Sour Apples to Apples is a card game for 4-8 players with the same basic rules as it's predecessor. As you might recall, the player that is the judge for that turn will draw and play an adjective card while each other player will play a noun that best suits the card drawn. The judge then picks one of the players as the winner and they gain a point.
In Sour Apples to Apples the judge must also pick a loser for the round. The loser then has to spin a special apple spinner that will decide their punishment. The punishments are as follows:
Can't talk your next turn
For the next turn the player is unable to say anything. This could cause the player to miss out on some serious lobbying time and may cause them to lose the point.
Play red before green
For this punishment you must play your noun card before the adjective card is even revealed. As bad as this sounds, sometimes it causes some pretty hilarious results.
Pass the sour apple
Phew! That was close. When you land on this you must pass the sour apple to any other player and they have to spin the apple and except the punishment on your behalf. That was nice of them.
Double play
The next time you play a noun card you get to play two instead of one. Okay, so this one is not quite a punishment. Double the play, double the chances to win!
Lose a card
This is probably the ultimate downer. When you land on this you must discard 1 card from your hand. For the rest of the game you will be down 1 card. The only saving grace here is that if you land on this again, it has no effect. You cannot have any less than 4 cards in your hand at the beginning of each turn.
Another difference between this version and the original is that the decks are simplified by having the adjective and nouns all on the same card. You just flip your card to the correct orientation depending on what you are using it for.
My only issue with this is that sometimes you toss out really great words because the card is being used for the other side. That being said, there is still plenty of hilarious combinations to be made.
Again, Sour Apples to Apples recommends the player be 12 or up, but it really can be played with younger players. The cards are not mature in theme and the rules are simple enough to be understood by a child younger than 12.
Sour Apples to Apples is every bit as great of a game as the original. I personally have both versions and they get busted out at family gatherings all the time. The kids especially love this version as the threat of a punishment adds a certain level of excitement to the game. It can also be considered a deterrent to use a turn as a "throw away" when you feel like you have nothing else to play.
If you're board of Apples to Apples and want to mix it up a bit, I would definitely recommend picking up a copy of Sour Apples to Apples. It is sold exclusively at Target, but doing a quick Google search shows there may be some re-sellers out there if you're looking to pick it up online.
I give this game 7 sour apples out of 10.
@lamron_eb_yhw