Preview: Get to Know Friends, Family, or Strangers in It's Kind of a Fun Story

What is the best costume you ever put together? Would you like to know if a friend ever had an experience with the supernatural?

In this storytelling party game currently on Kickstarter, players tell stories, compete to best fit card descriptions, and sometimes steal cards from one another, in a bid to get to know each other and win!

Gameplay

Each player takes one 'nope' card and two 'hear me out' cards. The deck is then shuffled, placed in the center of the table, and ten 'take a chance' cards are placed beside it.

On your turn you draw a card and follow its instructions. There are four types of cards. The story cards are worth two points, while the others are all worth one.

When you draw a story card, you must answer the question on the card, such as 'what was your least favorite job?' or 'who was your arch-nemesis growing up?'. If for some reason you do not wish or do not have a story for the card, you may skip it and draw a new card. Another player may take a skipped card to answer on his turn rather than drawing a new one if he wishes.

If you are the only one who answered the story card, you place it in your score pile. However, a player may discard a 'hear me out' card if she also wishes to tell a story for the prompt. Players then vote on who should win the card. If you have already used your 'hear me out' cards, you may place a 'take a chance' card into your score pile instead, in order to answer another player's story card. These are worth negative one point.

The left or right cards require you to decide which player on either side of you best fits the description on the card. The 'point a finger' card requires everyone to vote on who best fits the description. Finally, for the 'everybody answers' card, each player gives a brief answer to the prompt or question and then votes on who wins the card.

If, during a story, the topic ever veers into territory you are not comfortable with, you simply hold up your nope card, and the story immediately ends. There is no penalty and the current player simply draws a new card. Nope cards are not meant to be used in any competitive fashion, and are simply there to keep everyone comfortable with the game content.

When a player wins a card they place it in their scoring pile. The first player to reach a certain number of points wins the game.

Review

It’s Kind of a Fun Story is a simple game that is a good meeting point between ice breaker and something you can play with friends you already know pretty well, as many of the stories you’re asked to relate are more unusual ones that you might not already know about each other.

The ability cards are a clever edition, with the nope cards ensuring that everyone at the table will feel comfortable, and the 'take a chance' and steal cards ensuring you never feel regretful that you didn’t draw a particular card, while also adding a comparative twist to the storytelling.

There are a number of cards based on adult themes, although in the final version of the game these will apparently be marked so that you can easily remove them for a more family-friendly game. Still, some of the cards where you have to vote who best fits a description may make some players uncomfortable, as well.

It’s Kind of a Fun Story is a game of learning unusual things about your friends and some funny situations. It’s got a very casual flow to the game and there are various suggested variants (a timer to keep the game moving or a casual mode without scoring) to tailor the game to your group.

It would be easy to pull out It’s Kind of a Fun Story and play a round or two at a party, as the game length is quite flexible. Its content may not be for everyone, but the design choices of the cards ensure that this is a nicely put-together ice breaker game. Check it out on Kickstarter!

Pros: Ability cards, range of prompts, flexibility of game length

Cons: Some content may be off-putting for some players

Disclosure: this preview is based on our evaluation of an unpublished prototype of the game, which is subject to change prior to publication. While a modest payment was received to expedite the review process, our thoughts and opinions expressed here are honest and accurate.