hand-made

hand-made is a card-based game that encourages connection and conversation within a group or gathering, especially between people who may not already know each other well. Players interact with each other by comparing, discussing, and trading their cards.

It’s great as an icebreaker, but it also creates opportunities for players to reflect on their own memories, identities, and experiences, and to practice sharing about themselves with others.

It’s one of a series of party games and facilitation tools that I’ve designed for the intended purpose of a social gathering, but is flexible and adaptable to a range of settings.

hand-made can help a group build trust and familiarize with each other, and infuse a sense of playfulness and whimsy. It’s a good fit for a space where you expect people to cluster with others they already know, and you want to encourage mingling.

The game can be played with or without a mechanism to motivate engagement, such as a points system where completing a hand awards a player with points that they can exchange for a prize. It also includes options for other goals, such as “Trade Star” where a player can earn points by trading with a specific number of people, or making other types of card hands.

Contact me if you’re interested in adapting this game for your own facilitated group gathering, party, or meeting!

hand-made: The basics

• A custom deck of cards (total number of unique cards is based on the expected player count multiplied by 3-4) — in the pilot, we had 90 unique cards for a gathering of about 30 people

• Each card includes a title, an image, and a Trading Action

• Each card represents some kind of life experience, identity, activity, or similar — like a mode of transport, an object related to a hobby, a location or regional establishment, a food or type of cuisine, etc.

• Players receive cards upon arriving to create their first hand

• The goal is to create a hand that reflects their own life experiences or resonances

• The only way to get new cards is by trading cards with others at the gathering

• To make a trade, players must each execute one of the Trading Actions on the two cards being traded

• The Trading Actions invite players to share with each other about their stories, meaning, opinions, and interpretations of the information on each card