Games Like Cards Against Humanity
culture
Because sometimes you need to give CAH a break
Dec 26, 2020 Cards Against Humanity The OG of adult card games for millennials. You know the drill: Try to select the most horrid pairing and find out who in the friend group has the most warped mind.
Cards Against Humanity, or CAH, is easily one of the most popular card games of modern times, carefully toeing the line between offensive and hilarious. It was inspired by and has near-identical gameplay as the innocent Apples to Apples, but with a black comedy twist.
- The Perfect Post-Quarantine Game. Can be combined with Cards Against Humanity (and alcohol) for extra laughs. $2 of every purchase will be donated: $1 to the World Health Organization's COVID Response Fund and $1 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
- Cards Against Humanity: ’90s Nostalgia Pack Regular game is $25 or free download): Okay, we know we promised you a slew of games better than CAH, but the classic adult card party game has a ’90s expansion pack, so this counts. If you’re into all things neon and Nickelodeon, you’re going to want this deck of cards.
Despite the hours of fine it provides, sometimes it can grow old playing the same game over and over again, or perhaps it can be a little *too* provocative for a certain gathering. For those times, here are some other card games to check out that brings the fun in similar ways while managing to mix it up. (Buyer beware: Some are equally as raunchy.)
1. Apples to Apples
The original card game that inspired CAH and the whole trend, Apple to Apples is a classic favorite that’s appropriate for all ages. Whoever’s turn it is to “judge” draws a green card, which has an adjective. Fellow players with red cards that have nouns on them decide which red card will appeal most to that judge — humor usually does the trick — and submit. The judge reviews the anonymous submissions and picks one, earning whoever played it one point. Whoever collects seven green cards first wins the game. It’s identical in structure to CAH, but much more kid-friendly. Four to 10 players, ages 12 and up.
2. Urban Dictionary
Based on the popular site bearing the same name, Urban Dictionary’s card game is very similar in format to CAH but with some tweaks. The prompt cards can involve questions or images, and judges can pull “act” or “draw” cards that trigger special rounds where the judge has to act out or scribble whatever they drew. It’s like someone threw Urban Dictionary, CAH, Pictionary and Charades into a blender and hit puree. And who knows, you might learn a new definition or two along the way. Three to eight players, ages 18 and up.
3. Charty Party
If someone made a card game modeled after the science portion of the ACT and somehow made it actually fun, it would be Charty Party. The judge flips over a card displaying a chart and caption, and participants choose their funniest card to describe it. For example, if a judge’s card has a chart with an upward slope over an increasing number of “people in an elevator,” a player may submit the “effort required to smile.” Perhaps it’s a little on the nose in 2020 to play a game focused around charts, but if you’re the type of person who loves The Big Bang Theory then you’ll appreciate this game. For recommended ages 17 and up, though no specified number of players.
4. Social Sabotage
This game created by BuzzFeed combines the “dare” element of “truth or dare” with social media in a card format. A “where” card is played to indicate a designated social media platform, and then “what” cards indicate something embarrassing a person has to do on it. For example, a combination may require a player to upload a video to Instagram making an armpit fart with a completely serious face. It’s a little bolder than similar games given its real-world actions, but who doesn’t love seeing a friend make an ass of themselves? Unlike the other games of this nature, this one requires a smartphone and social media accounts to play. Recommend ages 17 and up, and it requires at least four people to play.
5. Exploding Kittens
Created by Matthew Inman, the illustrator behind the hilarious site The Oatmeal, this game is like Russian Roulette in card form. Rather than having a judge, everyone takes turns drawing and placing cards until an exploding kitten card is drawn. Whoever draws it is out, unless they have a card that can defuse the kitten or another action card that will get them out of harm’s way. The characters are colorful and the action cards are creatively absurd. And with Inman behind the illustrations, it’s guaranteed to be unexpected and hilarious. Two to five players, ages seven and up.
6. Joking Hazard
If you came to this list looking to actually up the level of offensiveness in your games, look no further. Joking Hazard is a card game born from a popular comic-generating website where players use cards drawn from a deck to create a comic strip panel-by-panel. The dialogue the characters say in the comics can veer into dark or borderline offensive, but they’re presented in dry, anti-comedy, or absurd formats. It also has cards where you draw your own lines in, for the truly artistic- and comedic-inclined. Recommended ages 17 and up, and at least three players.
7. What Do You Meme
This super popular game, brought to you by the company behind Fuck Jerry, is about exactly what its name suggests: players are craft memes in the format of CAH. A rotating judge plays a known memey image and players submit their meme situation that fits the funniest. Its rise to popularity comes at a time when memes on Twitter and Instagram have become many people’s primary form of communication. This game also has a sister game, Do You Know Me?, and a variety of expansion packs available: Fresh Memes Expansion Pack, Basic Bitch Expansion Pack, Game of Thrones Expansion Pack, Stoner Expansion Pack and NSFW Expansion Deck. Ages 17 and up, and at least three people to play.
