Suddenly Drunk is damn fun with the right people, the right card/board game, and the right drinks. You must be careful with the latter, as it could go a bit south, but having good friends and having a good time is a big potential here.
We here at Digitalchumps are about to take a step in a new direction by reviewing board and card games. Is it a good or bad idea to change things up a bit from the digital world? We don’t know but we’re anxious to find out. Plus, if we stink at it, we can always go back to just reviewing movies and games.
To the point of this review, my favorite card game is UNO. This is not UNO, but it does have a bit of UNO in it regarding function and structure. We’ll tackle the ins and outs of the game in just a second. Let’s get things started. Welcome to Suddenly Drunk. The idea of SD is simple – you play your favorite turn-based board or card game (works better with the latter) and then integrate SD’s cards and drinking into the process. Going back to UNO, if you play SD along with UNO the integration is stupid fun, but the safety of the process? You must take it slow and steady.
The rub
The rules of Suddenly Drunk work as stated on the box:
“At the start of everyone’s turn, draw a card from the Suddenly Drunk deck. Do what it says then continue with your turn as usual.”
For example, if you’re playing UNO and it’s your turn in UNO, you must draw a card and keep it with you as you play UNO. That SD card drawn can range in function from an Instant card or Anytime card. Some of the cards last a while, some don’t. Each time you take a turn in UNO, you must take a turn in SD. It’s not incredibly difficult to understand the structure, especially if the drinks keep flowing. That’s a huge plus.
Back to SD’s cards, with an Instant card, the player must read it immediately out loud to everyone. Whatever it says the player must do until the card runs out (and it may not – it may continue throughout the game). The Instant card can be played with other Instant cards, which means you might have a lot to keep up with as the game continues along. Sometimes the Instant cards can be as simple as taking a shot of alcohol, which is an important, yet dangerous element in this game. Once a card is done, it’s put in the discard pile. Again, not incredibly complicated.
The Anytime card is a bit different than the Instant. The Anytime is a card you read to yourself, keep it secret, keep it safe, and then spring it during the game at…wait for it…anytime. Anytime cards, much like Instant, can be for the player playing it or against another player. Having the secret option to ‘ruin’ someone’s day is what makes the Anytime card charming. Being a total butt to another player offers grace and dignity in the face of drunkenness.
Once any of the above cards are finished with what they’re doing, you place them into a discard pile. Much like the game of UNO, if you run out of cards, then you shuffle the discard pile and use them again. The good thing about the above cards is that they are most of this game, which means simplicity drives it all.
The instructions towards players on the cards aren’t that complicated at all, as the cards can range from simple instructions, such as ‘take a shot’ to something awkward and complicated like exchanging clothing with another player (you must be good friends with people for this game to fully function).
If you’re unhappy with the idea of potentially getting sloshy drunk and being ordered to do things, then you have three saviors you acquire at the beginning of the game called Lifeline cards. These cards can block commands, deflect them to someone else, or reverse them (though, the instructions say reflect…so close). These cards, much like hamboning, can save your life someday.
Pros and Cons
Suddenly Drunk is fun, especially with some loosey-goosey good friends that enjoy a drink. UNO certainly becomes more interesting, if not a bit more dangerous when it came to the sassiness involved with it. My great grandmother taught me how to be venomous with UNO, so adding alcohol to the process is a crapshoot of either everyone is laughing, or people are angry at each other. Regardless, it’s entertaining as hell.
The biggest pro to this game is that Breaking Games did a great job with coming up with some clever instructions for players to do or throw at each other. Whoever was the lead writer on this project needs a raise because we got mostly laughs rather than sass, despite UNO’s presence. The other big pro is that this game is innocent fun, even when it gets slightly raunchy (and it does with the right people – I did not have those people playing). Exchanging clothes or marrying someone during the game (and widowing them – yep, it’s in there), is ten kinds of wonderful.
The biggest con I can find is that there is a potential for heavy drinking. While I would like to think everyone is a great drunk, I don’t think that is the case. Some people slowly dip into anger when they get too drunk, which could take all the fun out of the game. Apologies, it WILL take all the fun out of the game. My advice is to invite those you know are happy drunks (and of legal age – I’m sure some teens are going to try to snag this) and have a good time. Of course, knowing your friends and how they are will go a long way, if not only to make you a good friend.
Food for thought with Suddenly Drunk.
Let’s wrap this up.
Conclusion
Suddenly Drunk is damn fun with the right people, the right card/board game, and the right drinks. You must be careful with the latter, as it could go a bit south, but having good friends and having a good time is a big potential here.
