Description

Dumpster fire is a fast paced, hand based, card game for 3 to 8 players. In it, players assume the roles of scandal plagued politicians each struggling to deal with their own problems while sabotaging their opponents' efforts to do the same.

The game consists of approx 100 cards, split into 8 general types which are differentiated by color. Some cards can be played alone, others only in combination as part of a larger play. There are also cards which must be played, and a class of cards (scandals) which cannot be played at all. Mechanically, the game uses a traditional turn order structure, but emphasizes cross-play, off-turn, and table-wide cards to keep all players involved throughout a hand.

Each player is dealt a hand of 8 cards (9 in a 3 player game) to start. The cards are then separated into playable cards which are held, and scandals which are placed face up in front of the player. At the start of their turn the player draws a card from the deck, and can make a single play. The effects of cards vary but typically involve giving cards to another player or forcing them to draw. In many cases the target of the play can attempt to defend or retaliate with cards of their own, and there are even cards that allow intervention by otherwise uninvolved players. The emphasis on cards being drawn and given rather than discarded leads to escalating plays as the hand continues, and due to the number of cards changing hands, the players' prospects and opportunities change rapidly.

Victory is awarded to the first player to get rid of all their cards, and is determined on a per-hand basis, or across a series of hands using card scoring.

-description from publisher