· By Rory Cockshaw
The World's First Adult Party Game for Vegans Just Launched!
You can literally buy the world's first adult party game for fun-lovin' vegans. Literally right there. Literally, like, right now.
(I just can't post it until the pre-order window has closed - but that's pretty soon, I swear! First postage on the 1st July.)
It's still a little incredible to me that this has really happened.
For those who aren't familiar, I'll give a brief run-down of the history of the idea behind this product - and of This Is Not A Game as a whole.
In August last year, my girlfriend and I played a fateful game of Monopoly that sparked an idea. I called the idea "Climatopoly" – a Monopoly-like game, except, rather than starting as cars and dogs and irons, players would start as activists or industrialists. Activists would move around rewilding the board while industrialists build it up.
The game was played through a sort of "tug of war" between these two opposing factions.
Chance Cards would be silly and climate-related, of course, with cards like "Just Stop Oil activists make you late for work; pay £50" and others.
If the industrialists won, everyone lost; if the activists won, everyone won. How fun!
I quickly grew to love the idea of creating games that helped to raise awareness for and enhance conversation around problems of climate change, animal rights, and veganism - topics that I'm passionate about in my day-to-day and professional life, too.
By September, I was brainstorming even more game ideas, and by October, I was heavily invested in researching, contacting, and sourcing quotes from parts suppliers.
I soon realized board games were expensive to produce, so in November, I pivoted to creating a vegan-themed card game instead. It was based loosely on Cards Against Humanity and other "fill-in-the-blank" adult party games, of which there is a giant ecosystem in the gaming world.
But there weren't any specifically for vegans. So I sought to change that.
December saw the first print-run, with my girlfriend, Issy, graciously printing them out at work (we had no printer) and bringing home for me to cut out (quite poorly, I might add).
In January, my mum and sister and I headed up to Scotland where our van broke down at a service station south of Glasgow. We waited there for 20 hours, entertained only by the poorly-cut-out game prototype that I had (thankfully) thought to pack.
It was, safe to say, pretty brilliant, despite being (literally) a little rough around the edges.
Inspired, I spent February developing a full business model and applying for a small business loan, because I saw the potential in the idea of Plants Against Veganity.
By March, the loan was approved. I got a vegan designer to work on the box for me, which was the best decision I've made so far: it looks wonderful!
I even contacted the British Pun Champion (a fellow vegan!) to consult with me on the game's silly sense of humour.
Then, all of a sudden, last week the first shipment of "Plants Against Veganity" arrived.
Like, actually arrived.
It's like expecting a child for 9 months and then having your child walk through the front door already fully grown.
It's been almost a year of hard work and quite a bit of debt so far, but it's been so totally worth it.
This month, the journey continues.
So go and pre-order Plants Against Veganity now!
Also, a mahoosive thank-you to everyone who has supported the journey so far, especially those who have pre-ordered. This really helps me to plan future print-runs and business expenditure ahead of time.
Speaking of the pre-orders, there are only 7 left. I put 50 up for sale just a week ago, and you lovely customers snapped up most of them in the first 24 hours.
For that, thank you!
And just to say: if you have an idea, pursue it and do everything you can to make it happen. It’s incredibly rewarding.