Something went wrong. Try again later

Giant Bomb News

130 Comments

The Madness Behind the Game for Horrible People

Learn how a group of Chicagoans created our favorite TNT game, Cards Against Humanity, and the easiest way to know the darkness of a man's soul.

No Caption Provided

One way to potentially break the ice is to force someone to read the phrase “Virginia Tech Massacre.”

Cards Against Humanity, self-described as “a party game for horrible people,” is an awful version of Apples to Apples. By awful, of couse, I mean amazing, clever, and delightfully insane.

The rules are deceptively simple. Each round, there’s a judge who picks a black card. Everyone responds with white cards. Black cards contain various setups (“Instead of coal, Santa now gives the bad children [blank]”), while white cards are used to fill in the [blank] (“the blood of Christ,” “a bleached asshole,” “poorly-timed Holocaust jokes.”).

The goal isn’t to be accurate, mostly because that’s basically impossible. You want laughter.

At least in my experience, whenever Apples to Apples gets pulled out, it’s a painful wait until someone pulls a blank card and begins scribbling down nightmares. The most vile phrases become part of an otherwise completely innocent game. Cards Against Humanity proposes a version of that game where all of the cards are like that.

Max Temkin is just one of the creators of Cards Against Humanity.
Max Temkin is just one of the creators of Cards Against Humanity.

Max Temkin is one of the people you have to thank (blame?) for Cards Against Humanity. Maybe you know him from his other Kickstarters, too: software to drive one of his other pet projects, Human vs. Zombies, and a set of slick-looking philosophy posters.

The Chicago native (and avid deep dish pizza defender) told me the similarities to Apples to Apples were purely coincidental.

“I don’t think the point of Apples to Apples is a comedy game,” he said. “If there’s any conceptual part of Cards Against Humanity that you can say is a good idea, which is already a stretch, it’s that we had the idea that you should have a party game where the point is to be funny in that open model like Apples to Apples.”

Cards Against Humanity is not just Temkin’s baby, though he’s become its public face. The game comes from his core group of friends, people he’s known for years, and started as a New Years Eve distraction. The way Temkin tells it, his group weren’t exactly the kids getting invited to the cool parties you’d heard about in the hallways around high school, so they found other ways to pass time.

“We love structured activities where there are rules and you have cues on how to behave,” he said.

Balderdash, a board game focused on bluffing your way through word definitions, was an early inspiration for Cards Against Humanity. Like Cards Against Humanity, Balderdash has more to do with understanding the psychology of the judge each round, rather than being correct. Being accurate only makes sense when the judge might respect that. Another player might want to be entertained, and you’re forced to change your response appropriately.

An early version of the game didn’t have the white cards. There was a discussion card (i.e. “If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?”), and that’s it. The core of the game was based was pure improvisation, putting the onus of humor and creativity squarely on the player. That worked for Temkin’s tight-knit group of friends, but the moment outsiders came in, the game immediately lost some of its magic.

“They had a really hard time being funny with it,” he said. “They could play honest answers, but they weren’t as good as writing comedy answers that made fun of the other people. We realized that if we’re going to make this game so we can play with other people, we have to put the jokes in for people. “

This when Cards Against Humanity began morphing into a dirty variant of Apples to Apples.

As college friends started asking about how to purchase the game, Temkin’s group put the cards online in PDF form. The decks that existed were hand-crafted. That PDF is still available, but Cards Against Humanity raised $15,570 on Kickstarter (they wanted $4,000), which allowed the game to earn a formal production process. Good luck getting a copy, though--it’s still sold out, and every time the game has become available again, it disappears in hours.

It’s worth the wait, though.

Temkin and his friends during a brain storming session. Look how crazy they are!
Temkin and his friends during a brain storming session. Look how crazy they are!

Your first time with Cards Against Humanity, it’s not even about cracking jokes. Every time you flip a card, someone is laughing or groaning. “Win cards” emerge, in which a card is so profoundly offensive or strange, context is irrelevant. The second time, the shock value wears off. “Virginia Tech Massacre” still gets you a little bit, but soon, the card alone isn't enough. That’s when the next layer unfolds, and wordplay skills comes into play.

