Cards Against Humanity Review

Cards Against Humanity is an immensely popular game. It is referred to as a party game for horrible people. Let me tell you that is pretty much the best description anyone can give the game. In fact I feel more than a little horrible for enjoying the game. Here let me explain.

First of Cards Against Humanity is a word association game. Think Mad Libs. The rules are pretty basic: a card czar pulls a card from the black deck of cards and reads it to the players. This black card is either a question or fill in the blank type statement. Players then select a white card from the ten in their hand and give it to the card czar face down. The card czar shuffles the white cards then reads them in context with the black card. Finally the card czar selects their choice of best card and the player who played it gets an awesome point. Play proceeds clockwise with the next player being the new card czar.

It is a fairly simple game in that there really is no game. Players are just participating in an exercise of humour with an arbitrary point system. By the end people tend not to care who won, they just care about the laughs.

Now the fact that the game is said to be for horrible people really is true. Many of the card combinations can be racist (numerous white cards reference races such as "the Jews" or "White people"), homophobic (the white card "praying the gay away") or just downright depraved (I can't find an all ages example for this catagory.) This game can easily offend pretty much anyone. Of course the context of the black card played and the game group can really change the horrible level of these cards.

What really surprised me is the number of cards that require knowledge of complicated topics to understand. “The Patriarchy,” “Serfdom” or “Eugenics” are a few cards that some players just don’t understand if they haven’t been educated about these ideas. I was expecting mostly poop jokes or sexual jokes. Meanwhile there are other cards from pop culture that will not make sense unless the player has been exposed to the concept. “You must construct additional pylons” really isn’t funny unless you have both played Starcraft and found the meme funny. Unfortunately this may make it difficult to keep players in the game if they just don't understand the cards in their hand. If this becomes a big issue I recommend removing some of the cards that people don't understand or find funny in order to keep players in the game and keep the game moving.

There is a Canadian version out there which is the version we bought. I was expecting a little more Canadiana in there but the differences aren't all that big. Although being from Edmonton there is one particular card that is pretty funny for my friends and I. I do have to say that removing a few of the more obscure American politics cards is a must if you don't follow American Politics. After all how are Aaron Burr or Dick Cheney funny?

Of course Cards Against Humanity really changes depending on the player group. A card czar one game might decide a certain card combination to be hilarious and the next game another card czar just won’t get the joke. This makes Cards Against Humanity a fantastic game for learning how to play to an audience. After all comedy isn’t about making you laugh it’s about making everyone else laugh.

This game does have the built in potential to get old. Once the same cards are seen over and over it will get stale. Fortunately there are expansions to help keep the humour fresh… or rotten in this case. What really makes these expansions special are the blank cards. These cards can be used to customize the game to suit your group. The wife and I are thinking of adding the black cards: “I just bought a new game that involves ____ and ____ want to play?” and “I ran my fingers through Matt’s beard and ____ fell out.” Or we could just make “Matt’s epic beard” a white card.

I find that in order for the game to have the full effect and humorous cards to go with each play you really need a large group. This really is a party game and its simple mechanic and concept really are engineered for a large number of players.

I recommend setting a time limit on the game as players will slowly become desensitized to the constant barrage of jokes. At some point the jokes will lose their punch and the game just steadily decreases in fun. A few rounds is all that is needed with a large enough group. It will keep players wanting to play again knowing that there are cards they haven’t seen yet. Play too long or too often and players will burn out on the game.

Something that must be mentioned is that the game is cheap to get. It can be purchased directly from the company here or if you feel artsy craftsy you can print your own version directly from the Cards Against Humanity website.

To sum up Cards Against Humanity is a game I am on the fence about recommending. Players who are offended at dark humour or inappropriate themes should avoid playing. Also this is definitely not a game for children. If you have a large group of close friends who can put up with twisted humour then this is the game for you. It’s a really good game to get people started laughing. Once you hit a high point you should end the game and move onto a party atmosphere where people are now in the right mood to laugh and have a great time.

If you have any great card ideas please post them in the comments!