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I grew up somewhere pretty rough, nowhere exponentially dark or dangerous, but it was one of “those” estates. The vocabulary being thrown about wasn’t what you’d read in any J.K.Rowling pieces, nor would Stephen Fry be uttering any quotes from there. It was normal though, and being from that environment there was the instant assumption that it was a pretty common thing; people use the X, Y, and Z of English to emphasise meaning, displeasure, convey emotion or as a placeholder for any “erm”s they may have said.
Then I moved out into the wider world, away from my Northern roots, and I quickly established that the language I had grown up was deemed taboo. People winced at the sound of the letter F, shuddered at a hard B, and I actually think I was banished from a small hamlet when a hard C was heard. Letters aside, colourful language is more acceptable dependent on where you are and who you’re with. Which is why F**k The Game, published by VR Distribution and created by Béla Inkster, is a fantastic way to introduce a whole Dulux colour chart of words to those you love and cherish.
The game is definitely not suitable for under 18s or anyone with a heart condition or weak nerves, but it will have you laughing until your sides hurt!
Gameplay
The basic game is played through using cards with either colours written on them or a variety of… interesting words on them. Dependent on the word, colour of text or colour of background, you’ll say a different word. Each player takes a turn to play a card from their hand and then follow the rules as follows.
If the word is coloured with a colour background, say the colour of the text. If the word is black with a colour background, say the colour of the background. If it’s a swear word, say the swear word, unless it’s the F word. The golden rule is that you never say the F word. If the F word appears, follow the first two rules instead. If at any point you mess up, everyone else needs to dive for the deck. The fastest hand then gives two cards from the played cards to whomever they choose, and the rest of the deck goes to the player who messed up.
This may sound like it’s going to be complicated, but it’s a catch the flow sort of game; you’ll learn best through play. Of course, there are also rule variants where as a group you can choose a swear word to have as the word you’ll all shout and point at someone, or the choke rule where a chosen word is the trigger for everyone to offload cards to you if you mess up on it. F**K The Game has lots of flexibility and scope to be played in many different ways.
How It Handles
We had a lot of fun with F**k The Game. Some people in our group are not fans of card games, and others are a little more coy about the flavourful language some people choose to use, but that didn’t stop them calling someone several expletives whilst pointing in their face. Naturally, some of us picked it up immediately, but others took a few rounds to get it. It’s not a game we found we wanted to be competitive and win with, but we wanted to be doing better than others.
We loved the process of the game over the outcome, which in itself is incredible! If a game is able to make you want to stay playing over winning, it’s done something right. It’s possibly the ease of access of the game that makes it so appealing, but again, it’s not a game you can imagine playing with the family (unless, like with mine, fragrant language isn’t anything unusual).
What’s fantastic is how funny it is when you mess up. Again, there is no animosity about losing or being first, only the hilarity when you say blue instead of red, say several swear words, and have everyone dice on the card in question. Once we grasped the basics, we chose a word to have for the point rule and it just enhanced everything. Some people pointed, some dove for the cards, and some were too busy chuckling to even notice what was happening. Vocal anarchy is the description for it!
What Makes It
F**k The Game is entirely comprised of a deck of cards and a rule set. Nothing more, nothing less. All players need to bring is an open mind and a filthy mouth (figuratively). The game outright states that certain words, particularly a specific word, may upset some people and therefore it is completely acceptable to have it removed, which is nice consideration from the creators.
I’m pretty open to most things and sayings, but some of our group may kick up a bit of a fuss when that hard word hits their ears. No judgement upon them, it’s just one of those things!
Final Thoughts on F**k The Game
F**k The Game is the ideal game to have out whilst drinking or at a party. It’s fun, fast, hilarious and opens people up a bit more. As previously mentioned, we had one player going from sticking their nose up at the game to dropping bombs like it was going out of style. Simple as it is, it’s not accessible to everyone dependent on their coyness towards the flavourful language at hand.
However, it is a fast paced, fun game which I think is a clear choice for a quick filler. For just a deck of cards, it’s very versatile; it’s endlessly repeatable and will get people talking. It may not last long, but you’ll love it while you’re at it! Just try not to offend anyone.
