Here's Why You Need To Play What Do You Meme? At Your Next Party

Possibly the only party game you can play with everyone from your meme-obsessed friend to your (cool) grandma. I know, because I've played it with both.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that any gathering of three or more people warrants breaking out a board game at some point.

NBC

Board games are amazing, and I'm not just saying this as a Very Competitive Person — they're great for all different kinds of groups, and offer a low-stress opportunity to bond with family and friends new and old alike.

But it's hard to find the right game! There's never been a game of Monopoly that didn't cause at least five screaming matches, Scrabble requires too much thinking, Jenga is stressful, and no one is ever gonna want to learn all the rules to Catan, Steve.

What's a young, hip, internet-savvy board game enthusiast to do, then?

Well, let me introduce you to What Do You Meme?, the perfect entertainment solution for your chill hangs — and basically any other social gatherings you can think of.

amazon.com

A copy of this game has been floating around my apartment for more than a year now (I'm genuinely not sure who owns it — it may be haunting us), and it's saved multiple parties in its time. It's a great group activity for the beginning of a hang, when everyone's a little awkward and people are still trickling in. You can pick it up in no time, and it gets everyone laughing and on the same level.

To play, one person (who we'll call the judge) first picks out a card with an image of a meme on it; then everyone else anonymously passes in a caption card. The judge reads all the options, then picks out the best (or simply their favorite) caption, and whoever submitted the caption wins that round. Everyone rotates through being the judge, and whoever has the most winning captions at the end is the winner. When does the end happen? I'm so glad you asked: According to the official instructions, "Play until you're hungry, at which point stop playing and order a pizza."

But this isn't just a game for awkward millennials at a party. Oh, no — you can play this with lots of groups of people.

amazon.com

It works equally as well with people you've known for a long time, like, say, your family. This game was brought along on my family's annual beach trip this year, and I was initially nervous, but we had a blast. There are still some things I wish I didn't know my grandma knew, and there were a few cards that were hard to read in front of my mom, but the mutual embarrassment is kind of part of the fun, honestly. If your family is all adults, or if there are kids that go to sleep early, this is for you — it's probably not a great choice to play with younger teens, though. This game is solidly 17+.

You probably noticed that the gameplay is a lot like both Apples to Apples and Cards Against Humanity, so I'll use those two as points of comparison. On an imaginary Offensiveness Scale, where Apples to Apples is a 1 and Cards Against Humanity is a 10, I'd put What Do You Meme? somewhere around an 8. It's maybe a little heavier on the sex-based jokes, but definitely has less of the ~anti-PC edgy comedy~ stuff that I find a little tiring about CAH — to put it bluntly, you might see more jokes about cum, but you aren't gonna get any about 9/11 or the Holocaust. Personally, I think this makes for a better party game, but YMMV here.

Amazon reviewers love it too! And they have some stories, y'all.

Amazon, amazon.com

"Had our neighbors over for a quick game while my toddler napped. We literally couldn’t stop playing and didn’t end up quitting until we had exhausted every single meme in the stack, 2.5 hours later. There were many times the judge couldn’t finish reading a card because we couldn’t breathe from laughing so hard! Definitely recommend." —RRNMCW

"I bought this game for my hilarious family. I brought it over to my parents' house (I am 32) and played with them and my boyfriend. We had a few glasses of vino and started to play. The directions are super easy and there is zero assembly. After a few rounds, we were in stitches. My mom played the dirtiest cards and my boyfriend was rolling on the floor laughing. Needless to say, everyone is getting one of these AND the extension packs for Christmas. GET THIS GAME!" —lindsay mitchell

"I bought this for my boyfriend for his birthday and we were extremely excited to play. My family has a good sense of humor and loves to play games so we decided to play with them. I regret everything. I'm extremely competitive and knew that a card would win, so I played it knowing my father would be reading it aloud. As he was looking through the played cards, he instantly doubles over because he's laughing so hard. Soon tears form in his eyes. I know at this point he had read my card. Full. Of. Regret. But I needed to win. Finally after some breathing exercises he starts to announce the cards, meanwhile I'm hiding behind my boyfriend because I do not want to hear him say the words, 'When you're hitting it raw, and she says, "Cum in me, daddy."' Other than that, this game is hilarious." PS: I won that round." —Amazon Customer

It's also great to re-play, thanks to alllllll the expansion packs you can get. If you're into something, they've probably made an expansion pack for it.

Amazon

There are some more basic expansion packs, that just contain more, newer memes, like the Fresh Memes Expansion Pack #1 ($12) and the Fresh Memes Expansion Pack #2 ($12). You can also find ones based on your interests, like the Basic Bitch Expansion Pack ($10) and the Stoner Expansion Pack ($10) — reviewers particularly rave about the Basic Bitch pack. And if you've got a pop-culture interest, they've got a pack for you too: everything from Game of Thrones ($13) to Mean Girls ($13) and the Real Housewives ($13) to Rick and Morty ($13). Adding an expansion pack or two will totally revitalize your deck, and let you play over and over (and over and over...)

Get it from Amazon for $30. Thank me later.

Amazon

Reviews have been edited for length and/or clarity.

Want to shop more fun stuff? Look no further:

32 Things That’ll Make You Say, “Why Don’t I Own That Already?”

26 Things That Totally Belong On Your Birthday Wish List

28 Things That Will Give You Instant Heart Eyes

32 Random Products Our Readers Loved In 2018

Looking for the perfect gift for any occasion? Check out all of BuzzFeed’s gift guides!

Allison Krausman / BuzzFeed