So Cards: This new game is basically Cards For Humanity
July 10th, 2018, 09:00 CET
Amsterdam, Netherlands – So Cards, a game described as a “collection of questions made for deeper discussions,” has launched its Kickstarter campaign on July 10th 2018.
So Cards is a loosely structured card game based on fifty-two carefully selected questions, each designed to pause, reflect, and reveal more about themselves.
Traditionally, in each round, one person draws a random card. He/she reads the question out loud. Everyone else then takes turns answering the question as honestly and thoroughly as they would like. At the end of the round, the person who asked the question picks his/her favorite answer and hands over the card to that person.
This is, however, only one way to play. As with any deck of cards, the rules are really up to the players. This page contains a few suggestions.
Questions found in the deck include, what is the common trait shared by everyone you’ve dated? and if everyone on earth had a polar opposite, what would yours be like? Creator Miguel Luis Calayan came up with most of these during his years conducting interviews as a documentary filmmaker. A lot of them are also simply questions he likes to ask friends.
There is a specific reason for why these questions have taken the form of a card game. Aside from the convenience of having it fit in the pocket, it also creates a feeling of familiarity and approachability. “From what I've observed, most people do want deeper conversations, and someone people do know what questions to ask, but sometimes, it can be pretty intimidating to make that step,” says Miguel. “If someone pulls out a question that is a bit too personal, then there's no one to blame but the deck. Or me. They can blame me for writing it.”
The game, however, is only one part of this movement. So Cards aims to use funds from product sales to create photo and video content based on its mission to foster authentic human connections. Its Instagram page contains a whole gallery of real people answering real questions.
Although technically the company is based out of the Netherlands, the game has its roots in the Philippines where the first test batch of hand-cut cards was made. As for its reach, the plan is to make it available worldwide.
ABOUT THE CREATOR
Miguel is a filmmaker-photographer-writer born in the Philippines, but moved to California as a teenager, and is now based in Amsterdam. In the last few years, he has worked as a documentary and commercial director. He has made advertisements for brands like FILA, Chevrolet, and Johnsons. He has also created short form digital content for FOX Filipino and Netflix Singapore. His most recent documentary was Native Tongue, a series on Filipino food, which premiered at the 2017 Santa Barbara International Film Festival. In the past, he has also had films premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival as well as the Nashville Film Festival. Though his output has spanned across different disciplines, So Cards is his first foray into creating and selling a physical product.