Feed those French Bulldogs to get them to fart, then scoop them up in this quick and entertaining card game.
What Is Farting Frenchies?
Farting Frenchies is a hand management card game for 2-6 players, ages 8 and up, and takes 15-25 minutes to play. A pledge for just the base game is $15. There are multiple pledge levels available, with the various levels adding expansions, a plush Frenchie, a deluxe box, and more. There’s an estimated ship date of December 2020. Farting Frenchies is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter.
Note: as sometimes happens with Kickstarter campaigns, there have been some logistical issues and the campaign has been bumped to September 30th.
New to Kickstarter? Check out our crowdfunding primer.
Farting Frenchies Components
Note: For the purposes of this review, I received a prototype copy of the game. There may be some changes in the final product.
A base game of Farting Frenchies comes with a deck of 54 cards:
- 15 Farting Frenchie Dog cards
- 12 Action cards
- 27 Good Smell and Stink cards
The cards are all of standard playing card size. The artwork is cartoony and fun, especially on the Frenchie Dog cards, which have unique art on both sides:
And here’s the backs of those same cards:
How to Play Farting Frenchies
For a quick rundown on how to play, check out this short video:
The Goal
Collect the most farty dog points before the end card is revealed.
Setup
Set aside the end card. Separate the cards into two decks: Farting Frenchie Dog cards in one deck, and all the other cards in the other deck.
Each player takes a “3-card fart level” Frenchie and places it in front of them.
Shuffle the remaining Farting Frenchie Dog cards and split that deck in half. Shuffle the end card into one of the two halves and place that pile on the table, and place the other half of the dog cards on top.
Shuffle the remaining deck of cards and deal out four cards to each player. Youngest (or stinkiest!) player goes first.
Gameplay
On your turn, you will either:
- Turn in your hand of four cards and draw a new hand, or:
- Draw a card into your hand, and then play a card from your hand.
You are trying to collect the Frenchie card in front of you by playing a number of “Stink” cards next to them equal to the point value of the particular Frenchie.
There are other things that you can do on your turn besides play Stink cards. You can also sabotage your opponent, by playing a Good Smell card onto one of their Stink cards, neutralizing it. However, the color of the Good Smell card must match the color of the Stink card you are neutralizing.
You can also play an Action card, each of which has a different effect. Most of the Action cards must be played on your turn, except for a NO card, which may be played at any time to cancel another player’s action.
Note: after playing cards, whether on their turn or not, players will then immediately draw back up to four cards.
Play proceeds clockwise around the table. Shuffle the discard pile whenever the deck runs out.
Once you’ve played enough Stink cards next to your current Frenchie Dog, you collect it. Take the Frenchie and place it in your personal Dog Pile face down, then draw the next Frenchie Dog card from the top of the Frenchie deck and place it in front of you.
Game End
As soon as the end card is revealed in the Farting Frenchie Dog deck, the game immediately ends. That is, unless there is a “Cancel The End” card in play, in which case, play will continue until the Farting Frenchie Dog deck is depleted. Once the game ends, count up the number of Fart Points on all the Frenchies that you have collected during the game. Whoever has the most points, wins.
Farting Frenchies: The Verdict
Farting Frenchies is a family-friendly game that’s especially going to appeal to dog lovers and fans of fart humor… in other words, your kids are going to love it! It’s very easy to learn, and plays quickly, making it a great filler game or one that you can play several times in an evening.
The art is adorable, with each Frenchie having a distinctive style and personality. Mechanically, this individuality doesn’t matter for the game; it’s only the “fart value” of the card that has any gameplay concern. But all of that character makes for a much more engaging experience.
Like any smaller game that uses a single deck of cards, you’ll find yourself shuffling the discard pile frequently, especially with a higher player count. If you’re planning on playing with four or more players, I highly recommend backing at a minimum at the $25 pledge level, which gives you both Farting Frenchies and an additional 54-card expansion of your choice. I received one of the planned expansions, Labs Fart Too!, which features Labrador Retrievers.
You can combine two decks together to play, allowing for a higher player count as well as cutting down on the reshuffling. And expansions aren’t just a reskin of Farting Frenchies. They also include unique action cards, such as these from Labs Fart, Too!:
This is a fun game that’s easy to bring with you to game nights or casual meetups: it’s pretty much just a deck of playing cards. There is a lot of “take that”-style gameplay, as you’re trying to sabotage other players at the same time as you’re trying to collect your own Frenchie cards. But none of it is mean-spirited, and games go fast enough that if you don’t do well, you can swiftly turn around and play another round.
For more information or to pledge for a copy, head on over to the Farting Frenchies Kickstarter page!
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Disclosure: This post was sponsored by the creators of Farting Frenchies.
