You can always count on Cards Against Humanity to come through during the holidays with some good cheer (or great trolling). But this year, in addition to unveiling special Hanukkah cards (last year it was Kwanzaa), CAH is also bringing real trolls, through its first-ever Fantasy Pack! And because the guys behind CAH don’t do anything half-assed, this year they called in the big guns: a crew of fantasy authors including Patrick Rothfuss, Neil Gaiman, Jacqueline Carey, and more to help write the cards.
I’ll admit that after years of playing this as the icebreaker at parties, I’ve started to feel some CAH fatigue. There are only so many ways you can win certain cards, and the expansions don’t really refresh the game so much as prolong it. But I’m impressed with the company for doing what seems to be a bit of retooling: They’re rolling out a number of specially themed expansions, and (as mentioned) bringing in outsider experts. For the Food Expansion, they got the dudes at Lucky Peach (David Chang’s food magazine) to weigh in; the World Wide Web Pack was crowdsourced during a Reddit AMA.
So, back to the Fantasy Pack! Rothfuss wrote about the undertaking on his blog, as the proceeds will go to his charity, Worldbuilders. This is not the first collaboration between Rothfuss and CAH founder Max Temkin. Last year, the company trolled its customers with its Holiday Bullshit campaign, in which they said point-blank that they would send anyone who bought the Holiday Bullshit box actual cow feces. And people still went for it! But some good came out of it, as CAH donated the proceeds to Heifer International, via Worldbuilders. CAH has also used its powers for even more good, releasing a science-themed expansion that ultimately funded scholarships for women in STEM.
The Fantasy Pack includes 6 black question/fill-in-the-blank cards and 26 answer cards; you can check out a few of them in the top image. And here’s everyone who contributed to the cards!
- Patrick Rothfuss
- Neil Gaiman
- Wesley Chu
- Jacqueline Carey
- Myke Cole
- Elizabeth Bear
- Sherwood Smith
- Martha Wells
- Sam Sykes
- Kevin Hearne
- Laura Anne Gilman
- Delilah S. Dawson
- “and a few others who would prefer not to be named,” according to Rothfuss
I would’ve loved to be in the room for that brainstorming session.
The Fantasy Pack is yours for only $10. Check out the Fantasy Pack and others (there’s a Nostalgia one!) in the CAH store. And if you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to work at CAH, you can check out their recent Reddit AMA.
