ZYRUP reviews Limpeh Says, the highly anticipated local version of the notorious card game Cards Against Humanity. How does it compare to the original?
When Singapore’s version of hit party game Cards Against Humanity was introduced, I was intrigued, though a little skeptical. After all, most Singaporean versions of Western entertainment have been mediocre at best. Case in point: see Wheel of Fortune Singapore and the cringe-fest that was Minute to Win It: Singapore. Yeah, you get what I’m saying. Can a local version of the offensive and politically incorrect Cards Against Humanity thrive in stereotypically inoffensive and politically correct Singapore?
However, what I did see seemed promising, so I rounded up a bunch of friends (with the promise of free beer and invaluable company) to try it out. After all, if you’re going to boldly proclaim that your game combines “the [souls] of Amos Yee and Donald Trump [together] in a card game”, you can be sure as hell I’ll give it a go.
Named Limpeh Says (which translates to “My Father Says” in local dialect Hokkien, though it really means “I Say”), it promises the same no-holds-barred fun factor of the original game, with a local twist. Think Singaporean references like “using tissue paper to chope tables” and “underage Ah Lians”. According to game creator Tan Yong Heng, Limpeh Says is also more intimate and personal. Expect questions in the game that will refer directly to the players themselves. These include prompts like “How did the person on your left lose his/her virginity?” Colour me excited.
Limpeh Says is exactly what you would expect from a proudly Singaporean edition of the game. The biggest difference between the two? How relevant Limpeh Says is. The American-based original falls short when none of us Singaporean players understand the American references in the game. (“This Maury is who ah?”)
Conversely, the local lingo and distinctively Singaporean references in Limpeh Says injected a much needed sense of relatability into the game, which in turn made it more engaging (and funny) all around. When even your most ang moh pai (Hokkien for “Westernized”) friends start swearing in dialect, you know that the creator succeeded in producing a truly Singaporean game. While the original game has a distinctive monochromatic colour palette, the local version comes in — what else? — red and white. Otherwise, Limpeh Says follows the same, familiar fill-in-the-blank format of Cards Against Humanity.
For a product borne out of a school assignment, the quality of the game set is rather impressive. After 4 rounds of tests (and a kiasi trip to the lawyer’s to make sure nothing is out of line), 20-year-old Tan (who is a full-time graphic design student at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts) is finally ready to launch the game – and it shows. I sure hope his professor gave him an ‘A’ grade for this assignment. If this doesn’t do well, I’m not sure what will. #spoilmarket
In short? Yes, limpeh says Limpeh Says is tok kong (“superb” in Hokkien) and sibei worth your Yusof Ishaks.
Contrary to several reports online, 22 December 2016 marks the beginning of the crowdfunding campaign, not the actual sale date. Fret not, however, as the team (which includes Project Manager and Play Nation co-owner Gabriel Leow) expects to ship orders out by March 2017.
As with most crowdfunding campaigns, Limpeh Says follows a rewards-based model, with varying tiers of incentives available to backers. This includes the “Special 1-Set” tier, which boasts twenty custom cards of choice, which will also feature the patron’s name. (Eh got name some more leh, who don’t want?)
Check out the Kickstarter campaign here.
For more information on Limpeh Says, visit their Facebook page and their website.
Update: We can confirm that Tan received an ‘A’ grade for this project. Swee lah!
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