The Boi Card Against Humanity Controversy: What Most People Get Wrong

You know that feeling when a joke goes just a little too far? That’s basically the entire history of Cards Against Humanity (CAH). But specifically, the "Boi" card against humanity saga is one of those internet artifacts that people still argue about in Reddit threads and board game cafes. It’s a weird intersection of internet slang, corporate backtracking, and the shifting sands of what we actually find funny. Honestly, if you’ve played the game in the last five years, you might not even realize the versions people are playing now are scrubbed versions of the chaotic original.

Cards Against Humanity launched on Kickstarter back in 2010. It was the "party game for horrible people." But "horrible" is a moving target. What felt like an edgy, harmless joke in a Chicago basement in 2011 started feeling a lot different by 2017. The Boi card, along with several others, became a flashpoint for a company that built its brand on being un-PC but suddenly found itself the target of the very "cancel culture" it seemed to mock.

The Slang and the Sting: Why the Boi Card Mattered

Let's talk about the word itself. "Boi" isn't just a misspelling of boy. In the early 2000s and 2010s, it carried heavy weight in LGBTQ+ subcultures, specifically referring to certain identities within the lesbian and trans communities. Then, the internet got ahold of it. Suddenly, we had "dat boi" on a unicycle. We had "thick boi." We had "soft boi." It became a versatile, slightly ironic suffix for just about anything.

The problem with the boi card against humanity was context. In a game where you're asked to fill in blanks like "What's that smell?" or "Why am I sticky?", the word "boi" took on different meanings depending on who was sitting at the table. For some, it was a harmless nod to a meme. For others, it felt like a punch-down at trans-masculine people.

Cards Against Humanity didn't just have one controversial card. They had dozens. But the "Boi" card—specifically in the context of "Passable transvestites" (a card they later pulled) and other trans-related humor—started to paint a picture. Max Temkin, one of the co-founders, eventually admitted that some of these cards were just "mean-spirited" rather than actually funny.

A History of Hitting Delete

The company has a history of quietly—and sometimes loudly—removing content. They pulled the "Passable transvestites" card in 2014 after a public outcry. They’ve tweaked the "Boi" card’s presence across different expansion packs and regional versions. It’s a constant game of whack-a-mole. You buy a deck today, and it’s fundamentally different from the one your older brother bought in college.

Why? Because the market changed.

If you're a business owner, you get it. You can't sell a product to Gen Z using Gen X's edge. It doesn't work. The "Boi" card against humanity became a symbol of that transition. It was a remnant of a 4chan-adjacent humor style that was losing its grip on the mainstream.

The Mechanics of the "Boi" Card in Play

In the actual game, the card functioned as a "White Card." It's an answer.

• "What gives me uncontrollable gas?" ... Dat Boi.
• "During sex, I like to think about..." ... A sad, lonely boi.

It’s low-brow. It’s simple. But the reason it stuck in people's heads is that it felt "stolen." When a massive, multi-million dollar company takes slang from a marginalized community and turns it into a joke for suburbanites to laugh at over wine, it creates friction. That friction is exactly what led to the card being cycled out or replaced in newer printings.

The 2020 Turning Point

Everything changed for the company in 2020. It wasn't just about one card. A report from Polygon and several former employees detailed a toxic work culture at the CAH offices in Chicago. They described an environment that was "racist, sexist, and transphobic."

The "Boi" card against humanity wasn't the cause of the fire, but it was definitely part of the fuel. Critics pointed to the cards as evidence that the "horrible people" brand wasn't just a marketing gimmick—it was the actual office culture. Max Temkin stepped down. The company promised to do better. They hired a diversity consultant.

And they started editing the deck. Hard.

If you look at the 2.0 or 2.1 versions of the main game, you'll notice a lot of the "edgiest" content is gone. The "Boi" card variations were some of the first to be scrutinized. They were replaced by more surrealist humor. Think less "punching down at identities" and more "screaming into the void about the absurdity of existence."

Why People Still Search for the "Boi" Card

Nostalgia is a hell of a drug. There's a subset of the gaming community that views any change to the deck as "censorship." They go on eBay to find the "Original First Edition" specifically because it contains the cards that have since been purged. They want the "Boi" card because it represents a time when they felt the game was truly "against humanity" and not just "against things that won't get us sued."

But there's also the meme factor. Because "Boi" became such a massive part of internet culture, people who weren't even around for the early days of CAH search for it. They want to know if there's a card for the memes they see on TikTok.

