Can you believe it's been more than a decade since Cards Against Humanity first stormed the world and became the go-to adult-themed party game for millions of fans around the world?
While the irreverent and inappropriate gameplay can be fun for a while, there may come a time when you start feeling like Cards Against Humanity has lost its luster—and when that time comes, it can quickly become an edgy cringe-fest without its novelty factor.
Fortunately, there are many other games like Cards Against Humanity that have put their own spins on the "one person judges the answers given to a prompt" style of gameplay.
Are you ready to move on and switch things up? Here are the best Cards Against Humanity alternatives that might just end up becoming your next go-to party game for adult gatherings!
12. What Do You Meme?
Maybe you enjoy trolling social media platforms with your carefully constructed memes. Or maybe you frequent sites like Reddit to share in the latest and greatest creations in the meme market.
Does that sound like you? If it does, then all your hard work will pay off when you showcase your meme-making skills with What Do You Meme?, which is a game like Cards Against Humanity except with images.
Each player receives a set of cards with phrases on them. Each round, players must use their phrases to caption an image of a meme. The judge (who changes at the end of every round) determines which player has created the best caption for the meme.
The player who has the most chosen memes wins! And yes, What Do You Meme? offers plenty of responses with adult humor.
11. The Voting Game
You think you know your friends well. You know what type of board gamer they are, who they like and don't like. But have you ever accessed their deepest and darkest secrets?
The Voting Game helps you dig out the scary truths that you probably never wanted to know about your friends.
Every player receives a card with a different number on it, and that's how they're identified for the rest of the game. Players also have their own sets of cards numbered one to however many players are playing.
One player flips over a question card that might ask something like, "Who isn't wearing underwear right now?" Players then pick out their friend's corresponding number card to cast a vote for them as the most likely to go commando.
In this game, having the most votes means that you lose!
10. The Game of Things
The Game of Things is the least like Cards Against Humanity of all the games on this list, but it has the same kind of overall vibe while scratching a different kind of itch, so I'm including it.
Every round starts with one player as the Reader, who picks a prompt and reads it out loud. Everyone else writes a response and submits it to the Reader, who then reads each response out loud twice.
Going in a circle, players take turns guessing (from memory) which response was written by which player. If they guess correctly, the player who wrote it is eliminated and the guesser can guess again. This continues until one player is remaining—they win a point.
The Game of Things is an interesting mix between the prompt-based gameplay of Cards Against Humanity and elements of memory, deduction, and bluffing.
9. Trial by Trolley
Trial by Trolley takes the concept of Cards Against Humanity and twists it into a game of painfully difficult moral dilemmas.
Every round, one player is the Trolley Operator (i.e. judge). Everyone else gets split into two even teams, with one team on one track and the other team on another track.
Each team gets two good people added to their track. Each team also chooses from a set of bad people to add to the other team's track. In total, each team has a track with three people on it.
For example, a track could be comprised of "A kitten on its way to being adopted," "The world's most reliable babysitter," and "The Kardashians."
Players also have modifier cards that they can play on the characters on either track. These modifiers change the attributes and personalities of each, which can sway the judge.
For example, one modifier might read "If they die, their two adorable dogs at home will starve to death."
In the end, the Trolley Operator must decide which track they're going to drive over, thus murdering everyone on it. All players on the spared track will earn a point for the round!
8. Red Flags
In Red Flags, one player is the judge every round—except in this game, they aren't called "judge" but rather "The Single."
Players are all trying to create a Date for the judge. They do this by playing Perk cards from their hand, which are positive attributes that the judge might find attractive. For example, "Loves Dogs" or "Famous Chef."
But players can also play Red Flag cards on another player's Date. Red Flags are negative attributes that range from weird to annoying to downright terrifying. For example, "On Death Row."
When everyone's done, the judge has to pick which of the Dates they think is the best. It's not easy and there's plenty of laughs to be had!
7. Joking Hazard
I fondly remember the days when I used to read Cyanide and Happiness comics during class trips to the computer lab. These offensive-but-hilarious cartoons get even funnier in game form.
Gather a group of three or more friends and deal out seven cards that each have a portion of a Cyanide and Happiness comic on them. A different player assumes the role of judge every round.
