Taylor Elicegui ‘20
Ex-Features Editor
Funemployment is worth playing.
On Friday, being the lame, over-going-out 3Ls that we are, I convinced Eleanor and a lucky group of sectionmates to join me for a game night (seriously underrated activity). After mulling over what games to play and starting off with Jackbox’s Trivia Murder Party, we settled on my newest game: Funemployment.
I thought Funemployment was like Cards Against Humanity, but with jobs and job skills. I was a little off; it’s more complicated than that, which makes it more fun. First, everyone gets four job skill cards and the “employer” gets one card per every other player (so, if there are five other players, the employer gets five cards). The employer lays all of their cards down, face up, and then flips over a job card. The players get a few résumé to go crazy and switch out their cards as they want, trying to create the perfect “resume” to apply for the job with four cards in their hand. Some examples of jobs to apply for include private detective, professional thief, and professional cuddler. Some skills that are available to use to build your résumé (aka on the résumé cards) are “literally the worst,” “three-piece suit,” and “handy.” Once you have a résumé of four cards, each player goes around and gets to tell a story using their “résumé” of cards they acquired, to convince the employer why they are the best person for the job. The employer uses the leftover skills not picked up during the mad dash to ask each candidate a question at the end of their pitch.
I was pleasantly surprised by the game once we got started. I thought it would be too confusing, but the group got the hang of it quickly and had a good time putting their persuasion skills to work to prove why they were truly the best candidate for the job. It got even more entertaining with the arrival of Lena Welch ’20, a master sh*t-talker who managed to roast everyone else’s pitches while also not totally crushing her own. All in all, I would definitely recommend Funemployment.
If you’re looking for some other game night recommendations, check out:
Pandemic
Codenames
Wits and Wagers
Ticket to Ride
Seven Wonders
Telestrations
Loaded Questions
Coup
Unstable Unicorns
Sequence
I can’t personally vouch for all of these, but I compiled the list from my personal favorites and The Strategist’s 2020 recommendations, and The Strategist has never steered me wrong. The Best Adult Board Games on Amazon, According to Hyperenthusiastic Reviewers, The Strategist (Aug. 23, 2019).
M. Eleanor Schmalzl ‘20
Deposed Editor-In-Chief
Funemployment is literally the worst game invented, ever.
If anyone knows me, they know I love a good game night. However, with that comes the reality that I am competitive. In fact, my family’s game night motto is, “If you aren’t willing to lose all your friends and family in order to win a board game, you aren’t playing hard enough.” You think I’m joking. Think again.
This past Friday, I visited Taylor Elicegui’s luxurious apartment at The Pavilion on North Grounds with every intention of having a good time. As Taylor mentioned, we settled on the game “Funemployment,” so I thought my goal of having fun was easily in reach. However, I soon found that the game, while “fun” in the traditional sense, was not for hardcore gamers.
First of all, it has the same problem that games similar to it (like Apples to Apples or Cards Against Humanity) have—the “employer,” just like the dealer in these other games, has full discretion to decide who wins and loses based on whatever arbitrary factors they deem relevant. This allows for rampant favoritism toward whatever party the dealer decides is “the winner” and leaves the losers feeling unsatisfied despite their (aka my) objectively more compelling and better-presented résumés.
Second, the game allows other players to comment on a person’s resume story while that player is giving the story. And while I respect any attempts to win at all costs, Lena Welch ’20 came in hot when she arrived at the end of the night; she had no ultimate goal of winning and just wanted to chirp and cause problems for those with the prize in mind. So, I guess this is less a criticism about the game and more a warning: Do not invite Lena Welch to game night.
For all you lighthearted folks who just want to laugh and have a good, noncompetitive time, this game would be great for you. I even laughed a time or two at some of the stories people built with their résumé cards, despite my goal of making everyone else’s stories sound inferior to mine. But, if you take games quote “too seriously,” as I may or may not be accused of every time I play board games, stick to the games of skill that give you the ability to win without the arbitrary approval of your peers.
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ke3ge@virginia.edu
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