Point Salad Review: Where Every Ingredient Brings You Closer to Victory

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In this game, you're looking for the best vegetables to make the tastiest salad, or rather, the salad that scores the most points. The big dilemma is whether to take a specific vegetable, which may even be in short supply, or something else that could give you a lot of points. The choice is yours!

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Culinary Curiosities

In Point Salad, all the ingredients below are considered vegetables. From a culinary perspective, that is correct, but let’s take a closer look. After all, we must consider what science says about them.

The game features carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, and cabbage, all of which are treated as vegetables. Strictly speaking, however, most of them are vegetables, with one exception for now: the tomato.

Diving a bit further: carrots, bell peppers, lettuce, onions, and cabbage are considered vegetables in culinary terms. Scientifically, however, the tomato is a fruit, more specifically, a berry, because it develops from the ovary of the tomato flower and contains seeds.

In cooking, tomatoes are treated as vegetables because they're not exactly sweet and are mostly featured in savory dishes. The same applies to bell peppers, which are actually fruits as well but are used as vegetables in the kitchen. So there are actually two exceptions.

Botanical fruits and culinary vegetables
Botanical fruits and culinary vegetables

In short, tomatoes and bell peppers are fruits, but they are treated as vegetables in the kitchen. The others (carrots, lettuce, onions, and cabbage) are vegetables both in botany and in the kitchen. So keep in mind that the game treats all of them as vegetables because it centers around cooking.

Let’s take a look at Point Salad!

Point Salad Game Details

Point Salad is a game for 2 to 6 players, ages 8 and up, designed by Molly Johnson, Robert Melvin, and Shawn Stankewich. The artwork was created by Dylan Mangini.

Game Box
Game Box

Point Salad was released in 2019 by Alderac Entertainment Group* (AEG). Its main mechanics are set collection, end-game bonuses, and open drafting.

Game Components
Game Components

Since its release in 2019, the game has accumulated nominations, recommendations, and awards. Here are just the main ones:

- in 2020, it was named Best International Card Game by 5 Seasons.

- that same year, it was named Best Family Game by Nederlandse Spellenprijs.

- also in 2020, it was once again named Best Card Game by the Origins Awards.

- in 2021, it was recommended by Spiel des Jahres, a great honor.

Let’s get to the game!

The Game

Your goal is to make a salad with whatever mix of vegetables you deem appropriate and combines the best flavors, or rather, gives you the most points. It will be a Point Salad. In this game, you will compete for specific vegetables and the best way to score points with them.

It may seem easy, but the game actually involves a lot of strategy, since every player is after the same things: collecting vegetables and finding the best way to score with them. The key is finding the balance between collecting vegetables and figuring out the best ways to score points.

So, are you ready for this cooking competition?

This is what Point Salad is all about!

Before we go over the setup, let’s take a closer look at the cards, which in Point Salad are double-sided:

- vegetable type: on one side of the card, the vegetable appears in the center, with its name at the top and bottom of the card.

- scoring condition: on the other side, the scoring condition appears in the center, while the two corners show the vegetable pictured on the opposite side of the card.

As for vegetable types, there are 6:

- bell pepper.

- lettuce.

- tomato.

- onion.

- carrot.

- cabbage.

Vegetable Types
Vegetable Types

The side with the scoring condition shows, with icons and in an easy-to-understand way, how that card will give you points. Best of all, there are more than 100 different ways to score points. This makes the game incredibly replayable.

Card Anatomy
Card Anatomy

Now for the setup:

- if necessary, depending on the number of players, remove some copies of each vegetable type (consult the rulebook for all the conditions).

- shuffle the cards and create 3 piles of equal size, with the scoring sides face up. These will be the scoring-card piles.

- reveal two cards from each pile and place them in a column below their corresponding piles. This is the vegetable market.

- choose the starting player however you like.

The setup is complete!

Setup
Setup

A turn in Point Salad is just as simple as the setup, but don’t be fooled: the decisions involve a lot of strategy. During their turn, a player must choose one of two options:

- take one card.

- take two cards.

If they choose to take one card, it must be one of the top cards from the scoring-card piles. In other words, they take a scoring-condition card that will guide their choices of vegetable cards.

If they choose to take two cards, they may choose two vegetable cards available in the vegetable market. They'll usually do this strategically, based on the scoring cards they have.

In either case, after choosing their card or cards, they place them in front of themselves. Their turn then ends.

Optionally, and at no cost, once per turn, you may flip any of your scoring cards (whether you got them this turn or before) and convert it into a vegetable card. You cannot do it the other way around: you cannot convert a vegetable card into a scoring card. Please note that the vegetable type is shown in the two corners of the scoring side.

If you choose to take two vegetable cards, you must refill the vegetable market before passing the turn to the player on your left. Draw cards from the piles corresponding to each column and fill the empty spaces. To do this, flip the cards from their scoring sides to their vegetable sides as you place them in the market.

Refilling the Vegetable Market
Refilling the Vegetable Market

If one of the scoring piles runs out of cards, split the largest pile in half and use the lower half to replace the empty pile, making sure that the first scoring card from the larger pile remains where it is.

Once the market has been refilled, the game goes on with the next player to the left.

That is a turn in Point Salad.

End of the Game

The game ends when all the cards in the scoring piles and the vegetable market have been taken. Then, you'll calculate your scores.