The judge flips over a card from the main pile, revealing part of a comic. If the border of the card is black, the judge places one of their own cards to either side of the flipped card to start (or end) the comic.
The other players must choose the best card they have to complete the story. Whomever the judge thinks has the wackiest end or start to the comic wins the round.
6. Truth Bombs
Produced by popular YouTubers Dan and Phil, Truth Bombs gives you the means to roast all of your friends.
To set up the game, flip over the question cards and pass out a target sheet to each player. Players write their names at the top of the sheet, then pass it to their left.
When a player receives their friend's sheet, they'll choose one question to answer about the target, such as "How would they survive a zombie apocalypse?" After a player answers one question, the sheet gets passed around until all of the questions get answered.
The owner of the sheet then chooses their favorite answer and tries to guess who wrote it. If they guess right, both the target and the person who wrote the response get a point.
Depending on how nice or not nice your friends are, the answers can get quite cruel—so prepare to rage. The person who gains the most points (and enemies) wins the game.
5. Balderdash
Balderdash is a classic old-school game where everyone's trying to come up with the definition for a real word—except these are obscure words that none of you will have ever heard of.
One player picks a word from the deck, then everyone has to write their own definition for that word. Players anonymously turn in their definitions, which are mixed in with the actual definition.
Then, everyone tries to guess which one is the real definition. If you pick the right one, you get a point! But you also get a point for each other player who thinks yours is the real definition.
Balderdash is always a fun time, whether you're playing with the family or with your friends—and in the latter case, you can all get as weird, funky, and adult with your answers as you like.
4. Debatable
Debatable is the perfect game for people who like to argue—especially those who love playing Devil's Advocate in random arguments.
Every round, two players are chosen to debate a topic. The topic could be as silly as "Wouldn't it be cool to be a dragon?" or as serious as "Should criminals be punished even harder?"
One person argues FOR while the other argues AGAINST. When they're done, everyone else casts their votes to choose a winner.
Debatable is a "hot seat" type game, so it may not go over well in groups with people who freeze under pressure or just can't handle the stress of presenting arguments.
However, for natural debaters, Debatable is an intense game that has equal moments of heated arguments and gut-busting laughter.
3. Funemployed
Funemployed is a party game where you're ultimately trying to bluff your way through a job interview.
Every round, players interview for a random job position. Players are also dealt a set of random qualifications that may or may not have any relevance to the job in question—and that's the whole point!
The goal of Funemployed is to roleplay and improvise. You want to convince the other players why you're the best person for the job by creatively explaining why your qualifications are a good fit.
For example, maybe you're interviewing for the job of Secret Agent and your qualifications are Bipolar, Shady, X-Ray Vision, and Passive Aggressive. How are these relevant? Well, that's up to you!
2. Say Anything
On the surface, Say Anything is a simple game: the judge picks one of the open-ended questions on a card, everyone else submits an answer, and the judge picks their favorite. But there's a twist: betting!
Say Anything isn't just a game about trying to write the most favorable answer, but also about trying to guess which answer the judge will find most favorable once all answers are submitted.
Yes, you get a point if the judge likes your answer. But you also get points if other players think the judge will like your answer. And if the judge does like your answer, everyone who betted on it gets a point.
All of this adds an extra layer of depth that makes Say Anything stand out as one of the best alternatives to Cards Against Humanity. It's just as light and fun, but there's an actual game here, too!
1. Snake Oil
In Snake Oil, players are competing to be the ultimate snake oil salesman. What's a snake oil salesman? Someone who peddles the most suspicious goods by making all kinds of false promises.
Every round, one player is the Customer. Everyone else is an Inventor who combines two cards from their hand to create a product: Remote Tongue, Island Joy, Beard Armor, Money House, etc.
The Inventors take turns pitching their products to the Customer and explaining why they should buy it. The Customer chooses which one they like best and rewards the Inventor with a Customer Card. Whoever amasses the most Customer Cards wins!
Snake Oil is a creative game of improvisation, presentation, and inventiveness. Even if you never sell a single product, it's just hilarious to see what everyone comes up with and how they sell their goods.
