Do you have friends? You do? Okay, so you’ve definitely played Cards Against Humanity. Although the game has generated its share of controversy, it’s hard to deny its impact on popular culture. So, whether you’re a fan or you can’t stand it at all, sit tight because these are 25 Interesting Facts About Cards Against Humanity.
Its original name was Cardenfreude.
The game was funded by a Kickstarter campaign that raised $15,000.
The current title of the game references the phrase, "crimes against humanity," which is a nod to its politically incorrect content.
It was created by a group of eight students from Highland Park High School in Illinois as a New Year's party game.
The primary influence for the game was Apples to Apples.
One month after its release, Cards Against Humanity was the top selling game on Amazon.
The game is available under a Creative Commons license. What does this mean? Take a look at their explanation below:
“Cards Against Humanity is available under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.0 license. That means you can use, remix, and share the game for free, but you can’t sell it without our permission. Please do not steal our name or we will smash you.”
There’s even a PDF on their website where you can make your own deck.
According the Chicago Sun Times, the game has likely generated over $12 million of revenue. (The company won't give sales figures, though.)
In spite of the game's success, the original eight creators haven't given up their day jobs or sold the company.
You can download the game online and have it printed on card paper. (Yes, this is a feature the creators deliberately wanted.)
There haven't been many copycats by the big game companies, most likely because nobody wants to get near the "sue" potential of such a game.
The game has donated a lot of money to various causes, including the Wikimedia Foundation.
Two of the expansion packs were the Vote for Trump Pack and the Vote for Hillary Pack.
There isn't any way to win the game. The only objective is to have fun.
The person who most recently pooped is meant to start the game. This is supposedly a form of "primitive randomization."
As part of a satirical promotion, the creators held an "anti-sale" on Black Friday where they raised the game's price by $5. Funnily enough, sales actually increased!
In 2014, as part of a promotion, the game was removed from the online store and replaced with "bull shit." No joke, over 30,000 boxes of bull feces were sold for $6 each.
According to the creators, the game is “as despicable and awkward as you and your friends.”
During Black Friday in 2015, the game's online order form was replaced by an offer to "Give Cards Against Humanity $5" and receive nothing in return. The justification was that "the greatest Black Friday gift of all is buying nothing. We're offering that for the rock-bottom price of $5." 11,248 customers spent $71,145 on the offer.
In 2016, the creators began digging a hole in Oregon and said they would keep digging as long as they received donations. On their website, this was the FAQ answer to whether or not the hole was for charity, "Why aren't YOU giving all this money to charity? It's your money."
One of the Cards Against Humanity expansion packs in 2015 was science themed and the profits were intended to create a scholarship for women going into science fields. So far over $500,000 have been raised.
The A.V. Club interview called the game "a sort of Apples To Apples for the crass and jaded."
Cards Against Humanity occasionally releases newer versions of the game in order to stay up to date and potentially remove highly controversial cards.
In 2017, a Weed Pack was released and the profits were donated to the Marijuana Policy Project.
As a final point, it should go without saying that the game has been quite controversial. The accusations have primarily centered on its promotion of racism, homophobia, and rape culture.
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Photos: Featured Image: brett jordan via flickr, CC BY 2.0, 25. MEME TN via flickr, CC BY 2.0, 24-22. pixabay (public domain), 21. John Hrach via flickr, CC BY 2.0, 20. wikimedia commons (public domain), 19.-17. pixabay (public domain), 16. Diogo Costa Leite, Top Downloads, CC BY-SA 4.0, 15-9. pixabay (public domain), 8. maxpixel (public domain), 7-1. pixabay (public domain)