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The reality? The "Boi" card against humanity is mostly a ghost now. You might find it in a dusty "90s Nostalgia" pack or a fan-made expansion on Print-and-Play sites, but the official company has largely moved on.

The Difference Between Edge and Mean

There’s a nuance here that most people miss. Cards Against Humanity isn't trying to be "woke." They’re trying to be funny. And the "Boi" card just stopped being a reliable laugh.

Comedy relies on a shared understanding. In 2012, "Boi" was a niche term that felt like an "inside joke" for the internet. By 2024, it was a term with a lot of political and social baggage. When a joke requires a five-minute explanation of queer history and internet linguistics, it's not a good card for a drinking game.

It’s also about the "Black Card" pairings. Some cards are evergreen. "A tiny horse" is always funny. "Bees?" is a classic. But "Boi" was too tied to a specific era of the internet. It aged like milk.

The Rise of Custom Decks

Because the official game started playing it safer, we saw a massive explosion in third-party "Add-on" packs. This is where the "Boi" card against humanity lives on. Sites like Cardcast (before it shut down) and various Etsy sellers allow people to print their own cards.

If you want a deck that is 100% focused on internet slang, you can make it. You can have "Soft Boi," "Long Boi," "Sad Boi," and "Oboi."

This shift is actually better for the company. By removing the controversial cards from their flagship product, they protect their brand and their retail presence in places like Target. Meanwhile, the "hardcore" fans can just go buy a "Degenerate Pack" from a third-party seller if they really miss the old vibes.

How to Handle the "Boi" Card in Your Own Game

If you happen to have an old deck that still has these cards, or if you're playing with a group that finds them uncomfortable, you've got a few options.

1. The "House Rule" Trash Pile: Most serious CAH players have a "sh*t list" of cards that just aren't funny. If "Boi" comes up and nobody laughs, just toss it.
2. The Sharpie Method: Honestly, some of the best cards are the ones people fix. Cross out "Boi" and write something localized to your friend group.
3. Upgrade the Deck: If your deck is more than five years old, it’s probably missing the best new stuff anyway. The newer expansions are objectively better written.

The "Boi" card against humanity controversy is a tiny window into how we’ve changed as a culture. We’re still "horrible people." We still like dark humor. But we’ve collectively decided that some jokes are just... boring.

The game survived because it adapted. It stopped being a game about mocking "others" and became a game about mocking the shared absurdity of being alive in a digital age.

Actionable Steps for the Modern Player

If you're looking to refresh your game night or curious about the state of the "Boi" card against humanity, here is how you should actually handle your collection.

Check your version number. Look at the bottom of your box. If you have a version 1.0 to 1.5, you have a collector's item. These contain the "unfiltered" cards that the company no longer prints. Some of these decks sell for a premium on secondary markets, though most are just worn out from too many spilled beers.

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Don't buy "Official" packs from sketchy sites. There are tons of counterfeit CAH decks on the market. If you're looking for the original "Boi" card experience, you're better off looking at used marketplaces like Mercari or eBay where you can see photos of the actual cards.

Look into the "Everything Box." If you're tired of the old memes and the dated slang like "Boi," the Everything Box is a massive 300-card expansion that basically reboots the game's tone. It’s less about 2010s internet culture and more about the chaotic energy of the 2020s.

Finally, recognize that the "Boi" card against humanity is a piece of history. It represents the growing pains of a company that went from a viral joke to a global powerhouse. Whether you think they "sold out" or "grew up," the game remains the undisputed king of the party genre for a reason. It knows when to fold a hand.

If you're still playing with an old deck, take a look at the cards that make people go "yikes" instead of "ha." Those are the ones that are usually on the chopping block. The "Boi" card was just one of the first to go.

Next Steps for Your Collection

• Audit your deck: Go through your white cards and pull out anything that feels like a "cheap shot" rather than a joke. Your game nights will actually get funnier when the shock value is replaced by actual wit.
• Explore "Kids Against Maturity": If you actually liked the "Boi" style of humor but want something less "horrible," there are dozens of clones that keep the slang but lose the edge.
• Support the workers: If the 2020 controversy bothered you, check out the "Cards Against Humanity Workers Union" (CAHWU) to see how the staff is doing these days before you buy your next expansion.

The "Boi" card against humanity might be gone from the shelves, but the conversation it started about humor, identity, and corporate responsibility is still very much alive. Play responsibly. Or don't. It's your game.