The Simpsons Archive: The Simpsons Trading Card Game

The Simpsons Trading Card Game

In September, 2003, Wizards of the Coast (makers of the Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon collectible card games) released The Simpsons Trading Card Game. (For those of you unfamiliar with the term, a "trading card game" is a game where each player plays against the others with their own deck of cards, usually constructed from purchased "starter" and "booster" packs. Some cards are rarer than others, so you are expected to trade some of your cards for the cards that you want to make what you think will be the best deck of 40 cards, hence "trading card game". The term "collectible card game" means the same thing, although the term usually applies when the cards have a collector's value as well...then again, all of the rare cards, except for the "star" cards, have both foil and regular versions, which are the same as far as game play is concerned, so there is some collectibility involved.)
The object of the game is to score points by assigning characters to scenes from the show. There are three kinds of cards:

Scene cards, which depcit a scene such as "Krusty Burger". Each scene (with a few exceptions) has a "complete" value and a "trash" value, as well as a number of character traits and a special feature.
Character cards, which depict a character such as "Jasper". Each character has a list of traits. Character cards are played onto scene cards in order to "complete" or "trash" the scene.
Action cards, which let a player perform a certain action or affects all of the players somehow. Some can be played at any time, while others can only be played at certain times (usually during the player's turn). For example, "Kid Stuff" can be played during a player's turn; it causes all Characters in play without the "Kid" trait to be discarded.
The object is to play a scene card, then to play characters onto scenes (both your own and others) in order to score points. You may only have one scene in play at any one time, and cannot remove it until it has been either completed or trashed. A scene may be "completed" when the number of character cards on the scene that have at least one of the scene's traits on it is greater than or equal to the scene's completion value, and may be "trashed" when the number of character cards on the scene that have none of the scene's traits on it is greater than or equal to the scene's trash value. Note that a scene does not have to be declared completed or trashed at the first opportunity, and that any player may declare a scene completed or trashed on their turn if it has enough of the appropriate cards.
For example, a player plays the scene Krustylu Studios, which has a completion value of 5, a trash value of 4, the traits Idiot and Celebrity, and the feature that if it is completed using Krusty, whoever played the scene gets one extra point. The character Poochie has the traits Oddball, Idiot, Cartoon, and Animal; Idiot is one of the scene's traits, so Poochie counts toward the scene's completion value. The character Comic Book Guy has the traits Fat, Brainy, Bitter, and Oddball, none of which are either of the scene's traits, so Comic Book Guy counts towards the scene's trash value. Note that not all of the played cards have to match the same trait (for example, Krustylu Studios can be completed with three Bleeding Gums Murphy cards, which have Celebrity but not Idiot, and two Lenny cards, which have Idiot but not Celebrity), nor do all of the traits on the scene have to be present (the scene can be completed with two Bartmans, two Dr. Marvin Monroes, and one Brad Goodman, none of which have Idiot). There is also no limit on how many of each card can be played at any one time.
When a scene is completed or trashed, the player who placed the scene in the first place scores a point, and all other players who have played at least one character counted toward the completion or trash score a point (regardless of the number of cards played, and note that the player who placed the scene does not also score for having characters on it). In addition, if a scene is completed (but not trashed) and one player (including the player who placed the scene) has more counting characters than any other player, this player scores an additional point. The game ends when someone has seven or more points (or has six and plays the "Game Over" action); whoever has the most points wins. If there is a tie, then, in the words of Troy McClure, "they're all winners" (that's from "A Streetcar Named Marge"...and I don't remember anything wrong with there being a "tie" in "Lisa on Ice").
What's meant by a "counting character"? Well, remember when I said that you do not have to declare a scene completed or trashed as soon as there are enough cards? This is because if there are more completion/trash cards than the scene's completion/trash value, whoever declared the scene completed/trashed selects which cards are counted, just as long as the player counts at least as many cards as the completion/trash value. (Obviously, if it's a completion, the player would want to count all of that player's own cards, in order to try to get the bonus point.)

Here is the list of cards, at least in the original starter and booster sets. There are four starter decks in the original set, each with 40 cards: Homer, Bart, Lisa, and Mr. Burns. (All Homer decks, for example, contain the same 40 cards.) Each booster pack contains 11 cards, none of which are in any of the starter decks.
* indicates a rare card; all rare cards have foil as well as regular versions, except for the Star Cards, which only have foil versions. All other cards are "common" cards, and do not have foil versions. (There is no third level of rarity, like the "Uncommon" level of Magic: the Gathering.)
Letters indicate cards in the starter decks: (B)art, (H)omer, (L)isa, (M)r. Burns. Each common character or action card in a starter deck appears three times; each common scene card in a starter deck appears twice; each rare card in a starter deck appears once. (There are three different Marge Simpson and three different Maggie Simpson cards; one of each Marge card appears in the Homer deck, and one of each Maggie card appears in the Lisa deck.)
STAR CARDS - All star cards are rare and (only) foil
1 B * Bart 2 H * Homer 3 * Krusty 4 L * Lisa 5 M * Mr. Burns

