Karen
Karen Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Set It Up
Give every player a blank pad, a pencil, a Karen face score sheet, and a star board with four gold stars. That's right - you all start with a perfect five-star rating!
If there are more than 6 players, pair up!
How to Win
Score points by getting other players to believe your FAKE answers.
When you score 5 points, you'll lose one star from your Star Board rating.
The first player to get down to a one-star rating is the winner!
How to Play
In each round, a player takes on the role of the host. For the first round, it's YOU. As the host, choose a type of review card, draw a card from that deck then read it out loud to the other players. At the end of each round, the player to your left becomes the new host.
The host reads out their chosen review card. Players then write down a FAKE answer on their answer pad, fold it up and hand it back to the host. At the same time, the host will write down the REAL answer on their own answer pad and shuffle it in with the other players' FAKE answers.
The Review Cards
There are four types of review card. Each card is read out by the host as described below.
What's Being Reviewed?
The host will read out a 1-star review of a product, and the players must write down something that review could be for, that they think will fool the other players. The host will write down the REAL answer and mix it in with the FAKE answers.
Example card (What's Being Reviewed?): "Bought this and it didn't come filled. Livid. Cost more to fill than it cost to buy." The product on the card is a paddling pool.
Fill in the Blanks
The host will read out a REAL one-star review which has a word or phrase blanked out. The players will complete the missing word or phrase with their own FAKE answers. Again, the host will write down the REAL answer, and mix it in with the FAKE answers.
Example card (A Hotel Review): "The water tastes like ****."
Write the Review
The host will call out the product or service written on the card. The players then write a short review. The host will write down the REAL review and slip it in amongst the fakes.
Example card (An Umbrella): "I bought an umbrella here and it hasn't rained for half a year so it has not been used."
There are also a few Manager's Response cards in the game, which work the same as Write the Review and give you the chance to step into the mind of a manager dealing with a complaint from a REAL Karen.
Example card (Manager's Response, A Complaint from Bryan who was refused a haircut at a hair salon).
Voting
The host then reads out all the answers, one by one, keeping them hidden so nobody can tell who has written each answer.
In clockwise order, players then vote on which answer they think is the REAL answer, that was written on the card by the REAL Karen. You cannot vote for your own answer. The host then counts the votes for each answer.
Scoring
The host then gives points to all other players...
- One point for correctly voting for the REAL answer, plus
- One point for each player that voted for your FAKE answer.
Important Info
If by some miracle a player's FAKE answer is the same as the REAL answer, they get one point, but obviously don't read out what they've written, or it'll give the game away!
If two or more players come up with the same FAKE answer, just read one of them out, but make sure both players get one point if someone votes for that answer.
For each point you score, draw an unimpressed mouth on your Karen scoresheet. Every time you score 5 points, remove a star from your star board.
End of the Game
When a player has removed their fourth star from their star board, and they only have a one-star rating, they are the winner! If more than one player gets down to a one-star rating in the same turn, the game is tied... or play again!
Example Round
The example round uses a Fill in the Blanks card, Bar Review: "Didn't let me friend in because he was ****." The sheet notes that this is what's being reviewed, and that the host must make sure to read this bit out too. The REAL answer would be printed on the card.
The players' answers are shown as votes: NAKED, CRYING, UGLY, ON STILTS, FRENCH and SWEATY. One of these is the REAL answer, and the others were made up by your friends. What would you have written, and can you guess the REAL one?
The REAL answer was UGLY so the two players that voted for that answer score two points. The player who wrote NAKED also scores two points and the player that wrote SWEATY scores one point.