Apples to Apples might be one of the greatest party games ever. I mean, what other game is worth playing past midnight and can cause you and your friends to laugh yourselves out of your chairs. It can make cafeterias tasty, roman numerals harmful and the Richard Nixon cowardly, but what is it that gives this game the extra spark above all other party games?

For those not yet introduced to Apples to Apples, the point of the game is to win a certain number of green adjective cards, depending on the number of players in the game. In order to win these adjective cards, each player, except for the judge, plays one of the seven red noun cards in his or her hand in a pile face down in the middle of the table that best represents the adjective card that the judge flipped onto the table. Then, the judge decides which of the cards played best fits the adjective card and the player who played it gets the card. Then, everyone refills their hand, the judge switches, and play continues.

Although you’d think the judging would be an easy, straight forward process, it is totally the opposite, which makes things so interesting. Firstly, the nouns that you get can be either hard to use, such as fuzz, charging rhinos, or James Dean, or what many of us consider to be “trump” cards, like Helen Keller, Hillary Clinton and Hitler. So when you got morticians and blood and the adjective is soft, chances are you won’t win so you just toss cards away. Other times, the cards match perfectly, such as appetizing hamburgers.

Also, the judge’s perception of how to judge alters the landscape of the game completely. For example, if the adjective is hard and the best two answers are a rock and homework, which meaning of hard do you choose? Also, some judges prefer comedy over the best fit. Roman numerals aren’t really harmful and Rosie O’Donnell isn’t really manly, but if it can get the judge into crying tears of laughter, then you might win. Sometimes it’s the really sad answers that make us cry, such as deadly flying monkeys or homework.

Probably the best parts about Apples to Apples are that so many people can play and that you don’t need to put much effort into playing. For example, I played Apples to Apples at AARO with sixteen people and there were some really funny answers laid out. I ended up playing roman numerals for harmful just to chunk the card, because I didn’t think I would ever use it, and the judge apparently did not like math, so I won, to my surprise. Normally you don’t play with so many people, but the game is something you can pick up whenever, play until you get bored, usually after an hour or two, then go do something else and pick it up later if you wanted to keep it going.

One last tip: Always play to the judge. If the judge picks literal answers, play cards that match the best. If the judge likes funny, then play funny. If the judge loves Johnny Depp, then play him on handsome, smart, brave, or any other positive card. If the judge is a Republican, then make fun of the Clintons.

Overall, just have fun with the game. It’s such an easy game to play, I highly recommend playing this game anytime you can, unless it conflicts with studying or class, of course.

Bryan is a freshman. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].