Payback Card Game Review

Payback

WBG Score: 6.5

Player Count: 2-6

You’ll like this if you like: Simple card games

Published by: Payback - Self Published

Designed by: Karel Psota

This is a review copy. See our review policy here

What happens when someone puts Sh*thead in a box?

Every gamer has at least one classic card game they learned long before they discovered modern board games. For me, and probably many of you reading this, it's Shithead. You know, the one where you deal three face-down cards to each player, and then three face-up on top and a hand of three, and you just have to get rid of your cards? Although it has many other names too, like Palace, Shed, Karma, or China Hand, plus many more! The classic shedding game has existed in countless forms for decades, spreading through schools, pubs, family holidays, and university common rooms with little more than a battered deck of regular playing cards and a handful of house rules to playfully argue over. I spent hours playing this with my school friends at every break time in my mid teens It holds a lot of fond memories for me.

That's what makes Payback such an interesting proposition. It isn't trying to hide its inspiration. Instead, it asks a simple question: can you take a game that almost everyone already knows and make it better? And more importantly, make people pay money for it!

Before writing this review, I reached out directly to the designers because I had seen criticism online suggesting the game was little more than a commercialised version of a classic game anyone can play with a deck of cards. To their credit, they were completely open about the inspiration. Here is designer Karel Psota:

"To be upfront: Payback is directly inspired by Sh*thead, Idiot, or Palace. We took the core mechanics, simplified them for beginners, and added new mechanics to better balance the gameplay. We've always credited it: it's on the website and in the subtitle and opening line of our Board Game Geek description. So it's never been something we've tried to hide.

It's worth noting that game mechanics aren't protected by copyright. Only the name, artwork, and wording. As for the negative feedback you've seen, I think some of it comes from people spotting the similarity without having checked the BGG description first. Totally understandable, and it's exactly why we appreciate reviewers like you who dig into the full picture before publishing."

The influence is acknowledged and I never got the impression they were trying to pass this off as an entirely original invention. The comparison is unavoidable, but it is also one they seem perfectly comfortable with other people making. Because its true!

Personally, I am 100% fine with this. There are plenty of other games out there based on classic card games that you could play with a normal deck, but I like the art, the theme, the twist on the rules, and the modifications. I like to support the designers who do this. As long as it is all open and honest, I am in. I wouldn't mind it being made clear on the box, but I get why they don't do that!

How to set up

If you've played Sh*thead before, setup will feel instantly familiar. Each player receives three face-down cards, three face-up cards and a hand of three cards. Nine in total. You can switch the three face up cards with the three dealt cards in anyway you wish, in order to get the best three face up cards possible. High cards and special card are best. The objective remains exactly what veteran players would expect: get rid of all your cards before everyone else does and avoid being the unfortunate player left holding cards at the end of the game. The basic framework is so similar that experienced players will be comfortable almost immediately.

Where Payback begins to separate itself is in the way it presents information. One of the enduring quirks of Sh*thead is that no two groups seem to play it quite the same way. Every family has its own version. Every friendship group has added a few house rules. I've played versions where sevens were low, eights skipped turns, kings reversed play and four of a kind burned the pile. And others, where all those things were wrong! The problem is that teaching the game often involves explaining which version you're using before you can even begin. Payback removes most of that confusion by placing the powers and effects directly on the cards themselves. Rather than memorising a collection of inherited rules, players simply read the cards in front of them. There are no suits, no misremembered or made up rules. Just do what the cards say.

How to play

The core gameplay remains reassuringly familiar. Players take turns playing cards onto a central pile, matching or exceeding the value currently in play. If you cannot legally play a card, you pick up the entire pile and add it to your hand, a punishment that can instantly undo several turns of careful progress. Or you can draw from the top of the pile, and try to use that! If it matches or beats the top card, all good. If not, you take that along with the pile into your hand. You can play multiple cards of the same value, and after you play, you must draw back up to three cards. Once players have emptied their hand, and the draw pile is empty they move on to their face-up cards before eventually being forced to rely on their face-down cards, often creating the most dramatic moments in the game as players blindly hope the card they reveal will save them rather than condemn them. So far, so Sh*thead.

The biggest difference comes from the collection of special cards that give Payback its identity. These allow players to burn piles, reset values, skip opponents and generally interfere with one another in ways that traditional Sh*thead used to do with the various house rules. Just like standard Sh*thead this feels like a race where players are largely focused on managing their own position, whilst actively encouraged to look around the table and identify who is about to win so you can make their life miserable. The game earns its title because revenge is not merely possible, it is often the optimal strategy. OK, so still very much Sh*thead!

This additional interaction creates conversation and laughs around the table. Players celebrate too early, make temporary alliances, plead for mercy and then immediately betray one another the moment an opportunity presents itself. The underlying structure remains familiar, and the overall atmosphere feels very much like the original too. Whether this is an improvement will depend on your tastes, but it unquestionably gives Payback its own flavour.

Is it fun?

The answer depends largely on what you love about Sh*thead in the first place. If your affection for the original comes from its simplicity, then Payback may feel slightly over-engineered and unnecessary. There is a certain beauty to pulling a standard deck of cards from a drawer and teaching a game in two minutes. No custom components are required, no special powers need explaining and everyone can be playing almost immediately. And you know if the people you are playing with enjoy it, they have the game at home already!

On the other hand, many groups have spent years creating increasingly elaborate house rules to make Sh*thead more interactive and entertaining. Those players are likely to appreciate what Payback brings to the table. The special powers create memorable moments, the game becomes easier to teach to newcomers and there is far less room for arguments about which version of the rules should be used. Rather than replacing Sh*thead, Payback feels more like a polished and standardised version of the game that many groups have gradually evolved on their own over the years.

I was also surprised by how much the dedicated deck helps with accessibility. People who have never encountered Sh*thead before often learn Payback faster because the information is presented so clearly. Veteran players may not need that assistance, but newcomers certainly benefit from it. In that sense, Payback succeeds in making a traditionally informal card game feel more approachable without completely losing the spirit of the original.

I am a big fan of the big cards, the bright vibrant art, and overall packaging. I play games as I enjoy them, but I, like many of you, like nice stuff. This is just a way to make a simple classic card game I like, a little better. See it more as an upgraded component rather than a new game and you may just find you love this!

Pros

• Makes a classic card game easier to teach and learn

• Special powers create plenty of interaction and memorable moments

• Eliminates the endless house-rule debates that surround traditional versions

• Various expansions for more variety

• Nice chunky cards

  
  

Cons

• It's Sh*thead. You own it already with a deck of cards

Final thoughts

Payback's biggest challenge is convincing players that it deserves to exist alongside a game they can already play with a standard deck of cards. After spending time with it, I think it largely succeeds. The designers have never hidden where the inspiration comes from, and the more important question is whether the additions improve the experience enough to justify a dedicated product.

Payback feels like the result of somebody looking at decades of accumulated house rules and deciding to build a cleaner, more accessible version that everyone could agree on. Traditional Sh*thead isn't going anywhere, and nor should it. It remains one of the most simple and elegant card games created. Payback simply offers a cleaner way to enjoy those same foundations. Want to try it yourself, you can buy from this link.