Players calculate their points by checking how many points each of their cards is worth and adding them together.

Please note that when calculating the points from a card, players must take all of their vegetable cards into account. This means that each vegetable card is used to score every scoring card. Players may get points from a scoring card multiple times and may likewise use the same vegetable card to score multiple scoring cards.

If there is a tie for a scoring condition on a card (for example, the most onions), the player with that scoring card gets the points.

Check out this example:

Scoring
Scoring

Here is how it works in this case:

- Number 1: 8 points for each combination of tomato, lettuce, and carrot: 8 points x 2 = 16 points.

- Number 2: 5 points for each pair of carrots: 5 points x 2 = 10 points.

- Number 3: 3 points for each carrot, -2 points for each onion: (3 points x 5) + (-2 points x 3) = 9 points.

- Number 4: 10 points for having more onions than every other player, or tying for the most: if you have more, it's 10 points.

- Number 5: 5 points per vegetable type with a minimum of 3 cards: 5 points x 3 = 15 points.

Total Score: 16 + 10 + 9 + 10 + 15 = 60 points.

After each player calculates their scores, the player with the most points wins. If there is a tie, the tied player who played last wins.

Strategic Tips

In Point Salad, you should focus on how versatile each card is and how you can adapt to each situation. Since each of the 108 cards has a unique scoring side and a vegetable side, the game constantly forces you to weigh pros and cons. That’s right: there are 108 different ways to score points. Adaptation is the name of the game!

The basic idea is to get the most out of the synergy between the cards, which is undoubtedly the most important strategy. Every vegetable card in front of you counts toward all your scoring cards simultaneously. Try to collect scoring cards that give you points for the same types of vegetables.

Here’s a practical example: if you have one card that gives 2 points per carrot and another that gives 5 points for each pair of carrots, every carrot you collect becomes extremely valuable. That’s the idea!

Never forget that you can flip cards once per turn. In general, people focus so much on taking cards that they forget all about this free action. Flipping a scoring card to its vegetable side is a valid tactical move.

For example, when a scoring condition becomes difficult or starts giving you too many negative points for vegetables you had to collect, you should turn it into an ingredient that interacts with your other goals. But remember: you can never flip a vegetable back to its scoring side.

Always keep an eye on the vegetable market and the scoring-card piles. When you take vegetables from the market, the gaps are filled with cards from the scoring piles, which are flipped to their vegetable sides. So, if you notice a scoring card on top of a pile that you do not want your opponent to take, you can deliberately take the vegetables from that column, forcing that scoring card to be flipped and enter the market as a vegetable. Is that dirty? No, it’s pure strategy!

Be very careful with negative points. Many scoring cards reward you handsomely for collecting some vegetables but punish you for collecting others. Plan ahead to avoid collecting ingredients that cancel out the points you gain from other cards. If you end up with too many unwanted vegetables, look for scoring cards that reward variety or odd/even quantities to make up for it.

In Point Salad, observing your opponents is vital. If an opponent has a card that gives 10 points to whoever has “the most onions,” it may be worth collecting a few onions just to prevent them from getting that bonus, even if onions do not directly add to your own score.

The secret is balancing goals and resources! At the beginning of the game, it is tempting to only take scoring cards and then decide what you're going to do. However, if you wait too long to take vegetables, your opponents might take all the types you need before you can. Try to maintain a balance: take valuable vegetables when they appear in the market and make sure you get scoring cards that fit what you have already started collecting.

With that in mind, keep an eye out for the opportunities the game presents, develop your best strategy, balance vegetable cards that “fit” your scoring cards, do not make life easy for your opponents, and win at Point Salad!

Unboxing, Rules, and Gameplay Videos

Check out this unboxing:

Learn the rules:

Watch some gameplay:

Educational Tips

If you are looking for a game that is truly simple to explain and understand, totally iconic, beautifully illustrated, fun, and quick, Point Salad is the game for you!

Kids are always captivated by the vegetable illustrations, and there’s a reason for that: the artwork is beautiful. They also immediately appreciate how easy the point cards are to understand. The icons are simple and self-explanatory. They “get” them right away.

Then it’s just a matter of having fun “collecting” vegetables, which turns into a “free-for-all” when they realize they’re collecting vegetables that would score points for another child. At that point, it becomes hard to not laugh over the “meanness” of it all. That’s the climax of the game.

They’ll feel like “strategists” when they choose scoring cards over vegetable cards because “this card will give me lots of points.” This is very important, and it will happen naturally. Let the game flow.

Over time, they’ll also develop the “cunning” they need to collect certain vegetables just to “counter” a scoring card that would have given another child lots of points, but that will come with time. Don’t force it: let them figure it out themselves. This is important for their experience in this game.

Point Salad provides all of this, but beyond the fun, kids also have the opportunity to train important skills when they play it, including:

- resource management: managing and analyzing collected cards and scoring cards.

- strategy: deciding whether to take vegetable cards or scoring cards.

- spatial awareness: choosing which column to take the vegetables from.

- decision-making: actually deciding what to do based on what is available.

- logical and mathematical reasoning: calculating points during and after the game, during final scoring.

From an educational standpoint, Point Salad covers resource management, encourages strategic thinking, spatial awareness, decision-making, and logical-mathematical reasoning, and it’s fun on top of all that!

I recommend adding Point Salad to your collection!

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