Max Temkin and seven friends made Cards Against Humanity from construction paper in 2008, shared it free online, and watched thousands print copies. A 2011 Kickstarter raised $15,000 in two weeks. Joke boxes sold for $180,000 on Black Friday. The game now sells in 35 countries and generates over $50 million annually.
These 8 friends turned a silly party joke into a half-billion-dollar game empire. It was winter break of 2008, and Max Temkin and his childhood friends were back home in Chicago. Instead of playing a typical party game, they did something completely different. They started cutting up construction paper and wrote hilarious, shocking jokes, creating Cards Against Humanity, a brutally honest game full of dark humor that had everyone laughing uncontrollably. It was an instant hit in the friend circle, so they decided to take it to the world. But instead of selling it online traditionally, they they just uploaded it online for free, and thousands of people started printing it at home. Inspired by the response, they started a Kickstarter in 2011 and raised $15,000 in just 2 weeks. They kept the original online design, just black and white cards, to make their jokes stand out even more. They also did some funny, unusual things, like raising their prices as a joke on Black Friday, which oddly increased sales. They even sold limited stock joke boxes labeled Bullshit and made $180,000 from it. Today, Cards Against Humanity is a global hit, sold in 35 countries with 100 expansion packs, bringing in more than $50 million each year.
