Perhaps now more than ever, participatory urbanism is a major aspect of collective city living. In an age where distrust with government is to be expected at the federal level, but civic innovations are perpetually churned out at the municipal level, in Boston anyway, much success can be found in soliciting participation from residents. So why not harness that notion in the form of the most politically incorrect and gut-bustingly funny drinking game Cards Against Humanity?
That’s exactly what Lisa Nisenson, founder of GreaterPlaces, had in mind when she and DoTankDC came up with the aptly named Cards Against Urbanity. A smashing success on Kickstarter, despite the admittedly lame pitch video above, Cards Against Urbanity has raised a ridiculous $20,388 from 611 backers. Nisenson’s goal was $7,500.
As you can see from the sample cards, though, this version isn’t quite as crude as the original. A descriptor card prompts gamers to play one from their hand which fills in the blank. The suggestions are actually legitimate, albeit comical, and the hope is that they’ll get more city residents engaging with their city’s planners, engineers, developers, and the like.
To show just how committed they are to the spirit of urbanism, Nisenson and her constituents are offering up hand-crafted benches and stools made from pallets reclaimed by DoTankDC as one of its pledge prizes.
“We are working with top notch firms that have experience in Kickstarter projects and guiding first-timers,” noted Nisenson on the Kickstarter page. She hopes to be able to distribute prizes by Christmas of this year, which isn’t likely to pose a problem given the surplus of cash they were able to generate.
Nisenson’s project is reminiscent of Parkolation, which also took to Kickstarter for grassroots funding with the aim of improving public spaces. Parkolation was also a crowdfunding success and given the success its seen since boosting its bankroll, I don’t see any way Cards Against Urbanity could be a bust.
I mean, if nothing else, some drunk goon will probably end up ordering it online thinking its the actual Cards Against Humanity set. But then, maybe I’m lowballing everyone. Maybe people will purchase the game with the intent, however slight it may be, of improving their community.
