Kickstarter Alert: ‘What the What?!’ Is a Party Game About Pitching Peculiar Patents With Passion[#ad]

Every inventor is one pitch session away from changing the world with their imagination, and every investor is one pitch session away from changing their tax bracket with their savvy. In the new party game What the What?! (now live on Kickstarter and funded in the first 8 hours, looking for their next stretch goal) players get to make their most serious, sassy, or hilarious product pitches, based on actual patents, to an investor.

From rocking-chair bathtubs to bungie-belts, people have patented some pretty crazy (and amazing) things over the years, most of which never actually made it to market, let along made their inventors famous. What the What?! takes examples of those inventions and turns them into a classic rotating judge party game for 3-10 players. Each turn, the illustration of a crazy invention is turned up for the Inventors to see and pitch based either on pitch cards they hold in their hands or their own inspiration, with one player taking the role of Investor to listen to and pass judgement on. The Investor picks the best pitch (based on whatever criteria they want), reads the truth about the invention, and points are awards (including special points for anyone who actually figures out what the invention is). The Investor role rotates until one player has reached a points goal to win the game. You can see the full game instructions, plus alternate variantgames you can play with the cards, here.

The campaign has six levels. You can get the base game, which includes 55 invention cards and 275 pitch prompt cards, for just $30. You can also get the special NSFW decks with 15 additional risqué invention cards and 80 adults-only pitch prompt cards at $45. There are add-ons for a digital booklet, and a special high-quality box (with embossed gold foil!). And at the highest level, you can get your own image turned into an invention card you can add to your deck.

The core game of What the What?! is a fun family-friendly party game for people who are into science, technology, history, and inventions. Every invention was researched by historians and archivists from The Smithsonian and White House Historical Association and the pitch prompt cards were co-created with professional comedy writers from Chicago’s esteemed Second City.

The What the What?! campaign is now live on Kickstarter. Knowing that we’re almost back to being able to do in person game nights again, now’s the time to start building out your library with new games!