How much money would you take to do a crazy dare? That’s the question posed by a new game called Pricetitution.
The card game, founded by Chicago ad executive Dan Killian, proposes oddball challenges to players, then asks how much money they would accept to complete the dare. Whoever guesses the closest to the amount of money the other player would take to do the dare wins.
“What’s at the core of the game is that absurd questions and ridiculous situations lead to real connections,” Killian said. “These kinds of questions are ever present, because we like to know each other’s limits. We like to know each other’s tipping point.”
After working on the project for 18 months, Killian launched a kickstarter campaign Tuesday and exceeded his $10,000 goal within the first day.
The game features 125 cards with tough questions aimed at assessing and guessing players’ limits. Players may, for example, be asked how much money it would take to tell a class of preschoolers that Santa isn’t real and their parents had the player’s contact information. Or they may ponder how much money would they accept to have a year taken off of their lifespan.
Thanks to a friend and former colleague who now works at Match.com, the game will be tested at an upcoming Match.com event. The company tested the game, liked it and decided to offer it an upcoming gathering. Attendees will split into small groups, play the game and, according to Killian, get more authentic insight into players’ personalities than they would through typical small-talk.
When the game was first created, Killian and his collaborators had to develop the prototypes by hand, which quickly became costly. The proceeds from the Kickstarter campaign will go toward hiring Panda Game Manufacturing to create about 3,000 sets. For now, Killian wants to sell Pricetitution directly through the website, but he’s open to partnering with Chicago stores that are interested in carrying the game.
To test the response to Pricetitution, Killian took prototypes of the game to Guthrie's Tavern, a Lakeview bar at which patrons can play board games. While working to turn Pricetitution from a idea to a reality, Killian enjoyed watching the eye-opening interactions between players.
“People love and respond to authenticity and that’s what this game brings out in people,” Killian said. “In an odd way, it’s about bonding and connecting with people on a different level.”
