Point Salad Board Game
Draft one scoring condition or two vegetables each turn, turn unused scoring cards into new ingredients and combine the same vegetables across several ways to score.
Point Salad is a fast card-drafting game designed by Molly Johnson, Robert Melvin and Shawn Stankewich. Its double-sided cards present two competing opportunities: a vegetable to collect or a scoring condition to build around.
The key decisions are choosing which visible side to draft and knowing when one of your point cards would be more useful flipped permanently into a vegetable. This guide explains every standard rule, player-count setup, scoring with worked examples, the market refill and common edge cases.
Why Point Salad is different
Every vegetable can count toward several scoring conditions simultaneously. The challenge is not merely collecting the most ingredients, but assembling point cards that turn the vegetables you can realistically acquire into overlapping rewards.
Game at a Glance
Draft
Take one scoring card or two visible vegetables.
Refill
Reveal replacement vegetables below the decks.
Flip
Optionally convert one point card into a vegetable.
Score
Apply every scoring card to all your vegetables.
Setup: how many cards for each player count?
The box contains 108 double-sided cards, showing one of six vegetables on one side and a scoring condition on the other. Each vegetable appears 18 times. Without looking at the scoring backs, select cards by player count.
| Players | Each vegetable | Cards used |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 6 | 36 |
| 3 | 9 | 54 |
| 4 | 12 | 72 |
| 5 | 15 | 90 |
| 6 | 18 | 108 |
Shuffle the selected cards and divide them into three approximately even decks with point-scoring sides facing up. Turn over two cards from each deck, placing them directly beneath their respective piles, vegetable-side up. Those six visible vegetables form the market. Pick a starting player randomly.
How to play Point Salad: one point card or two vegetables
On your turn choose exactly one of these drafting options:
- Take one point card from the top of any of the three face-up scoring decks. Add it to your scoring tableau.
- Take two vegetable cards from any available positions in the six-card market. You may take different vegetables, including two from the same column if both are available.
Late in the game, if only one vegetable remains, you may take that single vegetable instead of two. There is no private hand: keep drafted cards openly in front of you.
Then refill empty market positions using the pile above each space, flipping each incoming card to its vegetable side. The next player proceeds clockwise.
The free flip rule: points become vegetables
Once per turn, you may flip one of your own point cards to its vegetable side. This can be a card drafted on the current turn or an earlier turn. It is a free optional action, separate from your normal draft.
You cannot flip a vegetable card back into a point card. This makes the decision irreversible. The vegetable type printed in the corners of a point card tells you what you would gain by flipping it.
Example: a point card would score only one point based on your current vegetables, but its opposite side is a carrot that increases the value of three other point cards. Turning it into a carrot might yield a greater combined score—at the cost of losing its printed scoring rule.
How does market replenishment work?
After drafting vegetables, refill each empty slot with the top card from the scoring pile directly above it. Flip that card so its vegetable side shows. If a scoring deck runs out, take approximately the bottom half of the largest remaining deck and move it into the empty position, without changing that largest pile’s visible top card.
As the game progresses, scoring conditions that were available to draft may turn into vegetables, so there is a genuine opportunity cost to passing up a useful visible point card.
How Point Salad scoring works
At game end, score every point card in your tableau using all vegetables you own. A vegetable is not used up by one scoring card; the same tomato, for example, may count for several scoring conditions.
| Scoring pattern | Example condition | How to calculate |
|---|---|---|
| Per vegetable | 3 points per carrot; −2 per onion | Multiply and add both totals |
| Pairs | 5 points per pair of carrots | Count complete pairs |
| Mixed sets | 8 points per tomato–lettuce–carrot set | Count complete sets |
| Majority | 10 points for most onions | Compare onions across players |
| Threshold | 5 per vegetable type with at least three | Count qualifying types |
The game contains many different printed scoring conditions, so read the exact text on the cards you draft. Some may award negative points, and many can score repeatedly.
Worked example: calculating a complete score
Imagine your vegetables include five carrots, three onions, two tomatoes and two lettuce cards, and your point cards say:
- Five points per pair of carrots: two pairs = 10 points.
- Three points per carrot and minus two points per onion: 15 − 6 = 9 points.
- Eight points for each set of tomato, lettuce and carrot: two sets = 16 points.
Your combined score is 35 points. The carrots count across all three point-card conditions; they are not consumed by any of them.
Tie rules and subtle scoring exceptions
On a point card rewarding the player who has the most of a vegetable, a tie for most counts as qualifying for that card’s reward. For a card rewarding fewest, having zero of the vegetable can qualify.
Read unusual conditions literally. For example, a condition about having an even number of a vegetable does not treat zero as a qualifying positive count under the published scoring clarification.
If two players tie on total game score, the player who played later in the turn order wins. This is distinct from the majority-condition tie rule printed on point cards.
When does a game of Point Salad finish?
The game ends when all three point-card piles and the vegetable market are empty. There is no fixed number of rounds in standard play; players take turns until every card selected for the game has been drafted.
Calculate each player’s scoring cards using their complete vegetable tableau. The highest point total wins, using the later-in-turn-order tiebreaker if needed.
For repeated play with two or three players, the publisher suggests dividing the full deck into multiple shorter games so you eventually use more of the 108 unique scoring conditions.
Nine strategy ideas for Point Salad
- Build a coherent scoring engine. Point cards that reward the same vegetable can make every new card unusually productive.
- Balance rules against ingredients. Drafting only point cards produces few vegetables; drafting only vegetables gives you few reasons for them to score.
- Watch flexible set bonuses. A missing ingredient can make the next vegetable worth several points at once.
- Use negative conditions carefully. A powerful carrot bonus may not be attractive if it penalizes onions you already own.
- Track majority cards against opponents. Their vegetables are visible, making it possible to estimate a majority bonus before claiming it.
- Use the flip option as a recovery tool. An underperforming scoring card can become the vegetable needed by several stronger cards.
- Do not rush a flip. It is irreversible, and a scoring condition might become more useful later.
- Consider what you reveal by drafting vegetables. Each empty market position turns a formerly available point card into a vegetable.
- Adapt late in the game. Calculate the actual marginal points gained by a visible vegetable or point card rather than following your original plan mechanically.
These are original deductions based on public rules, not claims of firsthand playtesting.
Point Salad frequently asked questions
How many players does Point Salad support?
Two to six.
How many cards are in the game?
108 double-sided cards: 18 of each of six vegetables.
Do you take one or two cards each turn?
Either one point card from a deck or two vegetable cards from the market.
Can you take any two vegetables?
Yes, from the available market spaces, even in the same column.
Can you flip a point card into a vegetable?
Yes, one of your point cards per turn, optionally, even if you took it that turn.
Can a vegetable flip back into a point card?
No.
Can the same carrot score on multiple point cards?
Yes. Every point card evaluates all vegetables you own.
What happens if a point-card pile is empty?
Rebuild it from approximately the bottom half of the largest remaining pile.
What if you tie for most of a vegetable?
A tie qualifies you for the majority condition if you possess the corresponding point card.
Can having zero vegetables count as fewest?
Yes.
How is an overall tied score broken?
The player later in turn order wins.
Is there an official solo mode?
No standard solo mode is included in the published base game.
Official sources and editorial scope
- AEG official Point Salad base-game rulebook
- Point Salad searchable rules transcription
- BoardGameGeek: player counts and game credits
Rules reviewed October 11, 2026. This article uses original examples and editorial analysis, without claiming personal playtesting. Refer to the publisher rules for precise scoring-card wording. Editorial policy and corrections.