About this project
The Pen island Game
$8,292
132
Hey, Welcome to Pen island! Start with our video up top, then read on.
"It's the love-child between a bunch of great party games, a mobile app, and Jumanji" says guy who uses the term "love-child"
"Effing Hilarrrious" says girl who claims to be like, really funny
"The most essential addition to any party since the Jock Jams CD" says dude who just woke up from a 20-year coma
If we had to sum up The Pen island Game in one word, it'd be something like: "The-Kitchen-Sink-of-Provocative-Entertainment-That-Will-Erect-Any-Feeble-Gathering-To-a-Rad-Tropical-Party"...alright so we don't have Trump-level knowledge of the best words, but the point is that we basically created a new genre. A bit like Frankenstein, this is a sinister mashup of many things:
- Only the great aspects of your favorite party games (no boring filler, no ambiguous rules)
- The convenience of a phone app (no more fooling around with a half-lost deck of sticky cards)
- Absurd/raunchy/uncomfortable humor reminiscent of Cards Against Humanity (but always kept fresh with frequent updates)
- Unconventional uses of social media that weave into the game itself
- Nostalgic throwbacks to the glory days
- And most importantly, the sweet satisfaction of screwing over your friends with some really ridiculous shit when on Pen island
So in other words, this is way more than just a party game...or a board game...or an app. It's the lubricant to start your night off with a bang. It's the remedy for your girlfriend's lame get-together. And it's the after-party go-to that will set the mood to weird.
How To Play
Like most board games, you roll some dice and attempt to reach the climactic Finish (hoping that it's not by way of Pen island...the land for terrible members of the game). Unlike most board games, there's an app that one player will have on their phone which will facilitate the action and tell you what to do. No annoying rule book and no cumbersome deck of cards...it's all in the app and on the board.
Some spaces are micro-games for the whole group, some spaces require a bit of improv/role play, and some spaces (mostly on Pen island) are crazy tasks that must be completed. As the game progresses, these things begin to pile on top of each other to create absurd and hilarious scenarios.
A few examples (zoom in to read):
After you pledge your support, follow us on Instagram to see a full description of all 44 spaces in the game: @pen.islandgame
Intrigued Right? Here's How This Works...
Think of it like a pre-sale.
Kickstarter works through pledging and rewards. By pledging an amount at one of the levels to the right, you will receive the associated reward. So if you pledge just $20 or more, you will get the actual game!
The catch is that we must hit our funding goal of a measly $8K. If we don't hit our goal, we don't make the boards, and your credit card never gets charged.
This means there is zero risk on your end! It also means that we need your support in order to make anything actually happen!
Why We Need Your Help
Turns out making cool stuff is expensive. And kind of difficult. And expensive.
By contributing to this project, you are helping to cover some of the many costs that go into bringing it to life on a bigger scale. You're in on the ground floor and you will have the opportunity to help us refine and produce the highest quality version of the game that we can (aka legit upgrades to the app).
Perhaps the coolest thing about all this is its ability to evolve and get even better. Over the course of this Kickstarter campaign, we want you to help us brainstorm more ideas to be used in the app and hopefully even crowdsource entire new spaces! Follow us on social media to become a part of the innovation process.
But like we said above, the only way all this becomes a reality is if we hit our funding goal. We need all the help we can get with promoting on social media, blogs, and through word of mouth.
The more people who see this page, the higher its chance of success. Please share!
Like a modest caterpillar becoming a vibrant butterfly, the game has undergone a metamorphosis from its early days. From NYC to Dallas to LA, each new iteration of the game has spawned more and more ridiculous elements. Friends shared with friends and before we knew it, the game had become an underground cult hit.
Thus, we have been trying to figure out a way to share it with an even larger audience for a few years now. We knew people were clearly bored with the worn-out, monotonous games that were barely fun decades ago (let alone today). We had something fresh, exciting, and novel that would solve so many of the problems plagued by the usual stale table games.
But like so many potentially great ideas that never actually come to fruition, the concept sat collecting dust in the sad closet of "Man, we gotta make this a real thing...".
Then one day in late 2015, Brett decided that he had had enough of the corporate grind and was ready to try something more outside the box prior to attending grad school. After learning that he was unconditionally unqualified to join the circus, he settled on pursuing his other early childhood dream of creating a party game. His roommate Rich Young (a former strategy consultant turned commercial real estate tycoon), also shared this lofty goal. After recruiting a few more eager friends, they began making a plan to turn the slightly crude game drawn on a poster board into a legit, full-fledged party game.
And then POOF, The Pen island Game emerged out of thin air.*
*Following a TON of bad ideas, a tremendous amount of work, and countless hours of frustration trying to figure out how the hell to build an app without having any coding experience.
Our mission has always been simple: Do excellent work. Have fun in the process. Deliver an awesome experience to others.
If those things all happen, we believe this is a success no matter what.
About Us
Many have taken their talents to Pen island but the members of the Dream Team below have taken their respective skill sets to new heights to get us to where we are today:
- Will - Creative Strategy; Photography; OG Founding Father
- Tim - Creative Strategy; OG Founding Father
- Holden - Creative Producer/Editor; Founding Father
- Andrew - Creative Content
- Isaiah - Creative Content
- Mike - Social Media Strategist; Founding Father
- Kyle - Social Media Strategist
- Chris - Cinematography
- Eric - Founding Father
- Christiaan - Founding Father
- Andrew - Founding Father
- Tommy - OG Founding Father
- Chris - OG Founding Father
This is just the beginning...
Risks and challenges
We are just as excited as you are to get this game released into the wild. Thus, we already have everything set to make this happen as soon as we hit our goal.
We've been professional problem solvers for many years and will do everything in our power to ship as soon as possible. The only thing we ask is to please afford us a little patience in the event of unforeseen kinks. We don't anticipate there will be much (if any), but our number one priority is to give you the best possible version of this game.
***This game is intended for those 21+ years of age only. Please party responsibly.***
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE, WE TRULY APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT!
Learn about accountability on KickstarterFAQ
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Our goal was to make something durable, vibrant, and portable. The "boards" are a waterproof matte vinyl with high quality printing. They can easily be rolled into a tube for storage and then immediately lay flat when unrolled on a table.
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No worries, we will get an updated address from everyone right before we are ready to ship!
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Thanks! Our video was made by Holden Barnes - holden.barnes@gmail.com; Photography shot by Will Langenberg - wlangenberg7@gmail.com
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We recommend between 3 & 10, although 6-7 seems to be the sweet spot.
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Typically 45 minutes to an hour depending on the number of players.
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The app will be available on iTunes, Google Play, and as a web app. So if you don't want to download, you don't have to!
Also, we tested our app at a retirement community and they seemed to figure it out just fine. Not really, but we have faith in you.
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We have no idea what you're inferring.
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Funding period
- (27 days)