8. Drunk Stoned or Stupid
This game is like if high school superlatives were combined with a comedy roast. Players draw a card with a situation like “wake up with half a burrito in bed” and, after a group discussion, the rotating judge chooses which person would be most likely to do that thing or be in that situation. In the spirit of assassinating everyone’s character, nobody “wins” the game — whoever collects the most cards is deemed the “loser.” It’s sociable and designed to bring people together, but watch out if you have some sensitive people in your group: Not everyone likes to hear the truth. Ages 17 and up, and requires at least three players.
9. Personally Incorrect
This game is almost identical to CAH, but instead of being blanket statements that are funny, the sentence on the judge’s card that is drawn is specific to that person. So if Rob is judging and draws a card that says, “[Blank] wakes up saying he’ll never mix [blank] and alcohol again,” the group would read it as Rob in the sentence and players would submit their cards to fill in the noun. It’s a small difference, but it makes it easier to cater to inside jokes and ideally call back some memories. Like “Drunk, Stoned or Stupid,” it has the potential to bring people together and share some stories, but be prepared for what may come out! Two to 10 players, ages 18 and up.
10. Unstable Unicorns
This game is similar to “Exploding Kittens” in its artwork and an absurd concept, but it’s equally if not more entertaining than its sister fauna game. It arguably has more complex gameplay as well: The goal is to get seven unicorns into your play area, or “stable,” while also deterring other players and destroying their unicorns in the process. The cards feature all kinds of hilariously specific unicorns, and there are a variety of card pack options. An NSFW version of the standard, innocent base pack exists with more adult unicorns (e.g., “uncut unicorn”), along with multiple expansion packs: Rainbow Apocalypse expansion pack, Dragons expansion pack, and Unicorns of Legend expansion pack. There’s also a similar game under the brand umbrella that’s the same as Unstable Unicorns but plays with llamas instead — Llamas Unleashed. Two to eight players, and 14 and up — unless you go with NSFW, in which case it’s 21 and up.
11. We Rate Dogs! The Card Game
Based on the popular @WeRateDogs Twitter account with more than 8M followers, which in turn inspired spinoff social media accounts, this game is kid-friendly and designed to bring happiness, much like dogs themselves. The dog cards feature categories like Floof, Sass, Boopability, Zoom, Ears, and Wag. This game is a little more complex to explain compared to the others listed in this article since it involves a die and tokens to keep track of. But once you get the hang of it, who wouldn’t enjoy a game where you get to rate all kinds of puppers and doggos? If the popularity of its Twitter is anything to judge by, this game is designed to make people smile. Three to six players, for ages eight and up.
Enliven parties with a hilarious new free game
Heard this one before? You're having drinks with friends and everyone is on their iPhone. One person is talking about their new diet (nobody cares).
Deck Around is here because parties need more fun -- more laughs, more surprise -- and more party.
- You'll learn the game fast, in 27 seconds
- You'll start laughing 2 minutes after that
- Enjoy it with big groups of friends and strangers alike
- No downtime, no waiting for turns -- no boring shit
It's easy: Each round, you pick a strange slang word and write a convincing-sounding definition for it -- convincing enough that you can trick everyone else into believing it's the real one.
What the Deck is This?
Cleveland steamer; the Dutch oven; twerking... these are all words you know (for better or worse). But have you heard of a 'soil sample' or the 'Boston blowfish'? Well, in the party game Deck Around, you're going to convince your friends that you do -- by writing a ridiculous made-up definition and anonymously handing it in.
Watch the video above to find out how to play. Here's a quick description for if you can't hear or something:
- You pick a random slang term from the deck and everyone writes a made up but convincing definition for the word and anonymously hands it in.
- One person reads all the definitions aloud, including the actual definition of the word, which is randomly mixed in.
- Everyone guesses which definition is the real one and get points if they do. They usually fall for someone else's bullshit definition -- which earns its author a point.
(Detailed rules.)
What People Think
'SO MUCH FUN!!! There were 8 of us and we all LOVED the game! My stomach hurts from laughing so much!' -- Ariella
'Better than Cards Against Humanity!' -- Sean
'We had a marvelous time playing this game at our girls night in. We laughed so hard we almost wet our pants at the definitions some gave. Whew, hilarious. Can't wait to play it again.' -- Candee
'I wanted to find something equal or greater to Cards Against Humanity on the 'morally incorrect' scale. I was not misled, this is superb.' -- Matt
'So we played Deck Around last night.....my face still hurts from laughing so hard!' -- Brandy
'I want to play so bad I carry it around in my purse' -- Christi
'I gave it to my boyfriend as a belated gift and he LOVES it. The game is AWESOME!' -- Hannah
'I couldn't breathe through laughing and pee'd myself a bit. So preparation will be required next time - if you get my drift! Good times!' -- Victoria
What's in the Box
The full game has everything you need to Deck Around:
- 106 rounds of gameplay in a deck of cards -- that’s a big deck!
- 400 sheets of answer paper, and after that, you’re on your own
- 4 mini pencils I stole from a public golf course
- 1 sexy shrink wrapped box with instructions
- 0 dice, game boards or little plastic houses
We'll email you a copy: