You get to be funny instead of letting the cards do all the work for you in this new party game
We all love Cards Against Humanity, but by the 10th round the humor kinda wears off. There are only so many combinations of irreverent words and phrases to choose from and it's more about drawing the funniest cards than making good jokes yourself.
Humans Being combines the best aspects of Cards Against Humanity, Charades, and Whose Line Is It Anyway? by letting you be silly with your friends for points. The game was created by two improvisers who perform and teach with the top comedy theaters in New York and LA, including the Upright Citizens Brigade AKA the group that Amy Poehler co-founded.
Long-form improvisation can sound a little intimidating, but the game's creators, Dennis Zavolock and Amy Goerlich, worked to make the game accessible to anyone. Dennis' mom provided the most amazing blurb. "Was this Improv? All I know is that I won."
The way the game works is a little hard to explain but it's not complicated to play. The goal is to improvise a scene based on the other team's suggestion and then have your team guess your secret objective. The video below explains it all.
Since the game was created by experienced improvisers, every aspect of the game uses real improv techniques like "object work" and "status transfers," which probably don't matter to you unless you're a comedy über-nerd. But it makes the game work for even the most inexperienced players because the structure is there to support it.
Like any performance-based game, the more seriously you take the game the more fun it is. Think about how in Charades when you have a player just give up because they don't want to look stupid. It's not fun for anyone and they end up looking worse by not committing. It's way more interesting and entertaining when everyone looks stupid together.
Humans Being is obviously a great party game, but when play-testing the game it became clear that it's also a great educational tool. The creators of the game brought it to high school drama students who apparently had a blast with it. If you're a teacher or are shopping for gifts for a teacher, Humans Being is a great addition to any classroom.
After a successful Kickstarter campaign, Humans Being is now available on Amazon for $35. Pick it up before your next gathering and show your friends how fucking funny you are.
Topics Gaming
According to twitter, Emily Heller is a fake geek girl and a SJW. If you ask her friends, she laughs too loud and cries at cute animal videos. Prior to Mashable, Emily wrote for CollegeHumor and Reductress and most recently worked at a very bro-y tech startup. She lives in Brooklyn with three dudes, a cat who acts like a dog and a dog who acts like a houseplant.
