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[seekingferret]

Probably worth separating this out into a separate post. Part of the impetus for the other night's Immodest Proposals event was freeradical42 meeting Anthony Conto, a game designer who's about to launch a kickstarter for a party game he's created called Funemployed. So in addition to getting to talk about kickstarter with someone deeply involved with the process, we got to try out his game.

It turns out to be fantastic. Funemployed is a party game in the style of Apples to Apples or Cards Against Humanity, but it fixes all the problems I ranted about in my post a few weeks ago.

The premise of the game is that an HR manager is hiring for a variety of jobs, which are written on the equivalent of A2A's green cards. Applicants are dealt cards with character traits on them, and they must build a case in their job interview for why they should be hired because of their character traits.

Because you are verbally building a case rather than submitting a card without comment or justification, there is no such thing as a bad card. It completely and utterly defeats the problem I complained about where you know a person well and know exactly what would make them laugh, but lack the cards to achieve it.

Here's an example. The best application I pulled off was applying for the job of [Private Investigator] with the character trait cards [Australian Accent], [British Accent], [Speech Impediment], and [Illiterate].

So I said the following, laying down the cards as punchlines where appropriate, "Private Eyes need to spend a lot of time in bars. Meeting witnesses, trailing suspects, drowning their sorrows. If you hire me, I will be perfect because I know how to fit in at any bar. When I go into an Australian bar, I know how to order Foster's [Australian Accent]. When I go into an English bar, I know how to order a fine English ale [British Accent]. When I go into a French bar, I know how to order a white wine [Speech Impediment]. When I go into a Polish bar, I know how to order a vodka [Illiterate]. "

This is so much better than Apples to Apples. There was nothing inherent in those cards that made them a good or bad choice to play for a particular person- it was all in my ability to form a coherent and entertaining and convincing story out of them. Yet at the same time, the random distribution of the cards does meaningfully impact gameplay.


I am now officially excited for the kickstarter, and I am excited for laying down the law with friends because there is now an alternative to A2A that is categorically better.

The game's website is here: http://urbanislandgames.com/funemployed/

Comments

[calledtovienna]

Ooh, I just played a game with a super-similar concept: there are anime concepts (lay down two out of five) and everyone else uses cards to come up with an anime title and a short pitch. I got to put down " Infinite Masters Project Panic: Sunshine R and the Fullmetal Variable" which was basicaly pandering and the best. I forget the name though.

[seekingferret]

Yeah, I think I heard someone talking about that game... Channel A, or something like that? Sounded interesting, but also much nerdier than Funemployed, which I think is probably a more accessible party game in mixed company.

[calledtovienna]

Yeah, I definitely would have enjoyed a version that was less anime-specific. I enjoyed the meta-storytelling aspect of it, since it seemed to make, in its own bizarre way, a commentary on the genre of anime itself and the cliches that pop up. I am a fan of that sort of dissection, as a thing to do at least once, but I can see how it fits my personal interests. :)