Witch Trial is a game about being a despicable lawyer, taking advantage of the times and the system to earn money through prosecuting and defending suspected witches. The time period is a little vague, since our illustrator (Charles Dana Gibson) created his timeless artwork about two hundred years after the Salem Witch Trials. But whatever, it’s great art, and it was free.

The game is mostly card-driven, and in fact, you can get by without the board if you want to. Players take their time accumulating cards like evidence and motions, and then create cases by pairing a suspect and a charge. When a case goes to trial, the prosecutor and defender battle it out with every conceivable lawyer trick, and they can either reach a plea bargain and split the money, or roll the dice (modified by the Jury’s opinion) to find a single winner who takes it all.

Witch Trial has always been one of our favorites, and we’re happy to bring you this updated print-and-play version, as well as a PDF of the original 2001 version. (We suggest using the newer rules, even if you prefer the older components).

You can print the game yourself, or you can buy the deck and board from DriveThruCards.

Print on Demand:

• Witch Trial Deck a handsome 90-card deck from DriveThruCards

• Witch Trial Board a colorful one-piece board from DriveThruCards

Color Edition Printing Files:

• Witch Trial Rules (5 pages, Updated August ‘22)

• Witch Trial Cards Pt 0 - Cutting Guide (1 Page, guides only)

• Witch Trial Cards Pt 1 - First Half of Deck (5 pages, 45 Cards)

• Witch Trial Cards Pt 2 - Second Half of Deck (5 Pages, 45 Cards)

• Witch Trial Board (One page)

  • Note: This board has some bleed in the artwork, so you can trim it to size.

Original Cheapass Games Edition:

• Witch Trial Cheapass PnP (complete package)

You Will Also Need:

• Dice: Two 6-sided dice

• Money: Small bills or poker chips, $5 and up, about $3000 for a six-player game

• Jury Marker: One small token or coin for marking the board

Help in Making and Playing:

• How to Make Cards (3 Ways) Video

• How to Make Game Boards Video

• Chips: Some very nice micro poker chips can be found at Discount Poker Shop.

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More About the Game:

The basic premise of Witch Trial is that lawyers will do anything to make money. This comes as a surprise to no one. The mechanics of the trial are that after both lawyers have done their best to sway the Jury, which is a value somewhere between 1 and 12, the Prosecution rolls two dice and adds the Jury Value. On a total of 13 or higher, the Suspect is found guilty, and the Prosecution wins. Otherwise the Defense wins.

The cards in the deck are of the following types:

• Suspects: Each has a Guilt value, and a Defense value. The Guilt helps establish the initial Jury Value, and the Defense money goes immediately to the lawyer who defends their case. Suspects can also be played as witnesses in other suspects’ trials.

• Charges: For every criminal, there is a crime. The Charges have a Severity, which adds to the Suspect’s Guilt to form the Jury Value, and a Court Fee, which is an amount of money that will be paid to to winner of the case.

• Evidence: These cards can sway the Jury in either direction, depending on which lawyer plays them. Some are really only good for one side (for example, the Confession isn’t great for the Defense) but most can be argued either way.

• Motions: These cards affect the trial, each in their own way. Some are simple (Draw two cards), and some are complex (abandon the case in progress and nominate another lawyer to take your place).

• Objections: These have one function, which is to cancel a Motion. They stick around, because when you Object to another player’s Motion, that player gets the Objection card.

The trial is structed in three parts: First, the Prosecution plays as many cards as they want. Then the defense does the same. Finally, the Prosecution gets one “final argument,” a single card. After each part, the lawyers can negotiate a plea bargain, dividing the money in the case however they see fit. Sometimes a case goes all the way to the jury roll, and sometimes it stops with a plea bargain.

Generally it’s safe to assume that getting some money is better than getting none of it, so judicious negotiation is a key element in this game. We hope you’ll enjoy it and let us know what you think.

For the most part, we consider this game to be finished and no longer in an open beta test. But if you have questions or concerns (an unclear passage in the rules, for example) please let us know!

Tiny Typo Note:

Prior to November 2, 2022, two Charge cards in the new edition had their values switched. “Tampering with the Post” and “The Unspeakable” should have values 6 and 5 respectively, not 5 and 6. This only mattered in exacrly one instance: when The Sutclyffe Twins were accused of The Unspeakable, which created an impossible Jury Value of 13. This may be the most insignificant typo in the history of games, but we went ahead and fixed it. You’re welcome.