By Megan Sayles,
AFRO Business Writer,
msayles@afro.com
The world of Black-owned tabletop games is not just about providing fun. Black game creators provide a refreshing break from what the mainstream has to offer.
They draw on the culture and collective experience of the Black community, whether with conversation starters or trivia competitions. When planning your next celebration or get-together with friends and family, consider picking up one of the Black-owned card games below to get the party started.
Hella Awkward
Brittane Rowe founded Awkward Games alongside her brother, Brandon Rowe, and his girlfriend, Jane Lim, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Brittane Rowe was quarantining alone in Harlem, while Brandon Rowe and Lim hunkered down in Brooklyn. The trio often used Facetime to cope with the isolation. During their calls, they began having deep discussions about their childhoods and life experiences.
“A lot of Black and Brown people have similar experiences where our communities do not encourage us to be vulnerable and dive into stuff that can feel really uncomfortable,” said Brittane Rowe. “We started creating a list of questions that had come up in our conversations.”
The hundreds of questions ultimately turned into Hella Awkward, a conversation-starter game meant to foster more meaningful connections between people. The questions are broken down into four categories: relationships, dating, sex and real talk. One player starts the game by choosing a card that they and the rest of the group answer, and they continue taking turns until they want to stop the game. Each player receives one skip card should the question feel “hella awkward.”
“We have such a fun, eclectic mix of questions,” said Brittane Rowe. “It’s important because these are real life experiences that all of us go through, and I think it’s great to talk openly about those things.”
Hella Awkward is available online, on Amazon and in various Target, Urban Outfitters, Macy’s and Walmart stores. Its Hella Black pack, a collaboration with The Shade Room, donates 10 percent of proceeds to small, Black-owned businesses.
Lyrically Correct
Cousins Donte Jones and Juelz Rhodes created this music trivia game with their high school sweethearts, Tiffany Jones and Nikki Rhodes in 2020. While scrolling through social media, Nikki Rhodes saw a post that inspired the concept for the game. The Rhodes then called on the Jones to help them formulate a business plan, as Donte Jones spent 10 years in business banking and Tiffany Jones had experience in wholesaling and marketing.
Lyrically Correct tests players’ knowledge on the lyrics of popular songs across genres like 90s and 2000s hip-hop and R&B; gospel; 80s pop, funk and hip-hop; and 60s and 70s music. The game is available online, on Amazon and in Target stores across the country.
“A lot of times, we can think of a million obstacles that will prevent us from doing what we want to do,” said Donte Jones. “Whether it’s something you want to create or something you want to sell, just do it and figure out the rest later.”
PO’ UP! Card Game
Georgia native Lizz Rene never intended to become a game maker. She studied public relations at the University of Georgia, and upon graduation, relocated to Washington D.C. Many of the friends she made during undergrad remained in Georgia, but during the holidays, they gathered to catch up and play games.
Brittane Rowe is the creator of PO’ UP! Card Game, which allows Black students to celebrate and connect over their college experiences. (Courtesy of PO’UP!)
“One year, I wanted to come up with an icebreaker activity to switch things up, so I wrote some note cards down with nostalgic questions about our time at UGA,” said Rene. “What was supposed to be a 15-minute icebreaker ended up taking the whole party.”
One of Rene’s best friends liked the concept so much, she encouraged Rene to turn it into a business. In 2020, she did just that. PO’ UP! Card Game enables players to relive their college days and celebrate Black excellence. Each card in the game is a prompt or open-ended question centered on the Black student experience, and Rene intentionally made the game inclusive for students from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and predominantly White institutions (PWIs). The cards are broken into 11 categories, including Black at a PWI, HBCU Pride, College Broke, Nostalgia, Greek Life and Proud Black Grad, and they indicate which players must PO’ UP!
“It’s not a trivia game. It’s not about right or wrong answers. It’s about giving you the feeling of being back in your college experience,” said Rene. “For those who are still in college, it’s about being able to celebrate and connect over shared experiences.”
PO’ UP! Card Game is available online and in several retailers across D.C., Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, New York, Missouri, Louisiana, Colorado and Georgia.
Megan Sayles is a Report For America corps member.
