tabletoppingboardgames 
A pine, an apple, and a pineapple walk into a card game. It sounds like the start of a bad joke, but that is more or less what 2 PineApples is about. You look at three piles of cards, count what is visible, and say the right thing before your brain takes a little holiday. Simple? Yes. Easy? Not always.
In this small card game, players keep track of visible pines and apples while cards are placed on top of each other. Sometimes the numbers stay separate, sometimes they fuse into pineapples, and sometimes everyone suddenly has to tap the draw pile because the correct answer is “2 pineapples”. It’s quick, silly, and a bit unfair to anyone who thought they were good at counting. So yes, fruit can betray you.
👥 2-6 players, ages 8+
⌛ Playing time: 15 minutes
📝 Designers: Quentin Gustave & Tommy Paupe
🎨 Artwork: Clara Louise Martin
🏢 Publisher: Prétexte SAS (review copy provided by Geronimo Games)
Gameplay overview
The game starts with a shuffled deck in the middle of the table. During your first plays, you only use the basic cards. These cards are placed into three face-up piles, with the first three cards each starting their own pile. After that, new cards are added on top of those piles in order, so only the top card of each pile counts.
On your turn, you reveal a card and make a call. You first say the number of visible pines, then the number of visible apples. A pine counts as one pine, an apple counts as one apple, and a pineapple counts as both. If there are no pines or no apples, you don’t say zero. You say “no pine” or “no apple”. You also can’t take forever, because you get around five seconds and the call has to come out smoothly. No long pause, no “wait, no, actually…”, no overthinking with your hand on your chin like you’re solving a murder case.
There is one extra twist, and that is where the game starts to mess with you a little. When the number of visible pines and apples is the same, they fuse into pineapples. So instead of saying both numbers, you say the number of pineapples.
If someone thinks you made a wrong call, they can challenge you before the next card is revealed by shouting “worm!”. If the challenge is right, the player who made the mistake takes all visible cards as penalty cards. If the challenge is wrong, the challenger takes them instead. The player who takes the penalty starts the next round.
Then there is the “2 pineapples” rule. When the correct call would be exactly “2 pineapples”, nobody says the call. Instead, everyone taps the draw pile as quickly as possible. The last player to do it takes the penalty cards. If you tap when it was not actually 2 pineapples, you also take the penalty.
Once the basic game feels clear, you can add special cards. Some do something immediately, while others stay active until they are covered. They can change how players call, add little actions, or change the way cards are counted. The rulebook suggests adding them gradually, which feels like the right approach. The game ends when the final card has been revealed and the last call is made. Everyone counts their penalty cards, and the player with the fewest wins.
Artwork, components, and visual design
2 PineApples comes in a small box with 87 cards and a rulebook. You get 52 basic cards, 24 special cards, 8 reminder cards, and 3 blank cards for making your own effects. I like that last part, although I also know my own group well enough to say that our custom cards would probably become very unfair within five minutes.
The artwork is cheerful and simple. The pines, apples, and pineapples have little faces and a cartoon look, which fits the game well. It’s not trying to be beautiful in a serious way, and that’s fine. This is a game about shouting fruit values and occasionally tapping a pile of cards, so a serious oil painting apple would feel a bit much.
The basic cards are very easy to read, with a clean background and a big fruit illustration in the middle. That matters here, because the whole game depends on quickly seeing what is visible. If the cards were too busy, the game would probably become more tiring than funny. The special cards are also easy to spot because they use different coloured backgrounds and silly illustrations, including pineapple pizza, a pineapple pen, a crate of apples, and a few other weird little ideas. The reminder cards are useful once special cards are added, because they show the matching artwork and help everyone remember what is active.
Our experience
At our table, the best part was the way the three piles kept changing under our noses. You are not only counting what appears, you are also removing from your head whatever just got covered. Every new card does two things at once: it gives you new information, but it also hides something that may no longer count. That sounds very manageable when written down, but in the middle of a turn it can be surprisingly slippery.
We had a few turns where someone looked very sure of themselves, opened their mouth, and then clearly realised their brain had left the building. The fusion rule was often the reason for that. Without it, this would mostly be counting pines and apples, but with it, you have to notice when the two numbers are the same and change your answer completely. You are not just asking yourself how many pines and apples there are, but also whether those numbers have suddenly turned into pineapples. Most of our early errors came from that switch, not from the counting itself.
The “2 pineapples” rule gave us the most laughs at the table. One moment you are listening to someone count, the next moment hands fly toward the centre. It’s not just a funny extra rule either, because it makes players watch even when they are not the active player. The challenge rule adds to that same feeling. Since anyone can shout “worm!” if they think something went wrong, you are always checking the answer in your own head. Sometimes you are not even sure enough to challenge, but you are sure enough to stare suspiciously at the person who just made the call.
The special cards were the part we were most careful with. We liked them when we added a few, because they gave people new ways to mess up: gestures, changed calls, redirected turns, and small counting changes. That worked best when the basic fruit-counting stayed at the centre of the game. When too many effects were active or too many different types were mixed in, people started looking at reminders more than the fruit itself. Some groups will enjoy that extra mess, but we preferred adding cards slowly, only after everyone was comfortable.
Player count changed the game quite a bit at our table. With two players, it felt more like a small concentration duel, with both players staring at the same three piles and trying not to blink first. With more players, there were more people checking calls, more hands near the draw pile, more chances for someone to shout “worm!” at the wrong time, and more laughter when somebody confidently counted fruit that was no longer visible. That was the version of the game we enjoyed most. It still works with two, but it loses some of that shared table nonsense.
Our thoughts
I wouldn’t plan a whole game night around 2 PineApples, but I would happily put it on the table between two longer games, at the start of an evening, or with people who don’t play board games every week. It teaches quickly because the cards are just fruit values, and people understand the basic idea almost immediately. You count what you see, you say it in the right order, and then the game starts laughing at your confidence.
What makes it work for me is that the game doesn’t need many rules to create those small failures. I already own enough little reaction games, so another small box needs a reason to stay. Here, that reason is simple: the game keeps asking you to do one easy thing, then makes that easy thing just unstable enough to trip you up.
There are some things to keep in mind. This is not a game for players who want planning, careful choices, or a lot of control over their turn. It also asks players to be okay with being corrected in front of others. For many families and casual groups, that will be part of the fun. For some players, it might feel a bit uncomfortable, especially if they don’t like quick-answer games. I wouldn’t call the game mean, but it does enjoy catching you out.
I’m also curious about how often it would come back after many plays. Once everyone knows the basic deck well, the game may lose a little of its early surprise. That doesn’t feel like a big issue, though, as long as you treat it as a short session game rather than something to play five times in a row. Add just enough variety to keep people from going on autopilot, then put it away while it still feels fresh.
So, would I recommend it? Yes, especially for families and casual groups who don’t mind shouting “worm!” and laughing when someone confidently counts the wrong fruit. It won’t be for every table, and that’s okay. 2 PineApples ended up being a cheerful little game with a good hook, a few proper laughs, and enough personality to make the fruit stick. Sorry, I had to.
📝 We received a review copy of 2 PineApples from Geronimo Games.
