By doing this, it validates players’ awkward laughter at a response, no matter how funny, offensive or plain wrong it is. Then, they say that the aim of the game is to answer with the “funniest” card. The problem with this is that it’s said in a way that’s meant to appear funny, when in fact, the statement is true.

Each round, one player asks a question from a black card, and everyone else answers with their funniest white card.įirst, the developers call the players “horrible people”, and say that their game is “as despicable and awkward as” anyone who chooses to play it. Unlike most of the party games you’ve played before, Cards Against Humanity is as despicable and awkward as you and your friends. Here it is again:Ĭards Against Humanity is a party game for horrible people.

Let’s start with the developers’ description of Cards Against Humanity. Cards Against Humanity and the “Just Joking” Justification In this post, I will discuss the problems of Cards Against Humanity, and the social responsibilities we have as gamers and game designers when playing and making games. I’ve just passively gone over to sit on the couch because “Cards Against Humanity is not my thing, but you guys go ahead.” All this for fear of social retribution, I suppose, not wanting to be the wet blanket or be seen as “uncool” for not liking the “edgy, adult humour” that Cards Against Humanity seems to sell. If a group of my friends at a party wanted to play the game, I’d be over on the couch on my phone.īut the thing is, I’ve never spoken up about it before or told my friends not to play it, which now I’ve realised means that I was a part of the problem. Also, I view it as a bad game - to me it’s just a game of chance to see who manages to draw the most offensive set of cards in a game, and the worse the cards are, the more likely you are to “win”. First and foremost, I don’t find Cards Against Humanity funny, or clever I actually find the game reprehensible.

The game is decidedly R-rated, with topics purposely as crude and despicable as possible, including racism, anti-semitism, sexism, graphic violence, ableism, and many others. This is how the game developers describe it on their website: Description of Cards Against Humanity by the developers on the game’s official website.īasically, the person who asks the question gets to determine who wins a point from their answer. Cards Against Humanity is a social card game that was released in 2011, and became very popular as a staple party game.

Example of cards against humanity