Hey all, I’m back on my BS with another crazy card game that just launched on Kickstarter today!

Hot Garbage is a strategic, punchy card game for people who like burning things and causing mayhem. Ignite your burn pits and torch card for points, but watch out; your opponent(s) will try to stop you by any means necessary!

This mischievous 54-card game supports 2 or 4 players (in teams) and takes between 15-30 minutes to play.

Here’s a quick teaser trailer (guest starring my cats Nuggie and Seamus):

MY FIRST DESIGN REVISITED

I’ve Kickstarted and released several other weird tabletop games, including The Blessed Dark and MINDBURNERS, but Hot Garbage is actually the first proper physical card game I ever started designing.

It has been percolating for a year and a half or so, originally starting out as an unwieldy, bloated 160+ card nightmare! Gahhh! One thing I’ve learned from making physical games is that more isn’t always better (and more also costs a LOT more to manufacture and ship).

The first iteration used a lot of the same mechanics, but it was slow, a bit overcomplicated, and didn’t quite click. So I put it on the shelf and let it sit for a bit while working on other projects.

Over the course of the last year and a half, I’ve revisited it a few times: cutting down to 90 cards then eventually trimming it down to a tiny micro 18 card game and deciding to make EVERY card be playable in 4 different ways.

That was the AHA moment. With each card having multiple ways to be played, it really opened up player options while also cutting down on unnecessary cards and overhead manufacturing costs.

But given the nature of the game, where players are often flinging abilities and counters back and forth every other round or so, 18 cards required too much deck reshuffling and a smaller hand size. It felt too limiting. So I bumped the card count to 36, which felt better, but ultimately it was the ultra sweet spot of 54 cards — where the game is now, that feels the best.

I added goofy new abilities, a few more ways to score points to accelerate matches, and a fun two-headed-giant 4 player mode.

And now here we are: I’m super proud to have this very refined, punchy and strategic version of a game I wasn’t sure I was ever going to finish and launch. It’s live on Kickstarter RIGHT NOW, and I’d love your support!

Tell your peeps! Thanks so much!