The Metagame

About this board game

The Metagame is a culture-focused card game for 2–50 players, with a listed play time of 45 minutes. It invites players to share, defend, and compare opinions about music, movies, art, fashion, food, videogames, and more.

The deck contains two kinds of cards. Culture Cards feature recognizable cultural objects or icons, from the Mona Lisa to Ms. Pac-Man. Opinion Cards pose prompts such as “Which feels like first love?” or “Best reminder of our mortality?”

Different formats emphasize different ways to play. Some focus on discussion and debate, while others add ordering, card-management, or strategic challenges. The listed games include:

• Matchmakers: match culture cards with the right opinion cards.
• History 101: arrange everything in chronological order.
• Debate Club: argue for your amusing opinion before the critics.
• Head to Head: race to get your cards out first.
• Massively Multiplayer Metagame: designed for large parties and events.
• Metaquilt: combine strategy with discussion.

Questions can lead to surprising comparisons, such as whether Fox News or the rainbow flag is more fundamentally misunderstood. The broad range of cultural references makes each session an opportunity to see familiar subjects in a new way.

The Metagame is designed for a variety of social settings, from small groups to large gatherings. The supplied Kickstarter contents list 200 Culture Cards, 100 Opinion Cards, and seven unique games, while the description specifically names six formats.