A successful brand with light, accessible, and highly social games had several hits but was missing a family/kid-friendly product. They looked to Forever Stoked to deliver a goofy game that would appeal to kids but keep the light fun of their core products.
Tuesday Knight had built a brand with light, accessible, and highly social games but their big hits didn’t have family/kid friendly themes. So we needed to make a game that is incredibly easy to pick up and play, that hides some surprising depth for adults, and that also fits within a small physical footprint and goofy kid friendly theme. We also wanted to make it language independent so even kids who weren’t great readers, or adults that weren’t great at being sober, could still fully participate.
Designing for such a broad audience while limited in terms of components and complexity is no small order. The more stripped down a design is, the more obvious any flaws become, so we needed to make something incredibly tight. With only 18 cards to work with in the original brief (the “fancy” components were added later and are totally optional), we had limited options and couldn’t just “add a few more cards” to solve any design problems that came up.
One of the most compelling things about games played in physical spaces is the direct human interaction. With that in mind, we decided that distilling down a core play loop of bluffing and push-your-luck would be something that not only allowed for tons of visceral moments shared by the table but would be universal enough that even little kids would be able to engage. The agony of a bad card flip or the ecstasy when you bluff someone into losing is something that the whole table connects with in the moment.
We also wanted to make the game drop in/drop out friendly so it can be played even if a younger sibling distracts themselves out of the game or a parent has to go deal with boring adult stuff for a minute. This also makes it great for kicking off adult game nights, where it’s easy to start playing and adding people in as they arrive before you dive into the “main course” game of the night, and it’s easy enough to play while you’re drinking more limoncello than lemonade
It’s lemonade season and you run a successful lemonade stand. Unfortunately, today you’re not the only lemonade stand on the block. To settle this problem, you and your rivals agree to a lemonade drinking contest. But wait, something’s wrong! Little Johnny, the neighborhood menace, is up to no good. During this contest you might take a gulp of something … THAT’S NOT LEMONADE!
That’s Not Lemonade is the simplest press-your-luck game there is. On your turn, decide if you will take a card or pass. If you get a That’s Not Lemonade card, you’re out for the round. The player with the most lemon cards at the end of the round wins a lemon card. First player to win 3 lemons wins.
Comes with 18 cards, 6 player tiles, and 6 mini cups.
It’s the drinking game for kids!
That’s Not Lemonade has been a consistent seller and tentpole release for Tuesday Knight. It’s been well reviewed across the broad audience we were aiming for.
