How You Can WIN a FREE Copy of SLASH: The Fanfiction Party Game + the New “I Ship It” Music Video

EDIT: This contest has ended with Sarah Kittell as our winner! Congrats, Sarah!

Please check our Contests & Giveaways section for more chances to win more awesome stuff!

Whether you’re a fan of it or not, you are at least familiar with the concept of fanfiction. Some fanfiction is logical, following a story and playing out what might have realistically happened next. Then there is the other kind of fanfiction, the kind where fans can play out, however vividly and inappropriately they desire, their favorite couples that never hooked up onscreen (or on the pages, as the case may be).

In case you can’t tell, Slash is a game that focuses on the latter type of fanfic. In the writing world, “slash” is a type of fanfiction that features two characters of the same gender as a couple. For Harry Potter fans, it’s usually Harry and Draco Malfoy. For Thor fans, it’s Thor and Loki.

Slash the game, though, takes this strange practice to a whole new level. Despite the title, the game is not restricted to same-sex couples, and it definitely isn’t restricted to any one fandom. It’s actually a lot like this new (awesome) music video by the girls at Not Literally.

The premise of the game is simple (if you can play Apples to Apples, you can play Slash, at least mechanics-wise). On each player’s turn, he or she becomes the “matchmaker” (much like the “judge” in Apples to Apples) and plays a card (similar to the green Apples card). This card will have a name on it; the name can be anyone from characters in pop culture or literature to historical figures (history, mythology, literature, film, TV, comic books, video games…). Each other player selects a card from his (or her) hand that he (or she) believes would make the best pairing. The matchmaker then selects the best match for his or her card (or the “One True Pairing”), and the player whose card was selected wins the round! As with Apples to Apples, the “matchmaker” changes after each round, giving each player the chance to play Cupid.

If you’re playing with a particularly creative (or a particularly odd) group of friends, there’s a more involved way to play. In this “hardcore” version of the game (pun likely intended), each player hoping to play the winning card sets up  a scenario in which his (or her) character interacts with the matchmaker’s starting character. Your goal is to convince the judge–err, matchmaker–to pick your card by siding with the “One True Pairing” you present… You might do this by embellishing on Kaylee Frye (Firefly) selflessly repairing Marty McFly’s (Back to the Future) flux capacitor leading to a now inseparable dynamic duo who travels together through space and time, or the tawdry tale of a one night stand-turned-forbidden romance between Lion-O (Thundercats) and pre-Frankenstein Mary Shelley (author of Frankenstein) which inevitably led to the character creation of Frankenstein himself. I bet you never even considered the similarities between Lion-O and Frankenstein… Think on it for a minute……Okay, we totally made that up. But that’s the beauty of Slash! Make it up, sway the other players to Team Kaymartly McFrye or  Lion-O-Shelly, and be crowned the ultimate matchmaker!

The game ends when one player has a pre-established number of cards in his or her victory pile, but, like many good games, the point of this one isn’t to “win the game”… The point is to laugh, have fun, and maybe enjoy a little bit of inappropriate nostalgia. We sat down to play the game, and before we knew it, several hours had passed. We were consistently surprised by some of the names on the cards, many times encountering names we hadn’t heard since we were kids.

“But Nerdlyweds,” we can hear you asking, “where can I get this game?” We’re glad you asked… You can get it right here on Kickstarter, but you’ll want to hurry! The campaign has only 3 days left to go, and, while the game is already more than funded, it getting made does you no good unless you hop on the backer train! Not to mention the stretch goals (in short: more character cards)! A copy of the game costs you $20, and we’d bet at least 20 that if you like fanfic and/or Apples-to-Apples, you’ll enjoy this too! BUT if you don’t want to drop the $20, there are two ways for you to go:

1. Enter to win a free copy! It’s as easy as 1-2-3(-4, if you count bonus entries)!
Enter to WIN your FREE copy by clicking HERE!

2. There’s a print-and-play version you can download for free, but we speak from experience when we say that not having to cut out each of those pesky cards individually (and having something of decent quality) is well worth more than the $20 it’ll cost you to back the project on Kickstarter.

Games by Play Date, and Glenn specifically, hope you have a stupid amount of fun playing SLASH. If you don’t back the Kickstarter, fine, be that way. You can still download, print and play the game completely for free (but, FYI I do have two children and a mortgage, so maybe kick a few bucks my way? Maybe?)

Seriously though, we are overjoyed just to be sharing the experience of our storytelling game with others. Knock back a few drinks (provided you are of age) and let the weird love stories rip.

(a message from the nerdy minds behind Slash)

So, like/follow/tweet/share your way to a free copy! Good luck, Nerdy Minds!

P.S. Who do you ‘ship the hardest?

Gotta ‘ship ’em all!

Want even more chances to win even more awesome stuff? Clicking here is a good place to start!