Touch on your Myki and grab a window seat, Melbourne – this new card game is an express service to fun town.
Last year, Melbourne designers Dylan Thorn and Oscar Jackson launched a Kickstarter campaign for Touched On: a tram-themed card game where players cruise around town while trying not to get caught by inspectors. The fundraising was a huge success, and Touched On came to life earlier this year.
Now, Thorn and Jackson have released their follow-up game, Hurstbridge Hypebeast. For those of y'all living in Eltham, Heidelberg, Fairfield (or even Dennis), this is a happy day. Hurstbridge Hypebeast is based on a classic party game called Werewolf, in which villagers (or in this case, passengers) might just secretly be werewolves. Thorn and Jackson have exchanged werewolves for hypebeasts, which Thorn describes as "people who buy popular things to impress people". And let's face it: who doesn't have a Melbourne mate who exhibits hypebeast behaviour from time to time?
Hurstbridge Hypebeast ($10) functions as a companion game to Touched On ($22), and as a separate game. You can buy both games – plus some other pieces of sweet merch, like these truly amazing socks ($15) – on their website. If this super-local swag isn't great Christmas present material, we don't know what is.
Photograph: Supplied
For more info on Touched On, watch this video: