Lunch Money

by Atlas

Product Features

• Simulates being little girls running around the playground beating up each other and stealing their lunch money
• Beat each other senseless with cards like 'Poke in the Eye', 'Uppercut', and 'Humiliation.'
• Not for the weak willed
• Game is mean
• Last player still standing wins.

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 3.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B00064LY1Y
• Item model number: AG1100
• Manufacturer recommended age: 12 months and up
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #67,148 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)

Product Description

This card games simulates being little girls running around the playground beating up each other and stealing their lunch money. Once you get past the strange theme, there's a fun little game where players beat each other senseless with cards like 'Poke in the Eye', 'Uppercut', and 'Humiliation.' Not for the weak willed, this game is mean. The last player still standing wins.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, clean, violent fun, March 21, 2005

By 

Bruno Knewstubb (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:2.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Lunch Money (Toy)

This is an excellent card game, so long as you are willing to imagine brutalising your friends. It is, of course, all in good fun.
A normal game lasts just a few minutes (two player games are exceedingly short and often one-sided, so play with a group), so it is good as a time-filler or to play a series of games with.
In play, each player can pick on anyone at the table, so one person will often be victimised for a few turns until they are ousted or a the cards make someone else a better victim. "Going with the flow" and petty revenge often dictate victims, rather than a solid strategy, so the greatest fun is had when describing the exact circumstances that lead up to your friend recieving a boot in the unmentionables.
Coupled with a group of active imaginations, this game is hilarious (if violent). Check out the expansion set also.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Let your "inner child" beat up your friends' "inner child", January 8, 2008

By 

Matthew Farrell (Tempe, Arizona) - See all my reviews

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:2.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Lunch Money (Toy)

If you have a dark, sarcastic nature, this game's for you.

The basic premise: you're schoolkids fighting over lunch money. Eveybody has 15 points, and you have to get your opponents down to 0 ("unconscious") before they do the same to you. Half the game is trash talk, which is not only encouraged but often mandatory.

The good: Pretty simple to learn (with a few exceptions -- see "the bad") and games are really quick. Unlike Magic The Gathering and such, there's a finite number of card titles, all of which come in the box, so you won't blow a small fortune on cards trying to get the choice ones. Since there are maybe 20 card (titles) total, it makes it relatively easy to get the hang of. A key element of the game is trash talking, so if you and your friends enjoy good-natured ribbing each other, you'll definately get into it.

The bad: if you're not used to this type of game, it can be a moderately steep learning curve. A lot of the cards have exceptions-to-the-rules status, so most beginning players will probably spend some time consulting the rules each turn to verify their understanding, and that slows things down. If a card has a special bonus to it, it's not listed on the card itself but in the rules. It took my friends and I about 10 to 15 hands for all the stuff to sink in. Even then, there's some ambiguity in the rules on certain situations. Perhaps the biggest problem is that, with a finite number of card titles, the game has the potential to get stale after a while (as in a month or two.)

Over-all, this is a fun game, but its violent premise and inherent trash talking mean it definately isn't for everyone.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Desperately needs an update., June 20, 2008

By 

Kozmik_Pariah "King of Dorkness" (Statesboro, Georgia) - See all my reviews

= Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:1.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Lunch Money (Toy)

Lunch Money is about ten years old. It is in desperate need of an overhaul. This game is sorta fun, but it gets old a little fast. The art is gothic and pretty photography, with little witty (or silly) puns and such. Some will make players laugh and others will make them groan.

The rules can be found pretty much anywhere, but basically you're a schoolgirl (I guess you can pretend to be a ninja or whatever if ya want) beating up other schoolgirls for their.. Lunch Money. Most cards have a number value printed, and they cause that number in damage to an opponent. There are a few life gaining cards, and when attacked, a player can play dodge or block cards to avoid taking damage. Some cards combo with others for more damage or to counter damage and instead cause the attacker to slip up and get "hurt".

That's pretty much the good on this game. As old as it is, the faint colored hues (4 colors for 4 categories of cards, in antique yellow, blue, orange, and red hues basiccally) can sometimes be mistaken for another color. Why the publisher doesn't give a solid border (at the very least) around each card, I don't get.

After that, the confusion at teaching a new player this game can be frustrating. I tried teaching it to a friend, and his being colorblind lead to us putting it back in frustration. The constant consultation with the rules (for newbies and myself, as I've not played in a couple of years) wasn't fun. If you play regularly, the rules should pose no problems, but for noobs and returners, it's not fun AT ALL.

Additionally, 90% of the game's problems would be solved with rules printed somewhere (whether a text block or sort of circling the border, either mechanic would be fine) on each card. I decided to take a marker to my deck and color code the borders with a solid color for quick reference on whether its an attack defense special card or weapon, and after the marker dried, I wrote in what each card does along the border.

That's about the only way to really play this game. Not worth buying at all unless you're absolutely tired of other standalone (non collectible) card games.