A to Z 2015 : CARDS AGAINST HUMANITY
For the past few days I've been worried about what I would write about when it came to the Letter "C". I have a handful of games like Caribbean and Cyrano, but I haven't played either of them.
Then I remembered a party game and berated myself for not thinking of it to begin with. This is a short and sweet entry as we take a quick look at the "Adult" version of Apples to Apples...
Cards Against Humanity (CAH) is one of my favorite party games, but like the tagline says, it's for horrible people. Not really, but I'm sure some people feel horrible afterwards. To put it simply, it's definitely not a game for everyone and is far from family friendly. Unless you have some unconventional parenting that I would likely highly approve of! I'm not going to lie, I've walked away after a game of CAH has ended believing, without a doubt, that those I've just played with think I'm scum. It's... interesting...
For those of you familiar with Apples to Apples (I have only played it once, and it was hard for me to enjoy being I had already played CAH first), Cards Against Humanity is played fundamentally the same way.
While I actually own the game, I've never opened my copy (I won't until I find a box that holds all the cards sleeved - go ahead and laugh at me, everyone else does!), so I will have to use some examples I found online. This is a screenshot from the creator's site. Not sure why it says free, unless at the time it was an example for an upcoming phone app perhaps. Either way, it costs $25 through the publisher (they are also on Amazon), so don't let retailers price gouge you for double the cost!
The game consists of two types of cards: Questions/Statements (black cards) and Answers (white cards). The starting active player, or "Card Czar", draws and reads a Question/Statement card. Then the other players choose 1 or more Answer cards, depending on the requirements of the Card Czar's card, from among the ten they've been dealt at the start of the game. They turn them into the Card Czar face down and draw the same amount of cards from the Answer card deck as they played. The active player then shuffles the Answer cards and reads them out loud one by one (generally repeating the Question/Statement card before each Answer card). The Card Czar chooses their favorite Answer and the player that had their Answer picked wins and gains a point, which is usually tracked by the winner collecting the Question/Statement card. The player to the left becomes the next Card Czar and the process is repeated.
That's it! Very simple!
The example pictured above is an incredibly timid one, but one that I found really humorous. The standard fare is much more offensively vulgar. Much more.
I can't recommend this game enough for large groups of people. The fun factor definitely increases with the more you have playing (and the drunker you are, I'd imagine). As I mentioned, though, it's not exactly family friendly and not for those who are easily offended. I've played with thin-skinned people and, trust me, it's just best to avoid the situation. It's a buzz kill, and it's never good making someone play a game they don't enjoy anyway.
With the right people, however, Cards Against Humanity is a complete blast that can offer hours of fun! I was lucky enough to receive the core set and each official expansion released, and I can't wait to mix them all up and have a hilariously horrible party night soon!
Full Review Forthcoming!
Have you played Cards Against Humanity? If so, did you enjoy it? Have you ever had someone become overly offended while playing it? Did you feel like a horrible person afterwards? Have you played both CAH and Apples to Apples? If so, which do you prefer?