AhHereNow will have you roaring with laughter ahead of St. Patrick's Day
Editor's Note: As of March 2020, AhHereNow is sold out online, but the game's creators have provided a free download to print out a version you can play at home. Note - only for 18 years and older!
Read More St. Patrick's Day stories on IrishCentral here
The below was published in 2016 when AhHereNow was first launched:
Irish and Irish American fans of the widely favored party game Cards Against Humanity will be very excited to hear that a group of friends in Ireland has developed a strictly Irish take on the game.
If by some chance you haven’t been forced to play Cards Against Humanity at almost every single house party you've been to, here’s how it works. One player picks a fill-in-the-blanks card (i.e. “For my next trick, I will pull ______ out of ______” and the others select typically hilarious, sometimes offensive cards from their hands to fill in those blanks (i.e. Helen Keller, Altar boys, My inner demons, A disappointing birthday party, Fingerpainting).
AhHereNow, which offers specifically Irish questions and answers in much the same set-up, is billed as an irreverent card game that pokes fun at Irish society.
The game is the brainchild of Simon Flaherty and a bunch of his friends who enjoyed Cards Against Humanity but thought Irish society and humor presented an unmissable opportunity for a more niche version.
“The game was written by me and a few friends, who are all native Southern Irish twenty-somethings: couple of guys, couple of girls; some Dubs, some culchies; some who'd done stints abroad, some who hadn't,” Flaherty told IrishCentral.
Read More: When a shirtless St. Patrick’s Day ad was deemed too hot by Irish parade organizers
Now, as the AhHereNow team has seen an enthusiastic response from the market in Ireland, they’re looking to break into the diaspora.
With the model of the game set up to go, they began crowd-funding with Kickstarter, but they were surprised to see interest from beyond Ireland.
“To be honest, we didn't think it would have much appeal outside of Ireland, we thought most of the stuff would go over people's heads,” Flaherty told IrishCentral.
“Since we've announced we've been getting loads of queries from the US, UK, Canada, Australia etc: and not just from expats, but from 1st and 2nd (and beyond) generation Irish, even some people with no Irish background who are just curious about Irish culture.
“So we shared the digital copies with these people, fully expecting that they wouldn't get it. But the response back has been really positive.”
Interestingly, they found that many of the cards were very relatable to the diaspora audience, and are still very interested to see what the reaction will be like among Irish Americans and later generation Irish around the world.
“We definitely touch on topics like emigration; American tourists; military aircraft landing in Shannon. But it's hard to say what would strike a chord with someone who grew up in Ireland and lives in the US, versus someone who's 2nd generation Irish-American or an American who has spent time in Ireland as an adult,” he said.
Seems perfect for St. Patrick's Day!
Not sure you want to spend the green on AhHereNow? The founders have kindly shared a digital version which is free to download - check it out here!
You can check out some Irish people testing out AhHereNow (caution, some colorful language ahead...)
*Originally published in 2016, updated in March 2020
Have you played AhHereNow? Tell us about it in the comments!
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