THE HISTORY OF CARD AGAINST HUMANITY
A popular card game for all, Cards Against Humanity has been played sober, drunk, on the floors of hotel rooms, and during birthdays since it’s inception in 2011. On the official website, the creators call it a “party game for horrible people”. So how did this infamous card game come to be? Well, let’s find out as we dive into the history of Cards Against Humanity.
THE ORIGINS
The game was first financed on Kickstarter, with a crowdfunding campaign that reached just over $15,000 when it ended on 30th January 2011. The founders surpassed their Kickstarter goals which allowed the Highland Park High School Alumni team that developed the game to add another 50 cards to the set.
The aim of the game is to be humorous, abstract, and clever in the responses that you give to the Card Czar’s question cards. It’s a game that can quickly become offensive to those who are a bit more fainthearted, so caution is often given when someone is about to break out their card set.
THE RULES
The rules of the game are simple: Each player draws ten white cards, and then a random person starts as the Card Czar. During each round, the new Card Czar will ask a question/make a statement from a black card, and every other player in the game answers with their funniest white card (or their most offensive, but you get the idea) by putting it face down while waiting for everyone else to make their choice (this can take a while so it’s best to set a timer). The Card Czar then flips all white cards over, and picks their favorite.
THE JOY
The enjoyment of the game largely comes from offensive or shocking answers that we shouldn’t laugh at – but do, because the ways in which people can creatively string together these black and white cards together is endless and amazing.
THE GROWTH
After six months in development, Cards Against Humanity was officially released in May 2011. It quickly became the newest thing, and within just one month, CAH (as it’s otherwise known) was the number one game on Amazon. Today, it’s readily available on online marketplaces, in-store at gadget and gift shops, and these days, at least one person out of every group of friends owns a set.
Alongside the base set of Cards Against Humanity, there are also six separate expansions, nine themed packs, and one additional accessory for the game. Three international editions circle the globe, and there have been twenty limited availability releases since CAH first came to market.
THE POLITICS
But it’s not all fun and games with the developers behind Cards Against Humanity. They’ve been quite politically involved in recent years. They’ve even bought billboard space to call out Trump in humorous ways.
In August 2016, CAH released two “America Votes” expansion packs for the presidential candidates, one for Hillary and one for Trump. Each pack contained 15 cards of jokes about each candidate. The designer of the new packs announced that the proceeds for both packs would go to Hillary Clinton’s campaign regardless of which pack was purchased.
In late 2017, Cards Against Humanity announced that anyone who made a $15 donation towards their campaign “Cards Against Humanity Saves America”, would receive several surprises throughout the following December. One of the surprises for this $15 donation was a refund of the amount donated for 10,000 individuals who made donations, as well as several cheques that were issued to donors that the CAH team determined were in need of some financial support.
If you’re interested in more work from the CAH team and their “Nuisance Committee”, you should definitely read up on it. There’s a dedicated Facebook page here.