overall score:

Beer Money is, as the name implies, a very light Hearted, Beer and Pretzels card game. It’s rather fun, but lacking in some areas compared to other games in the Genre.

Beer Money attempts to simulate a barroom brawl. It does this with a preset deck of cards, which can be combined with those in the game Lunch Money. The cards are the first thing to draw attention to. They are large and easily readable (perhaps for those who are actually in a bar – though if someone in a bar attempts to fight you, I wouldn’t recommend pulling out Beer Money and suggesting a game of that instead.) The numbers are easily seen, and colour coded in the case of special cards. The artwork of the cards deserves a special mention; they are black and white Gothic photographs with very little, if anything to do with the card itself. (The “Open Hand” card is unusual in that it actually features an open hand clearly in its composition). Surrounding the art, are snippets of depressing Gothic Poetry. The gothic imagery seems to serve no purpose other than to look creepy and disturbing.

Gameplay is incredibly simple. Each player starts with fifteen life, and five cards. On their turn, they either play a card, or discard and draw any number of cards. Cards are divided into a number of types. Basic attacks, like the Punch, deal a certain amount of damage, and then you discard the card. Weapon cards function like basic attacks, except you may choose not to discard them. Special attacks either have differing rules (The Fists of Fury card deals 6 damage, but counts as three sperate 2 damage attacks) or require special conditions, like only being performable after playing a grab card. Defensive cards include Blocks and Dodges (Nullify attacks), Disarms (Force opponents to discard a weapon) and the most powerful Cancelling card, the “Horror of Horrors”. Finally, Healing cards let you heal.

As a result, play is lightening fast, with the winner never being definite – defence cards followed by attacks can turn the tables at any time. Game can be as quick as five minutes, making for a truly fun game with only a few minutes to spare.

If you play just like this, though, you’re missing half the fun. The best way to play Beer Money is to have each player come up with a character concept (e.g “A Ninja”, or “Amish Batman”.) Then, have each player proceeds to narrate the consequences of each card they play. This ultimately results in a ridiculous description that has all the players laughing. A lot.

That said, Beer Money doesn’t have quite the same atmosphere as other Beer and Pretzels card games. Perhaps it is because of the inappropriate art, but the game never gets you into the scenario, and played straight comes out as bland number crunching. With the right attitude, it can be really fun, but you have to do the work, it won’t do it for you. That said, the game is cheap compared to other games (not having many expansions – only Lunch Money, and only if you want to get it) and comes in a small box for easy transportation.

If you and your friends like Beer and Pretzels games, and want a second or third game, or like the style of this one, it’s recommended. As a first game, there are probably better choices, but Beer Money is definitely worth consideration.

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Written by JamPaladin on September 28th, 2004