A real consistency to the jokes embedded on the cards becomes apparent once you’ve seen the full deck, too. Some of Temkin’s friends are still in Chicago, while others have jobs or graduate school elsewhere. Every week, though, they hop onto a Google+ hangout and hash out new cards.

There are no hard and fast rules for the process, and there isn’t a directive to be offensive.

“Offensive cards are fine, there’s no line that we won’t cross,” he said. “It just has to be funny. If you’re making people uncomfortable, it has to be in service of a great joke. If it’s making them uncomfortable and it’s not funny, if it’s just shocking, it’s not worth it for the game.”

The biggest surprise about the card creation process: all of it happens while they’re stone cold sober. I can’t say the same has been true of the times when we’ve played Cards Against Humanity on camera.

Giant Bomb's dirty secret? Brad Shoemaker is the best player at Cards Against Humanity.
Giant Bomb's dirty secret? Brad Shoemaker is the best player at Cards Against Humanity.

As often as life allows, the next step is to have the group get together to finalize new cards face-to-face. This is where the personality dynamics of each member comes into play. Temkin described the process as a hostage negotiation, as one friend tries to convince the whole group why their card shouldn’t be axed.

There is a logic to it all, too.

Are there too many poop jokes? How about sex jokes? Are more cards related to men needed? The details of balancing are tracked via spreadsheet, even if their importance isn't apparent to people busy laughing at “Expecting a burp and vomiting on the floor.”

Sometimes, though, it doesn’t need a reason to be included, and it doesn’t even have to be clever.

“On our last writing retreat, someone said ‘flying sex snakes,’ which isn’t a thing,” he said. “It’s just some words that someone said, but we laughed for like 15 minutes! We couldn’t identify why were laughing, but it just had to go in the game because it made us laugh so much. It’s not responsible to put that card in the game.”

Temkin wasn’t very specific about the future of Cards Against Humanity (don't expect an iPhone version anytime soon), but the reason was obvious: those steps are taken very slowly. It’s dawning on Temkin that Cards Against Humanity is now a legitimate business. This means he’s renting temporary office space near his apartment in Chicago, and consulting with his friends about where to take the game next.

There will be more cards, of course.

For now, he’s processing the idea being a game designer, and if he even wants the title. Given how many would love the next game from the designers of Cards Against Humanity, his group may not have a choice.

Patrick Klepek on Google+

130 Comments

Avatar image for wallzii
Wallzii

191

Forum Posts

2303

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By Wallzii

I honestly can't wait to get my hands on this game and sit around a table with a group of friends playing it with many beers in hand. I've got the Canadian version pre-ordered, and it is supposed to ship in 1-2 weeks.

Avatar image for themaster408
themaster408

79

Forum Posts

464

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 5

Edited By themaster408

Played it a few times, it's a great party game. Just make sure you got a couple weeks till you play it again and you're solid.

Avatar image for tupacalypse
Tupacalypse

136

Forum Posts

16

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Edited By Tupacalypse

on the waiting list, goddamn i cannot wait

Avatar image for maddman60620
maddman60620

209

Forum Posts

2

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 4

Edited By maddman60620

Finally got my copy of the game, cant wait to cook out and bring this along to play

Avatar image for bakedbeans
BakedBeans

107

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By BakedBeans

nice

Avatar image for ctrlaltdft
CtrlAltDft

5

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Edited By CtrlAltDft

@Humanity: My first experience with this game was at PAX East when a group of strangers invited me to start a new game with them. Our game of four eventually turned into a group of twenty as the cards would catch the ears of individual passerbys and they would stand around the table to join us until the cards ran out.

Avatar image for likeassur
LikeaSsur

1625

Forum Posts

517

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By LikeaSsur

I just ordered my copy! I can't wait to play it with my friends, I think I'll do it TNT style. Something as sacred as "First Cards Against Humanity Game" should be preserved throughout the years.

