OTP: The Birth of a Card Game, Or Things You Can Only Make Your Friends Do When It’s Your Birthday

For my birthday this year, I asked my Ottawa friends to make me a game.

See, I don’t like Apples to Apples. I find it boring — a rapid-fire barrage of concepts rather than the prompts for interesting conversations or witty jokes.

That’s also part of why I dislike Cards Against Humanity. Some other reasons: I don’t believe that intending to be offensive is a good excuse for being offensive. I don’t like the racist, homophobic, sexist, body-shaming, sex-shaming bullshit that tends to crop up during sessions. That’s not what I find fun.

But I do like how both games support a wide range of players and gaming experience. I like how both can entertain a party full of people and make everyone laugh by juxtaposing strange ideas. I like how both can be jumping-off points for creativity that don’t scare off people who’d balk at charades or improv.

So when I saw a promoted ad on Twitter for a game similar to these but with what I saw as more scope for creativity, it got me thinking.

The game, slash: romance without boundaries, seemed like a fantastic idea: play a character card from your hand based on the character card played by the dealer, and argue that the fictional character you chose is a better romantic match for the dealer’s than any other player’s card.

It sounded great, but a few things worried me. First, there was the price: with shipping, a lot more than I wanted to shell out for essentially a list of characters. I preferred the idea of creating my own based on fandoms my friends and I enjoy. Second, I liked the idea of arguing for my choice, but I wanted there to be a little more variety. My sister and other friends convinced me that debating only about sexy, sexy pairings sounded a bit monotonous.

So, to give the idea a try, I mocked up a die with stickers that listed different kinds of relationships: date and spouse, yes, but also bff, crime-fighting partner, roommate, and presidential running mate. (As a side note, it turns out that enough of my peeps are fitness buffs that they assume just “running mate” means “person to jog with.”) I stuck those stickers on each side of a die.

The die I put stickers on

Then, for my birthday get-together, I got some index cards and a couple packs of markers.

(Yes, folks, I did turn thirty, and we spent a lot of our time colouring. Deal with it.)

Without explaining why, I asked the guests to draw a picture of a fictional character on each index card, to write the character’s name, and to indicate what work of fiction that character comes from.

Mess of cards and instructions and markers

First observation: Character choice was heavily influenced by what people felt they could draw. Very few humans for quite a while!

Second observation: Character choice was also heavily influenced by the fact that one of the sets of markers was smelly markers. A few grape-scented and orange-scented cards…

Third observation: Because I didn’t explain why, everyone was convinced they were doing it wrong, or that someone would have to act out the character they were drawing.

Anyway, finally, we had a huge stack of cards all set, and I explained the intended rules of the game.

Although there were nine of us, we split into three teams of three rather than play individually. This meant that instead of one dealer card and eight player cards, we had one dealer card and two player cards.

For those unfamiliar with the games I listed above, here’s how it worked:

1. Dealer team takes a card off the top of the deck, flips it face-up, and rolls the die. Everyone notes which relationship it shows.
2. The two other teams select a card from their hand and play it, face-up.
3. Each of the two other teams gets about thirty seconds to make the case for their card, plus additional time for back-and-forth when necessary.
4. The dealer team decides which of the characters on the two cards the other teams played would have the best relationship of the specified type on the die with the dealer team’s card.

Five turned out to be a pretty good number of cards, and three was a great number of teams. Having two teams face off meant we got some involved and funny debates. By the end, everyone was laughing. Here are some highlights:

Hand-drawn cards of Santa Claus, Mr. Monopoly, and Maria von Trapp
Who makes a better best friend for Mr. Monopoly? Maria von Trapp or Santa Claus?

Answer: Obviously, Santa and Mr. Monopoly have more in common to bond over: distinctive facial hair, special hats, lugging around large sacks…

Hand-drawn cards of Oscar the Grouch, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Ananas
Who makes a better roommate for the Wicked Witch of the West? Oscar the Grouch or Ananas?

Answer: It’s really important for the Wicked Witch to have a roommate who uses little water, and Oscar doesn’t bathe. Also, they’d get along: they both hate people, know it’s not easy being green, and obsess over keeping things other people lose or throw away.

Hand-drawn cards of Professor X, Draco Malfoy, and the Knights of the Round Table
Who’d be a better crime-fighting partner for Draco Malfoy? Professor X or the Knights of the Round Table?

 

Answer: Honestly, I don’t remember. I think we agreed we’d all watch both those shows.

But Komal stole the game with her explanation of why Aslan made the best roommate: “Of course he would! Because he wouldn’t even be there, like, 75% of the time!”

(Naturally, her team won that round.)

Conclusion: I really like how this game turned out. The rules and size of the teams worked well. We had a great variety of cards, and even though there were one or two duplicates, they were still fun. By sharing the creation of the cards, we made sure everyone knew most of the characters going in.

There are only a couple changes I’d make:

1. Get a proper custom die. The stickers kept peeling and added unstable weight to different sides of the die. Luckily, I can piece together something from this site.
2. Include the drawing as part of the game? Honestly, it was part of the fun and made sure we all knew at least some of the characters in play. And it was just as fun seeing the drawings as it was playing the game. But the whole process did take up a lot of time. We’ll see.
3. Change either date or spouse? Although the two relationships are very different in real life, in the game, they wound up somewhat similar. Amazing Race teammate? Squash buddy? Business partner? The possibilities are endless.

Thanks to Debra, Tyler, Ari, Dave, Komal, Sheila, Margaret, and Nikki for indulging my weirdness! Thanks, parents, for allowing me to set this up on your dining room table while home for the holidays!

2 Replies to “OTP: The Birth of a Card Game, Or Things You Can Only Make Your Friends Do When It’s Your Birthday”

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