For this week’s critical play I chose to play a few rounds of Cards Against Humanity. The game was originally created by a group of eight people in their mid-20s that were alumni of the same high school. It can be purchased online or in stores as a card game. Cards Against Humanity also offers a free PDF version of its game on its website that can be downloaded and printed so customers can play it without purchasing a physical copy. The creators offer both its original and family-friendly versions so that the game can be played by more people. Although the family-friendly version says it’s suitable for kids aged 8 and up, I decided to take a look at the PDF cards myself. I would say that players should at least be 13 years old and labeling it as “family-friendly” is a little misleading. However, the original and popular version known for its crude prompts and cards should definitely only be played by adults. More specifically, anyone that isn’t uncomfortable by vulgar and/or risqué humor should feel free to try this game out. However, while playing the game, I also noticed that there were a good amount of references to pop culture and general political occurrences/terms. Thus, I also think that people should also be aware of current events to find Cards Against Humanity more entertaining. Overall, I get the impression that the game is meant to be played by young adults in smaller social gatherings.
Since the only way to win is to gather more prompt (black) cards than any other player, the game encourages a free-for-all player system. Each round, a single player draws a prompt card. All other players must submit a response (white) card. The cards are shuffled and face downwards. The person who drew the card (Card Czar) then re-reads the prompt and immediately reads a random white card as a response or to fill in the blank of the prompt card. This is done for each response card. The Card Czar selects the white card that they found to be the most humorous. Whoever the card belonged to earns a point, which is tracked by keeping the black card.
Cards Against Humanity mainly stimulates a fellowship type of fun. Most times, the Card Czar isn’t the only person that reacts to the response cards. Other players often comment on the white cards and laugh and reply to the absurdity of the combination of the black and white cards. There were a few times where a player or two didn’t understand the joke and had to have it explained. There were also times where players disagreed with the Card Czar’s decision and gave their own opinions on what they thought the funniest response was. It was through these interactions that players conversed, bonded, and strengthened social connection. Furthermore, the game is compelling in that players want their card to be chosen most often. This leads to a dynamic where players try to choose response cards that they think the Card Czar will find the most amusing, even of they believe that another one is funnier or elicit a better reaction from the rest of the group. Thus, the game also involves an aspect of trying to read your fellow players and trying to learn their specific humor.
The creators mention that they took inspiration from the game Apples to Apples. It’s similar to Cards Against Humanity in that a “Card Czar” must choose the best response out of a group of cards that other players have selected. However, it seems like Apples to Apples is more like a word association game while Cards Against Humanity is more about prompts and fill-in-the-blanks. And probably the most obvious difference is that Apples to Apples is actually family-friendly while Cards Against Humanity is anything but that.
I would say the thing that bothered me the most about the game mechanics is that the only way to get rid of a card is to use it as a response. Sometimes, I didn’t find the a white card all that funny or simply didn’t know about the thing or person that it was referring to. I would recommend that the creators allow a rule where players can discard and pick up white cards. This can be done every certain number of rounds or maybe by trading with other players that also want to discard their white cards. I also think it would be a great idea if there were blank cards so that players could write in their own response if they think that they can do better than any of their white cards. They could even be awarded an extra point for doing so.
