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Rick and Morty *BURP* is by far *BURRRRP* my favorite show on TV. I have watched all 3 seasons multiple times.
The show has the perfect blend of humor, sci-fi and emotionally raw characterization to keep viewers wanting more – even if it’s for months between seasons (c’mon guys hurry up!).
While waiting for season 4 to come out I have been getting my Rick and Morty fix through board games. There is actually a surprising amount of games that have been released and a lot are really fun and stick true to the show when it comes to theme.
In this article I am going to look at what I think are the 10 best Rick and Morty board games and why.
WUBBA LUBBA DUB DUB!
The 5 Best Rick and Morty Board Games
1. Rick and Morty: Total Rickall
Players: 2 – 5
Duration: 30mins
Rick and Morty: Total Rickall is based on the episode of the same name. You know the one where parasites implant fake memories into everyone’s heads – where we meet Mr. Poopybutthole and wonder if he is real or not. Yeah that one!
The game is super fun to play. There is an option to play fully cooperatively, or branch off into two teams in the ‘advanced mode’ where players are randomly chosen to be real or a parasite.
You do not need to be a Rick and Morty fan to play this game – however it makes it all the more familiar and fun if you are!
Gameplay
Original Mode
The original game (non-advanced version) is a card game that is fully cooperative.
To start the game a number of characters are laid in the center of the table (you will recognize at least a few of these if you’ve seen the episode).
Underneath these characters place (face down so no one can see it) a hidden identity card. This will determine whether the character is real or a parasite.
The majority of the players on the board will be parasites BUT some will be your friends and family.
The goal of the game is to kill the parasites while sparing the real characters!
Each player is dealt a hand of action cards. One of these cards is played each round.
Action cards allow you to perform actions such as:
- Peeking at a character’s identity;
- Drawing cards;
- Shuffling identity cards;
- Shooting Characters.
If you shoot a character and it is a parasite. Celebrate and discard the card.
If, however, it is a family member or friend… commiserate and place the card in the ‘FAIL’ pile – also replace the slain character with an entirely new one.
Players can all decide whether or not to end the game at any time. If you decide to do this you need to flip the identity cards of all characters in the center of the table.
If they are all real – everyone wins!
If there is even 1 parasite. Everyone loses!
Note: If 4 real characters are shot throughout the game – everyone loses.
Advanced Mode
This mode is played very similar to the original mode except every player is dealt an identity card – this will tell you if you are real or a parasite.
The game as played as normal – but the parasite players are wanting the parasites to remain alive.
There is a catch however, a real player is able to shoot another players character card. If the player was real – their card is added to the fail pile and they draw a new character and identity card (they could become a parasite).
If they are a parasite and killed – they remain real for the rest of the game.
Pros:
- Two modes – original and advanced;
- Cooperative game play;
- Great Rick and Morty theme;
- Replayability.
Cons:
- Best with 4 players or more;
- Best when played with players who love Rick and Morty.
2. Mr. Meeseeks Box O' Fun
Players: 2 – 6
Duration: 20mins – 30mins
I’m Mr. Meeseeks look at me!
Mr. Meeseeks Box O’ Fun is a game that’s based on our favorite blue helper – Mr. Meeseeks!
The game is quick to play, fun and very interactive with the ‘Dare’ cards (WARNING: NSFW).
Gameplay
As I mentioned before the gameplay is simple.
Like in the episode, Mr. Meeseeks is a summonable blue fellow who loves to help. You summon him to complete a task and then he dies. Simple right?
Not so much. If you can’t complete the task – Mr. Meeseeks can’t die and to him “EXSISTANCE IS PAIN!”
In the game, each player draws a card that has a task on it like ‘make me a sandwich’. The player then rolls a dice to see if the task is completed by Mr. Meeseeks or not.
If it is completed – cool, earn a victory point and it’s the next players turn. If not…. Then you need to draw a dare card.
Dare cards require a player to carry out a ‘dare’, these can be as innocent as crawling on all fours and barking like a dog for 30 seconds’ or ‘take off your shoes and roll the dice with your feet until you roll a six’ and much much much worse.
If you complete a dare you earn a victory point.
Players win the game by earning a certain number of victory points which are determined by the number of players.
Pros:
- Dare cards make the game interactive and hilarious;
- Pressing the Meeseeks button has quotes from the show “I CAN’T TAKE IT ANY MORE! I JUST WANT TO DIE!”
Cons:
- Very NSFW;
- Dares might not appeal to some.
- Do not play with your family!
3. Rick and Morty: Anatomy Park
Players: 2 – 4
Duration: 30mins – 60mins
This Rick and Morty board game is based on the episode Anatomy Park where Morty ends up in a theme park full of infectious diseases in a homeless guy called ‘Reuben’s body.
In the game – players need to construct the best theme park while battling off the infectious diseases and other park builders.
Gameplay
Oh jeez Rick!
At the start of the game each player chooses a character from the episode:
- Rick;
- Morty;
- Dr. Xenon Bloom;
- Annie;
- Roger; or
- Poncho.
