The Game of Redneck Life

The Game of Redneck Life (2008)

Designed By: Lisa Steenson, Lori Dieda

Published By: Gut Bustin’ Games

# of Players: 2 – 6

Playing Time: 60 minutes (this per BBG, but I disagree)

At a Glance: Do you say Redneck like it’s a bad thing? A roll of 2 dice determines the grade you complete in school, which sets you up for one of 11 fabulous careers such as Mullet Salon Operator or Monster Truck Announcer. Journey through Blue Collar Americana by going into debt to purchase a vehicle, get married, divorced, re-married, purchase a home, and raise a passel of young’uns. Through accidents and brawls, players lose teeth during the game. Buy some back if you can… as the player with the most teeth remaining at the end of the game wins!

What The Goose? Let me start off with this simple comment: This game was a hoot! When the Go Redneckin’ card that announced the judging of a REAL hog calling contest was to begin, my mouth dropped open. And then the hog calling commenced. Let me tell you, it was hilarious! If I hadn’t hurt myself laughing, I think I may have wet my pants.

Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself. Set-up of the game was fairly straight forward and simple. Set the board out, shuffle the cards and put them in the marked spaces, fill the plastic sheet with all the “rigs” we get to buy, usually on credit. This was probably my main gripe on the game, the separation of cards. The Go Redneckin cards were so tightly packed together, and of such low quality, that they stuck together. The came apart well enough, but it definitely took extra effort.

Put your pawns on the starting crushed beer can, and you’re ready to begin. Oh, but wait, first you have to roll up your redneck name. This consisted of rolling a red and a blue six-sided dice, and then comparing those numbers to a chart. Billy Bob, Bubba Jr., etc. Then you jsut roll the dice and move your mice… er, pawns. On a side note, it is suggested you use your favorite beer caps in place of the cheap plastic pawns. Yes, this would’ve added another small dimension of fun.

This is a roll-and-move game, and heavily dependent on that luck. You land on the spaces and do what the space says. You could hit a tooth out with a beer bottle while driving, or you might be swatted by your Uncle Reverend, and loose a tooth.

There are a few spaces on the board that you MUST stop on, no matter the roll, and follow the directions. This included getting your education and subsequent job (which consisted of anything from a Ciggy Shack attendant, a Monster Truck Rally Announcer, and even a Mullet-shop Owner), getting hitched (you roll for your spouses name), then divorced, then rehitched (you roll again, and hope to get either the same name or something close due to tattoo removal fees), and some gambling.

You start the game out with no money, and you quickly go into debt. When you get your education and job, that’s it! You don’t get to change your job and attached pay. Throughout the game you’re going to get some young’ens, including quite a few red-headed step children named Darryl, each of which lowers your pay by $10. They do come in handy at the end of the game, but otherwise they’re just a drain on your non-existent resources.

This game was a blast to play. It’s definitely one you need the right group of friends to enjoy and it’s probably a game you won’t bring out all the time. But when you need a good, hard laugh, this is one to pull out, slap down and easily waste a couple of hours with a redneck drawl and some hog-calling.