Shit happens, and sometimes it happens quite often. However, this is not a self-help blog but a series of board game reviews. This time, we reviewed a board game with an interesting title—Shit Happens.
Shit Happens – Game Overview
The official name of the game is Shit Happens, but for the sake of sales, you might find it under $#!% Happens or Verdammt nochmal, which is German for Damn it!. The mastermind behind every part of the game, including its catchy title, is Andy Breckman.
If you Google good ol’ Andy, you’ll find that he’s a screenwriter, comedian, and radio personality—also the creator of Monk, one of my favorite TV series.
Shit Happens is a party card game for an adult audience. Some of the cards can be very spicy, icky, or worse—but more on that later.
Theme and Aesthetics
Shit Happens gives you a deck of cards with unusual situations. The graphics are minimalistic but well-executed and fit perfectly with the game’s narrative. In the end, the challenge is to imagine (and later suppress) all the situations described on the cards.
How to Play Shit Happens
A small yet sturdy box—one that survived my move to Norway—contains a deck of 200 cards and a four-page rulebook. Every card has three parts:
- A description of a shitty situation
- A minimalist yet funny illustration
- A Misery Index—the game’s way of ranking the situation
At the start of the game, each player receives three random cards from a shuffled deck and places them face-up in order from the lowest to the highest number. The numbers range from 1 to 100. Let’s say you have these three cards:
- Step in Dog Shit
- Job Transfer to Somalia
- Surgeon Amputates Wrong Leg
The player on the right draws a card from the pile. You don’t see the card. They read the description aloud, for example: Wipe Your Ass with Poison Ivy.
Your goal is to estimate where this situation falls on the Misery Index:
- Worse than stepping in dog shit
- Between stepping in dog shit and a job transfer to Somalia
- Between a job transfer to Somalia and a surgeon amputating the wrong leg
- Worse than having the wrong leg amputated
If you guess correctly, you keep the card. Otherwise, the next player (who hasn’t seen the card) gets a chance to guess. If no one guesses correctly—an unlikely scenario—the card goes to the discard pile.
The ultimate goal is to collect ten cards. However, as you collect more cards, the game becomes harder since your guesses need to be more precise.
Also, you must always assume the worst-case scenario. No happy endings here. If a surgeon amputates the wrong leg, it’s not a hidden blessing—some quack took off your healthy leg, and now they have to remove the sick one too. Life sucks.
Is This a Complex Game?
Not at all. The learning curve is almost nonexistent. The rules fit onto just four small pages with extra illustrations. This makes the game ideal for breaking the ice, taking a break from more complex games, and sharing a few laughs with friends.
Yeah—friends of legal age. Not family. Not people you’ve just met.
It may shock you, but a game called Shit Happens is targeted at an 18+ audience. Why? Some of the situations range from sexually explicit to downright disgusting. The pictures speak a thousand words.
If you enjoy short yet funny games like this, check out our Coup review.
Game Length and Replayability
The game is advertised for two to eight players but works best with four to six. Bonus points if couples are playing. With just two players, the game feels slow, while with eight, it drags on.
A four-player game typically lasts around 30 minutes. You can play multiple rounds, but, like Cards Against Humanity, repeated jokes lose their charm over time.
This isn’t an everyday game. It’s one of those edgy party games you bring out after a few drinks for a good laugh. The 200-card deck can make things repetitive, but Andy Breckman has that covered—there are expansions, including:
- Too Shitty for Work
- 50 Shades of Shit
- Full of Shit
- Shitty Ways to Die
I’m sure we’ll see more expansions in the future.
Portability and Setting
Measuring 160 x 110 x 50 mm, this game is perfectly sized for backpacks or large jacket pockets.
In a pub setting, it does take up some space, especially with more players. Each player needs enough room to lay out their cards in a line. Round tables? Not ideal. Four players and a rectangular table? Perfect.
Where to Buy Shit Happens
I bought my copy in Estonia in 2022 (I think) for 20 EUR—roughly 225 NOK at today’s rates. Terrible times we live in. As of 02.02.2025, the lowest price I found was 246 NOK + shipping on the Coolshop web shop.
If you spot this game at a flea market, take a couple of minutes to check if all the cards are there. Otherwise, you can find Shit Happens almost everywhere, from Elkjøp to Norli. Need help? Check out our quick guide where to buy board games in Bergen.
Shit Happens – Pros and Cons
PROS
- Affordable
- Portable
- Simple rules
- Hilarious in the right setting
CONS
- Not for people whose sense of humor you don’t know well
- Becomes repetitive
Is It Fun?
Yes, Shit Happens is fun. Period. It has a nice place on my shelf, and I play it relatively often with friends—but not too often, because games like this can become stale. That said, it’s inexpensive and guaranteed to make you smile.
Final Thoughts
Shit Happens is fun, edgy, and a guaranteed hit—provided you read the room right. It’s relatively inexpensive and one of those games you’ll often find in pubs.
This review contains 27 mentions of the word “shit.” No wonder we don’t have sponsors.