Each character has a unique ability to be used throughout the game.
The game is a tile placement game. The entrance tile is placed in the middle of the table and players each draw 3 tiles from the ‘Park Tiles’ deck.
There are six types of tiles:
- Food;
- Ride;
- Exit;
- Transit;
- Attraction; and
- Focus Groups.
During the game players need to move their characters, fight off diseases (which if they are on a player-controlled tile force that player to discard tiles – not good) and choosing where to place tiles in Reuben’s body.
Placing a tile in Reubens body can cause all sorts of different bodily reactions from coughing to orgasming to outbreaks of Gonorrhea or Tuberculosis.
Players keep building their theme parks until it gets close to the end game. During this stage there is a ‘push your luck’ element, whereby a few game ending ‘heart attacks’ are shuffled into the lower end of the deck.
Players need to decide whether to escape Reubens body or keep playing to potentially earn more points or die when Reuben does.
Escaping through an exit, ear or nipple rewards a player 3 victory points.
During the game players earn victory points for placing tiles and playing different parts of the game.
The winner at the end is the player with the most points.
The game has all the great rides and bits and pieces from the episode including Pirates of the Pancreas through to the Testicle Drop.
Pros:
- Great theme that incorporates a lot from the episode
- Games are usually pretty tight with all players scrambling at the end
- Tiles make the game replayable
Cons:
- Victory point tokens are flimsy and hard to keep track of
4. Rick and Morty: Close Rick-Counter of the Rick Kind
Players: 2 – 5
Duration: 30mins – 70mins
It’s becoming pretty obvious that each of these games is based on a single episode. This one is no different.
In the Close Rick-Counter of the Rick Kind episode, Rick is kidnapped by a group of alternate Ricks and taken to the council of Ricks to stand trial for crimes against the Ricks.
That sentence is Rickdiculous….. sorry couldn’t help
Gameplay
Rick-Counter of the Rick Kind is a deck building game that uses the same mechanics as other ‘Cerberus engine’ games such as the DC Deck Builder – except with a Rick and Morty flavor.
In the game each player starts with 10 cards. Each turn you use these cards to try and buy better cards and ‘build’ your deck to achieve objectives in the game – with the overarching objective to kill the Evil Rick.
The game manages to weave the Rick and Morty theme perfectly. In the game you want to obtain as many Rick cards as possible while avoiding the crappy ‘Jerry’ cards and ‘Morty waves’ that block out the ‘Genius Waves’ that Rick needs.
The game is a whole lot of fun and is based off of a known system that is absolutely brilliant to play.
In the box you will get 206 cards with which to build your deck and 6 oversized character cards with unique abilities and traits.
Pros:
- Everyone gets to play as Rick!
- Based on a solid deck building engine – with the perfect Rick and Morty theme
- Great intro to deck building games
Cons:
- Some may not like the deck-building aspect
- Game is not great if you aren’t a Rick and Morty fan and do not get the references
5. Rick and Morty: The Ricks Must be Crazy
Players: 2 – 5
Duration: 30mins – 70mins
Keeping true with the other Rick and Morty board games in this list. Ricks Must be Crazy is no different.
Based on the episode where Rick and Morty shrink down and enter Ricks car battery which won’t start. Morty, learns that the battery is actually a ‘microverse batter’ containing an entire universe that’s entire purpose is to keep Ricks battery charged.
Both characters then learn of the miniverse and teenyverse which are the microverses version of microverses – confusing! But important!
Gameplay
The goal of the game is to earn the most points. You achieve this by playing cards in your hand.
The layout of the game is four separate multiverses:
- Teenyverse;
- Miniverse;
- Microverse; and
- Rickverse
Each player chooses their character at the start of the game and receives ‘build tokens’ and starts out in the smallest multiverse – the ‘Teenyverse’.
Each player then draws 5 cards.
Play is done alternating in a clockwise direction starting with the player who draws the ‘first player token’.
Actions for each round are determined by the multiverse you are in – more actions can be completed in the Teenyverse and this decreases as players move upward through the verses.
During turns, players need to spend actions to build power supplies and contraptions, and have a chance to move upwards to the next ‘verse to take advantage of the excess power there.
At the end of each round, the power generates from the bottom ‘verse up, and players can use that power as it travels from ‘verse to ‘verse to play one-shot abilities, use character abilities, and power-up their contraptions.
Player order matters in each ‘verse, so hopefully your opponents left you some power to use!
The game ends when a player reaches a certain number of points determined by the number of players in the game.
Pros:
- The game mechanics are unique and different with the multi-verse mechanic
- Lots of player interaction during the game with power
Cons:
- Power up phase is a bit boring
- Not for beginner gamers – can be quite complex
Final Thoughts
If you love Rick and Morty and board games as much as me then combining the two seems like the obvious choice.
Lucky for us there are a whole load of different games available for us to choose from.
The list above is what I believe are the best Rick and Morty board games available and I can’t wait to see what is released when season 4 finally hits!
