Whenever a cultural event happens, someone makes bingo cards for it.
But I've always been frustrated that, for the most part, there's not any real variation in the cards. I've even seen situations where everyone has the same exact card, and it's just a case of who's paying the most attention, or shouts out the fastest.
As someone who's been writing code since I was seven, I know this isn't a hard problem to solve. So, having a spare weekend because of, well, *waves arms*, I figured why not solve it?
This is the result. Like a lot of my projects, I spent 25% of my time writing code, and 75% trying to make it look pretty. Which it really doesn't. But you're here, aren't you?
You will notice when you play the game that there are answers that you won't agree with. There are some that might make you angry.
While I don't want to make anyone angry, I did intentionally include answers that people won't agree with. I don't agree with a lot of the ones in here, and I wrote them.
So why include them? Two reasons.
First, this is supposed to be about what we're all going through. So the answers try to reflect that.
There's no way that Bill Gates is planting a chip in a Covid-19 vaccine. There just isn't, dont @me.
But you knew exactly what I was talking about when I said that, didn't you?
For better or worse, thinking like that is part of our universal zeitgeist right now. So answers like that are in the game, if for no other reason than for you to feel slightly smug that you don't hold that opinion.
The other reason they're in there? To make it harder to win.
It would have been easy to put together a card that listed 25 things that all of us have experienced since March.
It would also have no replay value.
So yes, some of those controversial cards are in just to keep you from winning every time you load a new board. Consider it one more reason to curse the people who use a mask as a chin strap.
Finally, and on a more serious note, it's hard to make a game about a deadly world-wide pandemic without talking about things that might upset people.
While I want this to be fun, I also wanted to reflect the reality of life since March, and that includes things like politics, activism, and illness.
If all you want is to answer silly questions about how long your hair is, and how your pet interrupted your sales meeting, choose the Wholesome answers only option. I did my best to keep those family-friendly and non-controversial.
On the other hand, if you're the type to play Cards Against Humanity at a wake and make every round about the deceased, strap on a helmet and choose Hurt me.
(Even Hurt me is still PG-13)
Nope.
Oh, you were expecting a longer response? Ok: everything takes place on your device. Nothing is sent back to the server. I've got Google Analytics on the page so I can see how much traffic it's getting, but that's it.
Yes, part of me would love to gather statistics and all that. But privacy and sites melting and what have you.
So go ahead, tap that Gates is using the vaccine to track us all. Your secret is safe.
You don't. Yes, there are probably typos, bugs, content offensive to rhinos, or you have the BEST idea for an answer. Maybe someday I'll add a form for that. But not today.
Finally, if you do discover that the game brought up emotions that you might not have been ready for, or made you realize that you were engaging in behavior that you want to change, here are some resources for you:
Yup. And for the lolz. Do kids still say that? Don't /r/fellowkids me. It's ironic or something.
I did try to set this up to be as low-cost as possible, but servers still cost money. So if you wanna throw a coin to your programmer, here's a button.
But if you really want to help, tell someone about Dresses With Pockets— www.dresseswithpockets.com. Ideally, someone with about 30M followers.
It's a web site that tries to take the pain out of finding stuff with pockets. Real pockets. Over 10 thousand items from over 50 manufacturers. International parters. Skorts. You know you need some skorts with pockets.
Everyone seems to want pockets, but no one seems to know about the site, so maybe help me fix that?
You always had the power my dear. It's called the back button.
Fine, click here to go back to the game.