‘Blackout Or Backout’: Penn State Student Creates Ultimate Drinking Card Game
In a time when it’s unacceptable to go to frats, bars, or house parties, there’s not a whole lot to do besides study drink with a few friends.
Fortunately, Penn State junior telecommunications major Jessica Harnett created the ultimate drinking card game, “Blackout or Backout.”
Blackout or Backout is a 50-card deck that costs $15, plus $4 for shipping. An explicit expansion pack of 25 cards is also available for $7.
Harnett transferred to Penn State from the Fashion Institute of Technology in 2020 and bought several drinking games as a way to pass time and make friends. Once she started playing, she realized that many cards were “skip” or “pass,” which generally made the games lame and uninteresting.
Due to her artistic background at FIT and creative personality, Harnett decided to make her own drinking card game where every card is actually fun. The game was made purely for personal enjoyment, but after playing a few times, Harnett realized she had a business on her hands.
“My game was created by a college student for college students,” Harnett said. “The cards are more relevant than other games. They speak to the culture now and how we spend our lives.”
“There are many cards that reference social media and my own personal life,” Harnett continued. “In other games, many of the cards repeat or are cringe, and the game gets dull fast. All the cards in my game are relevant and fun for everyone.”
The cards are indeed relevant and timely, so they make for an exciting activity. Some cards include “COVID-19: If you were positive, DRINK,” “If you hooked up with someone in this room, drink,” and “Drink if you’ve had a pregnancy scare.”
Harnett’s personal favorite card is “Singles Drink: One second for every month single,” because it always gets a great response out of a group.
“Blackout or Backout is a common saying in college, and something fun to say to pump each other up to go party and have a great night,” Harnett said about the inspiration behind the card game’s name. “When working on what to call the game, I was designing a logo with the name Blackout or Backout and really liked it, so I went with it.”
Harnett designs the cards entirely on her iPad. It took a lot of trial and error, but she was able to teach herself drawing programs and develop a unique card style.
Harnett’s business philosophy is “by college students for college students.” Her marketing strategy relies heavily on TikTok trends, which has grown Blackout or Backout a massive following. Harnett is no beginner when it comes to TikTok, as her personal account has more than 45,000 followers and 12 million views, so she’s very familiar with the algorithm.
From the start, her Blackout or Backout TikTok account immediately gained traction. One of her videos received over 4 million views in three days. Addison Rae, the second most followed TikToker in the world with more than 76 million followers, commented on one of her videos, which led to even more engagement.
Additionally, Harnett’s niche marketing strategy features videos of cute and trendy 21st birthday presents by showing people how to create a filled wine glass with mini alcohol bottles and a deck of cards.
Harnett admits that it has been tough to keep up with the orders because she’s a full-time student living on the seventh floor of her State College apartment. Fortunately, her sister and friends were a tremendous help when the initial orders from the viral TikTok were placed.
Several thousand Blackout or Backout orders have been placed and shipped domestically and internationally to Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Norway, Denmark, Germany, and Ireland.
“My favorite part is when people send me photos and videos of them playing the game or telling me how much they love the game,” Harnett said. “While at someone’s apartment I brought over the game and someone said, ‘Oh I’ve already played this,’ and I instantly freaked out. It was so cool to meet someone that had already played the game and enjoyed it.”
In the future, Harnett plans to release additional expansion packs and keep growing her TikTok following to grow her business into well-known games like “For the Girls” and “Cards Against Humanity.”
As always, have fun, be safe, and drink responsibly!
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