Avatar image for chilipeppersman
chilipeppersman

1319

Forum Posts

4

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 26

User Lists: 4

Edited By chilipeppersman

@JaTochNietDan: yea it does sound like a really funny game to play

Avatar image for jatochnietdan
JaTochNietDan

5

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By JaTochNietDan

Sounds like a great laugh.

Avatar image for cheesebob
cheesebob

1336

Forum Posts

6

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By cheesebob

One day I hope this comes to England

Avatar image for tofublock
tofublock

8

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Edited By tofublock

awesome awesome game.

Avatar image for xxxlynchxxx
xxxlynchxxx

169

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 5

Edited By xxxlynchxxx

Yay, my copy with first expansion just arrived... I guess I'll see how terrible my friends are.

Avatar image for alexandersheen
AlexanderSheen

5150

Forum Posts

2

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By AlexanderSheen

@jking47 said:

"A real consistency to the jokes embedded on the cards becomes apparent once you’ve seen the full deck. too. Some of Temkin’s friends are still in Chicago, while others have jobs or graduate school elsewhere."

Can you spot the typo in this sentence? Hey man if you need someone to fucking run spellcheck for you before you post an article let me know. I am sure its not like you get paid for this stuff anyways.

Really? That's all you got? A typo? Yo, there's a typo in your sentence: "I am sure it's not like you get paid for this stuff anyways." instead of "I am sure its not like you get paid for this stuff anyways.". Try again, friend.

Avatar image for nymphonomicon
Nymphonomicon

112

Forum Posts

73

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Edited By Nymphonomicon

When I saw "Humans VS Zombies Source" I thought it was on the Source Engine...

Avatar image for flipperdesert
FlipperDesert

2236

Forum Posts

40

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 4

Edited By FlipperDesert

I want to get this game so bad, they need to make more prints of these. :(

Avatar image for cashewual
Cashewual

267

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By Cashewual

Come back in stock already! :(

Avatar image for thepantheon
thepantheon

842

Forum Posts

99

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 4

Edited By thepantheon

Brad Shoemaker is a king and I will not stand for your typical Tricky treachery you torrid trashfilled taffy-swilling tugnut with text tantamount to treason!!!

Avatar image for humanity
Humanity

21858

Forum Posts

5738

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 40

User Lists: 16

Edited By Humanity

@Nerolus: All perfectly appropriate fashion choices and accessories. I'm also wearing sandals and black socks; my watch has a calculator and linux on it. This is how us people with opinions dress.

Avatar image for nerolus
Nerolus

278

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 0

Edited By Nerolus

@Humanity: I imagined you saying this with a beard, monocle, leather fedora hat and a utilikilt.

Avatar image for neodiablo
Neodiablo

13

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By Neodiablo

I hope the success of the Battleship movie will lead towards a CAH movie

Avatar image for apegantz
ApeGantz

240

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By ApeGantz

I thought this was a news report about CAH being available....I was fooled.

Purchased some knives instead :(

Avatar image for thelyfe
Thelyfe

24

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By Thelyfe

This article lead to a rousing game of the original concept being played between friends at a bar tonight. Necessary addition to future expansion pack answers = "bucket o chicken" and "bloody sheets"

It really was a great night with friends. Thanks P.K. special sauce

Avatar image for shaka999
Shaka999

550

Forum Posts

3

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Edited By Shaka999
Avatar image for slab64
Slab64

1149

Forum Posts

80

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Edited By Slab64

@5: Good thing that isn't the case. I'd hate for you to be embarrassed.

Avatar image for 5
5

10

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By 5

@Slab64: I get that you like klepek but I'd be pretty embarrassed if I wrote for a living and couldn't fucking click spellcheck or actually proofread something I wrote before putting it online.

Avatar image for slab64
Slab64

1149

Forum Posts

80

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Edited By Slab64

@jking47 said:

"A real consistency to the jokes embedded on the cards becomes apparent once you’ve seen the full deck. too. Some of Temkin’s friends are still in Chicago, while others have jobs or graduate school elsewhere."

