Cyanide and Happiness has been published online constantly for over a decade and a half. It spawned an animated series, a card game, a video game and became one of the biggest webcomic phenomena ever. The dark, comedic and often disturbing stories have charmed (and depressed) millions of fans all over the world.
Last week, the newest project by the authors of C&H called Trial by Trolley, has popped up on Kickstarter. It’s their second crowdfunded board game after Joking Hazard back in 2016.
The Trolley Problem
Trial by Trolley is a light, party card game that can be played by bigger groups of players – from 3 up to even 13. The game is based on a famous ethical dilemma called “the trolley problem”.
A driver driving a cart on rails arrives at an intersection and needs to choose a track. Each available way involves running over someone and killing that person (or a group of people). Many versions of this problem involve choosing 1 instead of many, choosing friends over people you don’t know, choosing “good people” instead of “bad people” etc. The game is designed to make use (and make fun) of the entire concept.
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How to Build Tracks – a Psychopath’s Guide
The gameplay is simple. You pick one player to be the trolley driver. All others get divided into 2 competing teams who will create one line of tracks each. Each team prolongs their line with a track card, that has an “innocent” (a puppy, a baby, an elderly couple etc.) standing on it. Next: each team extends their track with second “innocent” card.
Finally: groups draw and add a “guilty” card to their opponents’ track. After that some modifier cards can be played (e.g. making some bad people less bad etc) and parties proceed to the long awaited arguing session!
The trolley driver serves as the sole judge. The vehicle kills everyone on the track he picked, and the team who built it, gets “death tokens”. Players switch roles until everyone got to play as the driver once. Whoever has the least tokens by the end of the game: becomes the winner.
The Kickstarter Campaign
Core box is priced at $25. For $40 you can get it along the KS exclusive expansion (that adds 100 cards based on backer polls and unavailable anywhere else). $60 is the all-in pledge with a plastic trolley mini and 25 bonus cards.
