The most perverse — and popular — multi-player card game in recent memory is further tightening its grip around our popular imagination. Labeled by its own creators as a “party game for horrible people,” Cards Against Humanity’s rapid rise to prominence has been reminiscent to Sherman’s March to the Sea.
However, because it is a multi-player game, you need to have a rowdy bunch of companions to enjoy its lewd fruits, and rallying the necessary troops isn’t always easy to do.
Luckily, two local establishments are making that problem a bit easier to solve. Red Wagon Creamery and Tiny Tavern now both feature weekly events specifically dedicated to the popular card game.
“It’s the perfect late night opportunity to be inappropriate,” Red Wagon Creamery Co-Owner Stuart Phillips said.
For the last six weeks Red Wagon Creamery, a quaint ice cream shop located in Downtown Eugene that moonlights as a low-key bar at night, has hosted Cards Against Humanity Nights from 10-11 p.m. on Fridays. Tiny Tavern, located in the Whitaker neighborhood, has a similar event on Mondays at 7:30 p.m.
According to Phillips, Red Wagon’s event has been quite successful, pulling in crowds anywhere from 10 to 30 people, and many of whom who wouldn’t come otherwise.
“We get calls from people asking about it all the time,” Phillips said.
The card game has garnered an eclectic following and is quite popular with young people. According to Phillips, the game nights at Red Wagon are usually peopled with a fair amount of students.
“It gives students a chance to snark-out a bit,” he said.
Red Wagon began hosting the event after an employee expressed her fandom of the game, and now, it’s taking center stage after hours at the Creamery. (Unfortunately — or maybe fortunately — minors aren’t allowed at either event).
But what’s so special about this card game that it needs its own events? According to Phillips, and confirmed by Amazon’s bestsellers list, it’s simple, addictive and has slightly subversive content.
“In an era where political correctness reigns supreme,” Phillips said, “it’s refreshing to have a game specifically designed to be incorrect.”
For the unacquainted, Cards Against Humanity is essentially Apples to Apples without a moral compass. That’s not to say the latter doesn’t allow for inappropriateness or offensive content, it’s just that the former is designed specifically to encourage it.
The game centers on specific cards that contain a prompt that must be answered by one of the cards held by the various teams or players. For example, the card, “A romantic candlelit dinner wouldn’t be complete without _______,” can be answered with something like, “Harry Potter Erotica” or “Lance Armstrong’s Missing Testicle.”
There isn’t a middleman necessary for the lewdness — the game provides all the components. In fact, it’s almost more difficult to be politically correct than it is to be downright absurd.
“Cards Against Humanity is real workingman’s game, and it made sense, because Tiny’s is a real working-class bar,” said Emily Nyman, the runner of Tiny’s Tavern’s Cards night.
But that doesn’t mean there aren’t rules.
“There’s only one rule: Anyone who draws the ‘David Bowie riding a dragon’ card is always, hands down, the winner,” Phillips said.
For those who don’t know what that means and want to, just head to Red Wagon or Tiny Tavern Friday or Monday night, and you’ll find out.