What Do You Meme? Game Review: Contemporary Humor Party Game

What Do You Meme? is fairly simple to play. The rules are pretty straight forward. The real technique comes in having a clever sense of humor that will enable you to match picture cards with the funniest caption card possible. To start the game, choose someone to be the judge. The person chosen will be the one who picks the funniest caption card and awards the winner the picture card. After that round, the next person clockwise becomes the judge for the next round. The job of judge will continue around the circle until the game has ended.

After the judge has been chosen, he or she will then deal seven caption cards to the rest of the players. Once all of the cards have been dealt, the judge will then choose one of the meme photo cards and put it on the easel for all to see. Each player must then choose which caption they feel not only fits the photo but is also the funniest. The humor usually comes with the dirtiest or darkest sense of humor. Each player chooses their one card that they think is the funniest and they place their cards face down on the table. Once all players have done that, the judge will mix them up and then place them face down on the table in front of the easel. Once that’s done, each card will be flipped over individually until all the cards are flipped and everyone has had the opportunity to read and hear the caption. The judge will then choose the funniest caption and that player who put down that card will keep the picture card from the easel. The person with the most photo cards after the game has ended is the winner. There is no time limit to the game, so whenever the team feels the game is over then it’s over.

What Do You Meme? comes with 75 photo meme cards, 360 caption cards, and a small easel and instruction booklet. The instruction booklet is pretty straight forward and outlines the rules of the game. The easel’s purpose is to hold up the photo meme card so that everyone playing the game can see the card without touching it or picking it up. The seventy-five photo cards all contain a different popular meme that has been recognized enough on the Internet that most people will know what it means. For those who do not recognize the meme, they are funny enough and simple enough to be immediately understood and matched with any of the caption cards. There are three hundred sixty caption cards to choose from although there will only be seven cards in your hand at any given time. All of the cards, easel, and instruction manual all fit back in the box for easy storage with the rest of your board games and card games for game nights.

What Do You Meme? was created by the minds behind the famous Instagram account F*** Jerry (the account has that name because Seinfeld was playing on the television when the account was created). The account was instituted by Elliot Tebele who made not only his fortune, but also the incredible success of his account off of creating memes. When he was a teenager he would post pictures of cars on Tumblr with funny captions. That mindset eventually evolved when Instagram was created and memes were being exchanged at a high rate of speed. Since the Instagram account became so famous for the meme, the company raised money through Kickstarter to build and brand What Do You Meme?. The game was reported at being the ninth most popular card game purchased on Amazon right behind Cards Against Humanity.

Included within the box of What Do You Meme? are 360 caption cards. The purpose of the caption card is to match it to the chosen photo card that is on the easel. It’s the caption cards that get some people turned off by the vulgarity of the game. Some of the cards read statements that refer to certain parts of the male anatomy. Other cards use abbreviated terms such as “AF” that stand for words that are not appropriate for some people. Some of the cards also use dirty language to describe certain people and certain scenarios, while other cards also use colorful language to describe the female anatomy. The cards that can be found in the deck, and the language and sexual insinuations of the cards have been found to cause some people to stop playing the game, but there are other far less dirty cards in the deck like “When you realize that you have never been in an empty room”, “When you’re so broke you have to go to sleep for dinner”, “When someone tells you to stop using the word ‘literally’ but you literally can’t”, and “When ur always a bridesmaid and never a bride” are some of the cleaner cards that can be found in the deck. Depending on your audience, it may be wise to filter out some of the more vulgar cards before starting to play the game.

The crux of the hilarity of What Do You Meme? is the photo cards. The 75 photo cards contain some of the funniest memes that have been posted on the Internet. Simply looking at them makes a room full of people laugh. Some of the memes included in the box are Barack Obama placing the Presidential Medal of Honor on Joe Biden, Joe Biden looking out the White House window, a close up of Hillary Clinton during a Senate hearing, a young boy drinking from a mug while making a smug face, a small boy giving his mom side eye, a young girl smiling while a house is burning down, an old man wearing a scarf giving the thumbs up, Kim Jong-un, Prince George in a funny stance, a fat cat sitting like a human, and a professional photo of an elderly woman licking an ice pop. These memes have been passed around the Internet for some time now, and most people will know what they are almost immediately. For those who are exposed to them for the first time will still be able to laugh at them. The aforementioned caption cards are to be placed with the above photo cards and when placed together, the humor rises.

Due to the graphic nature of some of the cards, it is recommended that What Do You Meme? be played by players aged seventeen years and older. Not only is this age range far more appropriate for the humor and suggestions made by the cards, but the humor is better understood and appreciated by adults. Some of the cards suggest certain things that younger audiences may not understand, which will lead them to not be interested in the game or able to play the game. The suggestive language is also appropriate for adults and never for children. Some of the cards are also better appreciated by people who have had similar life experiences and can relate, which are experiences not to be had by younger players. The beauty of the game for some parents is the ability to have a game that is all their own. So many game nights and toys revolve around kids and their need for entertainment, but What Do You Meme? is adult time for parents who need a break from the whims of children.

The Internet never stays the same. It is a phenomenon in our world and time that is forever evolving and forever changing as the world changes and grows. New ideas are always popping up and new moments happen in the world and our own personal worlds that are funny and shared across the vast platform that is social media. With that, the memes and cards found in What Do You Meme? have the potential to become irrelevant or no longer funny by some people. Even memes have their time, and sometimes that time is over sooner than later. The people who created What Do You Meme? understand this concept and have thus developed expansion packs with updated memes and caption cards. Some of the expansion cards are branded after popular shows or themes that are prevalent in today’s society. One expansion pack is designed after the popular HBO series Game of Thrones. These cards depict photo cards that have photos of the characters and most popular scenarios from the series and the caption cards are famous lines and plot points from the show. Not only is Game of Thrones available in an expansion pack, but so are the Real Housewives from Bravo Television and the hit teen movie Mean Girls. Both of these packs also come with photo cards of characters and moments from the movie and show, and caption cards that contain lines and plot points from the respective movie and TV show. Other expansion packs include Stoner cards and Basic B**** cards. All games are not suitable for anyone under the age of seventeen.

What Do You Meme? is a high priced game considering the materials that make up the game are pretty basic. The game comes with cards and an easel and doesn’t appear to be of any kind of high quality. The cost of the game seems a bit high for a card game. It shouldn’t be overlooked that the game does contain a high level of fun and humor that most people find absolutely hysterical. All the positive feedback that the game received was all in the way that the game made people laugh and entertained large groups of people. Up to 20 people can play What Do You Meme? so for the price it does hold the attention of a lot of people. What Do You Meme? is one of those games that not only includes the people playing the game, but those who are spectators can also enjoy the endless hours of comedy that comes from matching the caption cards with the photo cards.

There is a reason why What Do You Meme? is one of the highest purchased games on Amazon. The game allows for players to be funny, creative, and enjoy an adults only atmosphere. When enough people get together to have a good time, What Do You Meme? has been proven to enhance that experience. If there is one thing that a majority of people share no matter your country, age, or style of life is social media. And social media is rampant with memes. What Do You Meme? is one of those games that truly brings together a group of people with a common interest and gets people not only talking about the meme, but its influence in their lives. What Do You Meme? is the perfect addition to your game night collection and will entertain you and your guests for hours. The expansion packs keep the game going after the game has been played enough times and some fresh humor is needed. Although it’s priced kind of high, What Do You Meme? is perfect for anyone who needs a good laugh.