Can you spot the typo in this sentence? Hey man if you need someone to fucking run spellcheck for you before you post an article let me know. I am sure its not like you get paid for this stuff anyways.

Avatar image for godwasp
GODWASP

46

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By GODWASP

Cheers mate.

Avatar image for trilogy
Trilogy

3241

Forum Posts

210

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 15

Edited By Trilogy
Avatar image for godwasp
GODWASP

46

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By GODWASP

Could someone help me out and post links of tnt videos with cards against humanity. cheers.

Avatar image for delta_ass
delta_ass

3776

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 36

User Lists: 7

Edited By delta_ass

They need to make it an Xbox Live Arcade game.

Avatar image for etanlawok
EtanLawok

3

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By EtanLawok

Downright amazing game, though I do worry about its ability to stay relavent without new cards or a lot of alcohol on repeat playthroughs.

Avatar image for kennybaese
kennybaese

729

Forum Posts

1507

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

Edited By kennybaese

A week or two and friend and I spent an hour in a Kinkos making a free set of CAH cards after which we promptly went to a party at which we knew basically no one. We then sat down with some beers and played through the entire deck.

I can't wait for that irresponsible number of printings to hit Amazon so I can go and buy it already.

Avatar image for einar29
einar29

5

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By einar29

@ccampb89: Like the lantern run?

Avatar image for napalm
napalm

9227

Forum Posts

162

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By napalm

@Amukasa said:

This game isn't funny. It's like the opposite of mad libs but still not funny.

Cool story, bro.

Avatar image for triviaman09
triviaman09

1054

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 2

Edited By triviaman09

I printed out the PDF and played it multiple times with my friends. Good times were had by all. I recommend everyone give it a shot unless you have easily offended friends.

Avatar image for dewar
dewar

186

Forum Posts

34

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By dewar

@Amukasa said:

This game isn't funny. It's like the opposite of mad libs but still not funny.

You are in the minority.

Avatar image for hermes
hermes

3000

Forum Posts

81

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 7

Edited By hermes

You need to make a CAH's edition bombcast... It could be great.

Avatar image for jnerd
jNerd

2231

Forum Posts

258

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 3

Edited By jNerd

I can't wait to purchase a legit set of CaH.

Avatar image for dropabombonit
dropabombonit

1543

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By dropabombonit

My mate printed out the PDF version of this game and we had such a good time with 5 of us just playing the worst/best cards

Avatar image for amukasa
Amukasa

56

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By Amukasa

This game isn't funny. It's like the opposite of mad libs but still not funny.

Avatar image for nekroskop
Nekroskop

2830

Forum Posts

47

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Edited By Nekroskop

They should make this game for XBL in the style of UNO. I would pay for that.

Avatar image for foggel
foggel

2780

Forum Posts

531

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Edited By foggel

Is there a video for this TNT?

Avatar image for alita_99
Alita_99

56

Forum Posts

2572

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 18

Edited By Alita_99

I have never heard of this game before, but now that I know of its existence, I must have it.

Avatar image for jaks
jaks

257

Forum Posts

18

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By jaks

great more lame hipster ironic games for me not to spend my money on

Avatar image for smersh
Smersh

224

Forum Posts

452

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 4

Edited By Smersh

Cards Against Humanity is an amazingly funny game!

I played it with friends recently and we were literally in tears.

Will be interesting to see how new game+ develops.

Regarding preparation, cutting out the cards took some time...

but trying not to read them while doing so was the hardest part!

6/5 stars.

Avatar image for phished0ne
Phished0ne

2969

Forum Posts

1841

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 7

Edited By Phished0ne

@SonicFire said:

Is that still in good fun? I mean, I personally don't get offended by much, and of course, when I play the game, I just don't use that card.

I really do support this game, and recommend it to all my friends (who have a good sense of humor) but to me it does kind of bring up a broader discussion of whether or not there are some things we objectively shouldn't laugh about, even in a wacky context.

