Tonight I was having drinks with some family when we became consumed by a giant set of interlocking foam letters for the children which laid on the floor. The toy from Target has one of each letter and we wondered what full sentences or phrases we could spell with it. And that's when I discovered the word "pangram" -- that's a sentence that uses every letter in the alphabet at least once.

We all probably know "the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" which is commonly used to demonstrate fonts and letters but there are many more pangrams and some of them really cracked us up. When you're limited to so few characters and letters, funny stuff happens. 

That's why I thought I'd share them with Deck Around fans! As dirty and hilarious as Deck Around is, it's a word game at heart that the plays on...

Offensive, wild, energetic, immature -- whatever you're looking for in a dirty party game, I can only assume two things: 1) you're looking for fun and 2) you're hoping to laugh your asses off. If so, you've come to the right place. 

I've studied party games more than anyone, especially the "dirty" genre, and here's a list of the best options. 

Before we jump into dirty party games, let's understand their father -- the plain old "party game." Music and movies have different genres which target different audiences... and so do tabletop games. "Party games" are a whole subset of games that are designed differently to specifically meet the unique needs of a party: large groups, short attention spans (drinking!) and sometimes award relationships that need some mingling and ice-breaking. You can imagine how poorly Monopoly would work in a party atmosphere like I just described. 

"Dirty" party games are yet...

I struggled with how to get you a discount on Deck Around for the holidays. I’m not Amazon or Best Buy. I can’t discount one product and hope you buy another. I only have one product! I’m an indie game.

I figured out an odd way to fix that: by turning my one game into two games. Or four.

I’m packaging Deck Around in bundles with multiple copies for Cyber Monday and Black Friday. You get a discount plus you get gifts for your friends. For the rest of the month you’ve got two great options:

Double Decker (24% off)

Two copies of Deck Around for only $55: One for you, one for a friend. Do this now >>

Finish your Holiday shopping (31% off)

Four copies for $99 because holy shit, you're probably already tired of holiday...

Deck Around was selected for this year's IndieCade GameSlam -- a thrilling event in the IndieCade village where 12 games got a chance to pitch their game on the main stage in under 100 seconds! Deck Around was the only physical game selected. 

The GameSlam event was hosted by (and created by) legendary game designer Teddy Diefenbach and Ashly Burch from the gaming webshow "Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin'" and they ensured a smooth and fun show! 

100 seconds is NO TIME. There's seriously NO TIME. I spent a lot of time thinking about how to present Deck Around this way.

I crammed in a demo round of Deck Around which went something like this: 

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Every so often a curious person asks me what exactly “deck around” means outside of being the name of my fantastic game, Deck Around. I’ll tell you in a bit.

But first, because Deck Around is a game all about definitions, here’s the only definition that really matters to a newcomer:


Got it? If you need more of an explanation, visit the main page here.

Besides its new meaning as the title of this game, “deck around” is not much more than a made-up play on the phrase “dick around.” Given that most modern slang is based on innuendo, double-entendres and adult...

No doubt, Cards Against Humanity has become a massive success among college folks and the party crowd. It's a behemoth among tabletop games. In the process, it's exposed millions of casual partiers (who might otherwise only play beer pong, quarters or Angry Birds) to the fun of board games and card games. This is a huge side of the resurgence of tabletop games! 

BUT, for the average person, taking a step from Cards Against Humanity straight into a world composed of strategic fantasy games and poorly-designed, beta and/or "experimental" indies can be a lot at once. There are a lot of crappy games out there (especially in the "party game" genre) and buying new games is an expensive investment. That's why new fans of Cards Against Humanity who are looking for games just like it should start here. I've put together this resource for Cards fans looking...

 

Ever had a boring Friday night?

You and millions of others. 

Everyone has.

You’ve got all the right people, all your best friends. But before you know it, everyone is on their phones, texting. Not a smile in sight. 

Or maybe it’s the wrong group of people — an awkward party! We’ve all had one of those too. Small talk, long pauses. No smiles, no fun. 

Lots of folks resort to alcohol. Sure, bring the booze! But alcohol doesn’t cure a boring night either. 

It’s almost like there’s one little missing ingredient that makes an evening more fun. It’s true. There’s a secret “energy” you need to inject that enlivens a group of people. 

A great occasion or celebration enlivens a night. 

The right theme enlivens a night. 

...

Welcome to the day after Tax Day. When people start spending their refund money like crazy... little do they know, it was their money all along. 

This is the essence of "intaxication." 

Intaxication: Feeling of excitement when you get your tax refund which lasts until you realize it was actually your money in the first place. 

And that realization that this "bonus" from Uncle Sam was actually your money all along -- which may happen before or after you've spent the refund check -- can cause the opposite of intaxication: a Tax Day hangover. 

Happy Day After Tax Day! 

Let's play a game! It's called: Coachella Indie Band or Slang From Urban Dictionary/Deck Around? 

Coachella is a big music festival out here on the West Coast for two weekends in the desert and it starts this week. Everyone out here in California gets really excited about it. 

Me, not so much. 

I like music and I go to concerts sometimes... but I honestly don't know most of the acts at Coachella 2014. And the fact that most folks buy tickets in advance of Coachella announcing the lineup puzzles me even more. How could you know the festival is worth spending your money on?

I guess it shouldn't make much difference for me -- because whether they announce them or not, I don't know half the bands on there. In fact... some of these sound a little dirty. Could they be strange slang words from around the web...

Let's be honest here -- does it really look like I've got ten grand sitting around here for booth at the SXSW Interactive festival? Hell no. Even if I did -- and I LOVE that conference -- I'm not sure I'd be investing in something like that. So here's how Deck Around landed a huge, killer booth space and ridiculous amounts of word-of-mouth (and tons of fun) at SXSW in Austin for free. 

A few weeks ago I was browsing the SXSWi site and I got distracted by their brand new Gaming Awards. They were calling for submissions. Knowing that South By loves their indie stuff, I shot out an email to the organizers and sure enough, I got a passionate response back -- they were indeed accepting tabletop games too. How cool is that? An interactive conference knowing that a game is a game is game. 

Weeks later, I...