As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Full details on our Affiliate Disclosure page.
How to play Point Salad (2026): Point Salad is a card-drafting game for two to six players where every card has two sides. One side is a vegetable, and the other is a scoring rule, such as points for every tomato or a penalty for each onion. You collect veggies and scoring cards at the same time and try to make them work together. It teaches in two minutes and plays in about fifteen. This guide follows the official AEG rulebook.
The game you need: Point Salad
The box contains 108 double-sided cards, 18 for each of six vegetables: peppers, lettuce, carrots, cabbage, onions and tomatoes. It won The Dice Tower's Family Game of the Year for 2019.
Price band: $20–$30 (about $25) · Check today’s price on Amazon
Point Salad setup by player count
| Players | Cards used |
|---|---|
| 2 | Count out 6 of each vegetable (36 cards) |
| 3 | Count out 9 of each vegetable (54 cards) |
| 4 | Remove 6 of each vegetable (72 cards) |
| 5 | Remove 3 of each vegetable (90 cards) |
| 6 | Use all 108 cards |
- Shuffle the cards you are using and split them into three roughly equal draw piles, point side up.
- Flip two cards from the top of each pile to their vegetable side and place them below that pile. These six cards form the veggie market.
- Choose a first player. Play goes clockwise.
What you do on your turn
Choose one of these two options:
- Take one point card from the top of any draw pile and place it in front of you, or
- Take two vegetable cards from the market. They can come from anywhere in the market.
Once per turn, you may also flip one of your point cards over to its vegetable side. You can never flip a vegetable back to its point side. At the end of your turn, refill the market by flipping cards from the pile above each empty space.
When a pile runs out
If one of the three draw piles empties, split the largest remaining pile in half and use one half to replace it. The game ends when every card has been drafted.
Scoring in Point Salad
Each point card scores only the vegetables you hold. A card might give 3 points per carrot, 2 points for every pair of lettuce, or 10 points if you have the most peppers. Some cards subtract points, so a pile of onions can be great for one rule and terrible for another.
- Most or fewest cards: if players tie for a condition such as most onions, the player holding that point card wins the tie.
- Final tie: if two players have the same total, the one later in turn order wins.
- Example: the rulebook shows a sample tableau scoring 60 points, which is a solid total in a three- or four-player game.
A sample Point Salad opening
Say you are first in a three-player game. The market shows two carrots, a tomato, two onions and a pepper, and the top point cards read "3 points per carrot," "2 points per tomato, minus 1 per onion" and "most peppers: 10 points." Grabbing the carrot card first is tempting, because the market already has two carrots that you could take next turn. A careful player might instead take the two carrots now and hope the carrot point card is still there next time. That small gamble is what every turn of Point Salad feels like.
Teaching Point Salad in two minutes
Hand out no cards at all, set up the market, and say three sentences: you take one scoring card or two veggies, you may flip one scoring card into a veggie each turn, and at the end each scoring card counts only your own veggies. Then play. Most people understand the whole game by their third turn, which is why it works so well with grandparents, teens and guests who rarely play cards.
Point Salad strategy tips
- Take point cards early. Vegetables are easy to grab later, but strong point cards disappear fast.
- Flip bad point cards. If a scoring rule no longer fits, turn it into a vegetable you need.
- Watch what rivals collect. Taking the last pepper someone needs can swing a most-cards condition.
- Spread risk. Two or three point cards that reward the same veggie can stack up quickly.
- More quick card games: browse our family card games list.
Point Salad rules questions
How many players can play Point Salad?
Point Salad plays two to six, and you remove cards for smaller groups.
Can you flip a vegetable back to a point card?
No. You can flip a point card to its vegetable side once per turn, but never the other way.
How long does Point Salad take?
About 15 to 30 minutes depending on the number of players.
