Description

Pics & Circumstance©
Tom & Pete Games

Once, long ago, there was a glorious leader who faced many challenging circumstances. Fortunately, the glorious leader had a council of wise and creative advisers who would help him to understand various things about these circumstances. Some advisers would provide examples of the circumstances; other advisers would explain the cause of the circumstances, and others still would offer solutions to the different circumstances. Prepare yourself for such trials and tribulations, for you will have to be creative and clever if you wish to be declared the best adviser ever!

Game Contents
170 picture cards
30 circumstance cards

Objective:
Each round, one player will judge the advice offered by the other players and decide whose advice was the best. The player whose advice is chosen the most by the end of the game is the winner.

Game Setup
1. First decide which game you will be using (i.e. game A, B, or C).
2. Divide the cards into one stack of circumstance cards and one or more stack(s) of picture cards.
3. Each player draws 10 picture cards to form his or her playing hand. Players are allowed to look through their hand, but should keep their cards hidden from the prying eyes of the other advisers.
4. The player who is closest to the age of 18 becomes the first judge.

Turn Sequence
1. The judge flips over a circumstance card and reads aloud the circumstance for the appropriate game (e.g. “Our Glorious Leader demands that his laundry be softer.”)
2. Each of the other advisers plays one picture card from his or her hand and explains how it relates to the circumstance. (e.g. “We shall use this mighty chainsaw to inspire the imperial clothes washers into improving their job performance.”)
3. The judge selects the card/explanation that he or she likes the best.
4. The winning adviser keeps that circumstance card as a victory point.
5. The picture cards that were just played are discarded and players draw back up to a hand of 10 picture cards (Note: circumstance cards do count against the hand limit and do not need to be held.) If the deck of picture cards runs out, discarded cards can be reshuffled to form a new deck.
6. The adviser to the left of the judge becomes the new judge, draws a new circumstance card, reads it aloud, and so on and so forth.
7. The game ends after the last circumstance is resolved. The player with the most victory points is declared the best adviser ever! (All of the loser advisors should then sing a song commemorating the greatness of the winning advisor.)

Game Play Variations
Suggestion Box: Players place their cards face down in front of the judge. After all players have done so, the Judge shuffles them, reveals them, and decides which of them is the winner without any further input from the advisers. This style prevents people from playing favorites.

Bards against Humanity: Incorporate the picture cards into your other party style games to allow for more flexibility in play.

Become Famous: Post your own variants on the Pics & Circumstance website under the Officially Unofficial Variants section.

© Copyright 2015 Tom & Pete Games, LLC all rights reserved.