Toys & Games
Cards Against Humanity
Cards Against Humanity shows how to do international expansion right
Cards Against Humanity began life as a Kickstarter project in December 2010 – eight Chicagoan friends sought $4,000, to turn a DIY card game into a professionally-produced one. They soon reached their funding target – and went on to secure nearly four times their original goal.
The success of the project sent the Cards Against Humanity team on a voyage of discovery – they quickly learnt how to mass produce a card game, how to ship tens of thousands of rewards to backers on time, and how to turn a crowdfunding project into a long-term success.
Five years later, Cards Against Humanity was a burgeoning business – the original game was a #1 Amazon bestseller, and expansion packs and international editions fuelled ongoing interest. So the team began to share its expertise via Blackbox – a spin-out that helps other crowdfunders market, sell and fulfil their products.
James and James is a great partner. Their operation is highly organised, their technology is sharp and always developing, and best of all, the people are kind, helpful and smart.
Ben Hantoot,
Co-founder and Partner
The Challenge
With Cards Against Humanity achieving such great success in a short period of time, the business sought help from James and James Fulfilment. While it had built its own fulfilment network in the US, it needed support to fulfil orders for UK and European customers.
What we created
Understanding Cards Against Humanity would be planning ongoing campaigns and legendary Black Friday anti-deals, we created a fulfilment plan of action that would ensure James and James could scale rapidly to match demand for the game.
What we delivered
The relationship began with James and James storing and fulfilling the UK edition of Cards Against Humanity from its Northampton headquarters. It quickly expanded however, as Exploding Kittens – a Blackbox and Kickstarter-backed card game – exploded in popularity. It secured $8.9 million in funding, becoming the most-funded crowdfunding campaign ever.
James and James dispatched thousands of boxes of Exploding Kittens to European backers on time, and has gone on to provide Kickstarter fulfilment to Cards Against Humanity’s ever-expanding product range and six further Blackbox-backed brands.