The Ultimate Guide to Playing & Winning at Apples to Apples

To play Apples to Apples, you’ll need 4-10 players. Your game should include a deck of red apple cards that each have a person, place, thing, or event on them, as well as a deck of green apple cards that each have a characteristic of a person, place, thing, or event on them. Choose one player to be the first judge. The judge deals 7 red apple cards face-down to each player (including themselves) and places a green apple card face up on the table. Then, all of the players except for the judge choose a red apple card from their hand that is best described by the face-up green apple card. For example, if the green apple card is “Scary,” players might choose “Monster,” “Spider,” or “Halloween.” Each player gives their chosen red apple card face-down to the judge, who then shuffles the cards and reads them out loud. The judge chooses which red apple card they think fits best with the green apple card. They can choose based on any reasoning they’d like, and players are able to convince the judge of their favorite before the judge makes their final selection. Once the judge has chosen, the player who played that card wins the round and receives the green apple card. All of the played red apple cards are discarded and a new judge starts the next round. Each player should draw a new red apple card if needed so they have 7 cards in their hand. The game continues until a player has acquired enough green apple cards to win. For a 4-player game, the first player to earn 8 green apple cards wins. In a 5-player game, it’s 7 green apple cards. A 6-player game requires 6 green apple cards, a 7-player game requires 5, and an 8-10 player game requires 4. To learn how to mix the game up to keep it interesting, read more!