CHARACTER CARDS
6 H Apu Nahasapeemapetilon 7 H Barney Gumble 8 * Bartman 9 * Bleeding Gums Murphy 10 Blinky 11 Bobo 12 Brad Goodman 13 Bumblebee Man 14 Captain McCAllister 15 M Carl Carlson 16 M Chief Clancy Wiggum 17 Cletus Del Ray 18 * Comic Book Guy 19 * Dancin' Homer 20 Disco Stu 21 * Dolph 22 L Dr. Julius Hibbert 23 Dr. Marvin Monroe 24 H * Dr. Nick Riviera 25 H * Duffman 26 Edna Krabappel 27 * Fat Tony D'Amico 28 * Future Burns 29 Gil 30 H Grampa Simpson 31 * Groundskeeper Willie 32 * Hank Scorpio 33 Hans Moleman 34 H Herb Powell 35 * Itchy & Scratchy 36 L * Janey Powell 37 Jasper 38 B * Jimbo Jones 39 * Kang & Kodos 40 M * Kearney 41 Kent Brockman 42 M Lenny 43 Lunchlady Doris 44 * Lurleen Lumpkin 45 L Maggie Simpson (crying, sucking, bag of groceries) 46 H Marge Simpson (listen to your heart, Fox, cookies) 47 L Martin Prince 48 M * Mayor Quimby 49 B Milhouse Van Houten 50 H Moe Szyslak 51 Mojo the Helper Monkey 52 * Mr. Teeny 53 Helen Lovejoy 54 Ned Flanders 55 B Nelson Muntz 56 Number One 57 M Officer Lou 58 B Otto Mann 59 Patty Bouvier 60 * Poochie 61 L Principal Skinner 62 L * Professor John Frink 63 B * Ranier Wolfcastle 64 L Ralph Wiggum 65 Reverend Lovejoy 66 L Rod & Todd Flanders 67 B Santa's Little Helper 68 Selma Bouvier 69 B Sherri & Terri 70 * Sideshow Bob Terwilliger 71 Sideshow Mel 72 M Waylon Smithers 73 M Snake 74 Snowball II 75 Squeaky-Voiced Teen 76 * Stampy 77 Superintendent Chalmers 78 B Uter 79 Wendell

SCENE CARDS
80 All Creatures Great and Cheap 81 B * The Android's Dungeon 82 Barney's Bowl-A-Rama 83 B Bart's Treehouse 84 M Burns Manor 85 * Christmas 86 The Couch 87 H Hullabalooza 88 The Itchy & Scratchy Store 89 B Kamp Krusty 90 Krusty Burger 91 Krustylu Studios 92 Krusty's Clown College 93 H Kwik-E-Mart 94 The Leftorium 95 H Moe's Tavern 96 M Mr. Burns's Office 97 Noise Land Video Arcade 98 B Phineas Q. Butterfat's 5600 Flavors Ice Cream Parlor 99 L The Playground 100 L * Science Fair 101 742 Evergreen Terrace 102 Springfield Church 103 L Springfield Elementary 104 H * Springfield Isotopes Game 105 L Springfield Library 106 Springfield Mall 107 M * Springfield Nuclear Power Plant 108 Springfield Retirement Castle 109 M Springfield Town Hall 110 Whacking Day! 111 * Who Shot Mr. Burns?
ACTION CARDS - Each one has a character on it (although anyone can use any of them)
Bart 112 * Guilt by Association 113 Kid Stuff 114 Losers Pay 115 B Bait and Switch 116 B Search and Destroy 117 B * Trading Up 118 Take a Peek 119 B Slimy Tactics 120 B Sneak Attack Homer 121 H All Mine 122 H Parental Control 123 H * Dumb Luck 124 Taste of Victory 125 * Game Over 126 Check the Rules 127 Come from Behind 128 H Off Limits 129 H Parade of Idiots Krusty 130 Share the Wealth 131 Everyone's a Winner 132 Helping Hands 133 Wipe Out 134 Star Power 135 * Smoke 'Em if You Got 'Em 136 Misalignment 137 Back to Square One 138 Trapped Like a Rat Lisa 139 Bonus Play 140 Same as it Ever Was 141 * He Ain't Heavy 142 L Trading Places 143 L Know-it-All 144 L Exposed 145 Save the Animals 146 L * Butting In 147 L Healthy Choice Mr. Burns 148 * Stand and Deliver 149 M * Poison Pill 150 Knocked Down a Peg 151 No Eggheads 152 Melt Down 153 M Fine Print 154 M Executive Privilege 155 M Staff Review 156 M You're Fired!

Either somebody knew in advance that Dr. Marvin Monroe was still alive after all, they didn't get the memo that Dr. Marvin Monroe was (supposedly) dead, or they forgot to include Maude Flanders. (Also notice that for whatever reason, the only character not in anything resembling alphabetical order is Helen Lovejoy.) Speaking of forgetting, while they managed to find room for one-time characters like Mojo the Helper Monkey and (Stonecutter) Number One, there are no cards for regulars like Miss Hoover or Sanjay. (It's possible that there could be an expansion set in the future, but there don't seem to be that many characters left out to make it feasible.)
Note that some traits, like "Duo", appear on multiple cards but not on any scenes; however, the action cards "Guilt by Association", "Losers Pay", and "Wipe Out" can affect cards of any selected trait.
Until Wizards of the Coast comes up with some additional rule clarifications, here are some I thought of:

If a scene says "If this scene is completed using ______" (for example, Bart in Bart's Treehouse), that character does not have to be the last card played on the scene before it is declared completed; however, it must be one of the cards chosen to complete the scene.
All points for completing or trashing a scene are scored simultaneously. Interpret the "Share the Wealth" action card as saying, "If you otherwise would not have received any points, you get 1 point."
Once a player has seven or more points, no more action cards (such as "Knocked Down a Peg" or "Game Over") may be played.
Despite Old being listed three times on his card, each Hans Moleman card counts as one character at all times.