Racial slurs can be funny, my friend who has a bit of a looser tongue than me will call me racial slurs. I am a white, beardy hippy, so of course the absurdity of him calling me a name is humorous, although it can wear thin if used too often. It all just needs to be given a proper context. The black cards work as context for the jokes in CAH, so if your black card is absurd enough, of course any card could be funny.

Given enough time anything can become funny. Although probably not to the people that experienced something as horrible as what happened at VT. But i can see a world where a fringe comedy troupe does a humorous(or not depending on your situation or the qualty of the skit) skit about a school shooter being a rabid barney fan or some other strange premise(Excuse my poor premise, i am not a comedy writer). I'm not saying it isnt in poor taste if timed improperly. Sure people could be offended, they have the right to, but that doesn't mean they should ruin it for others, and it doesn't mean daring comedians should be scared away from it. It's their job to press boundaries.

Funny people can make anything funny, look at Louis CK, he's made a career out of jokes about rape, and other things people would argue you 'shouldnt joke about'. The problem is when the jokes fall flat. If your premise isnt crazy enough, people will just take it as you trying it for the shock value, and thats where the offensiveness comes, in my opinion. It boils down to knowing your audience and knowing what you think they will or wont be offended by, even if the joke falls flat. There is also an art to making a joke not 'about the subject' but about the situation around the subject. Just things to consider.

Avatar image for phished0ne
Phished0ne

2969

Forum Posts

1841

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 7

Edited By Phished0ne

Wait...Apples to Apples isnt inherently a comedy game? I call bullshit on that, My friends and I almost never scored for "accurate" answers in A2A(oh god A2A...some abbreviations should never be used), we always gave out points for funny answers.

Avatar image for kkotd
kkotd

364

Forum Posts

36

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By kkotd

I will sub for life if you play this game weekly and put out a video. -throws money at Giant Bomb-

Avatar image for yummytreesap
YummyTreeSap

1268

Forum Posts

306

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Edited By YummyTreeSap

Yeah, I'm not sold on this one. I like the design of the cards, but the idea seems pretty boring. I'd be all for it if it really did expose the darkness within people, but when every card is offensive, does it really accomplish that? I would agree that a lot of the fun in Apples to Apples is indeed squeezing a horrible double-entendre out of a seemingly innocuous answer. Every card being dirty and vile (and blatantly so) seems kind of dull. I dunno.

Avatar image for duke_of_irl
Duke_of_IRL

92

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

Edited By Duke_of_IRL

@kevtheasian said:

@CatsAkimbo said:

@Duke_of_IRL said:

@CatsAkimbo said:

I'm waiting to buy the game because it looks like great fun... but I know for sure I'll take at least one card out and throw it away because it does cross that line from "offensive and funny" to just "offensive." I guess that line is in different places for different groups.

At least for my friends and I there are no lines which shouldn't be crossed. Call it being jaded by longtime exposure to the internet, call us assholes, but the more offensive something is the funnier it is, and we don't distinguish between "offensive and funny" and "offensive" -- the more offensive something is without a blatant attempt at humor the better. Needless to say, this game is perfect for us. Up until now we've used Apples to Apples but this game blows it out of the water, and I have the TNT to thank for exposing me to this great gem of a game.

Nah, I don't think you're an asshole. I'm jealous of you in fact. It's just when one of the cards refers to something traumatic that you or someone you know experienced, it's pretty much impossible to find funny.

I don't think you should feel jealous of someone who values being completely jaded. I prefer to be like you and have some sense of conscience! :)

I didn't say I valued being jaded, it's just how it is for better or worse. I can definitely understand not finding things that remind one of past traumatic events funny, though for some reason that sort of stuff just doesn't affect me personally. I've definitely had some trauma in my lifetime, including being robbed at gunpoint (twice!) but I guess I'm just emotionally bankrupt in some ways, as are the friends I play with. I'd probably prefer to not be this way but it is what it is. This game definitely fills a weird specific niche for me, IE a bunch of assholes sitting around wanting to play a party game, so I'm glad I found it. I have nothing against taking out really racy cards, I was just offering up my own viewpoint.