Snake Oil Review

Review: Snake Oil by Jeff Ochs (Out of the Box Publishing)

In their own words: “The Best Party Game in the World!”

 Components: Well, there are cards—lots of them. The “object” cards, which will be combined to create products to sell make up most of the box's contents. A smaller deck of two-sided role cards is the only other thing in the box (other than a nifty insert that holds the cards perfectly). All of the cards are glossy and of a decent thickness. They wouldn't hold up to shuffling, but since that isn't required, I imagine these will last for a long time just as those in my much-played set of Out of the Box's first printing of Apples to Apples have.

Game Play: I'm not sure if it is for environmental reasons, as they claim on their site, or because they are showing off, but the rules for Snake Oil are so simple that they are printed in a readable (sized) font on the side of the inner box (not even the inside box top, just the side). Players are dealt a hand of “object” cards. Then each player takes a turn playing the role of a customer, which they draw randomly. They may end up being a cowboy, a hunter, an alien, a soldier, or one of the other customers with distinct traits both real and stereotypical. The other players combine object cards from their hands to form original products that they then attempt to sell to the customer using whatever verbal calisthenics they wish to pursue. When each player has made his or her pitch, the customer chooses which product to buy and hands the winning salesperson the role card. The next player then draws a role card and play proceeds that way until everyone has had a chance to be a customer. The player who has won the most role cards wins.

My Take: The complaint I heard about this game before my review copy arrived was that it is more of an activity than a game. After playing it for myself, I completely understand that accusation. Unlike Apples to Apples or many of the billions (slight exaggeration) of party games that have ripped it off over the years, the “judges” of each round are aware of who is making the pitch. This means they are also aware of who has scored the most points, of who didn't choose them last time, of who hasn't taken their turn cleaning the bathroom, etc. This could easily lead to round-winners that are undeserved or deserving winners left glumly holding their product sample. If that kind of thing might be a problem in your group, you have been warned. My groups, however, just picked the salesperson that made them laugh the hardest and moved on.

That laughter is the key element of the game. Snake Oil creates some hilarious moments. I left my last game gut-sore from laughing so hard. I think Time's Up might be the only party game that has had us laughing so hard (or, maybe, the obscure The Headlines Game, but none of you readers has likely played that one). The game is certainly group-dependent. If you have a bunch of funny, creative players in your group, Snake Oil is a must-have. The only real complaint I have is the number of customer cards is kind of limited. I'm sure at some point we will start making up our own to subsidize what's in the box. If the game gets enough plays that that becomes necessary, then I'd be very happy to do so.

Review Score: 4/5

Disclaimer: a review copy of this game was provided by Out of the Box publishing.