'Putting the fun in funeral': Saskatoon man producing spooky card game

Shawn Bourassa credits Brittany, his wife, with helping come up with the idea behind Youlogy, a game that could hit store shelves in Saskatoon in six months.  (Travis Reddaway/CBC - image credit)
Shawn Bourassa credits Brittany, his wife, with helping come up with the idea behind Youlogy, a game that could hit store shelves in Saskatoon in six months. (Travis Reddaway/CBC - image credit)

Cards Against Humanity meets a funeral service in a new card game created by a Saskatoon man.

"There's something about the stark contrast between funerals and fun," Shawn Bourassa, the creator of Youlogy, said during an interview on Thursday with Saskatoon Today.

"If you take away the actual sad part, you get together with all your friends and family and there's stories being told."

Much like Cards Against Humanity, each round of Youlogy has a judge position that rotates through the players. The judge displays a picture card and the players submit an answer based on the theme that round.

Through several rounds of play, the players create a character's childhood, school years, young adulthood, career, family life, old age and death.

"We've named this character in Round 1," Bourassa said. "The rest of the rounds are all life stages, so they're fill-in-the- blank questions."

The losing player has to perform a eulogy in front of the group for the now deceased character.

Bourassa, who is also a nurse and stand-up comedian, says he came up with the idea during the COVID-19 pandemic. Brittany, his wife, loves anything spooky, which is how he decided on the game's theme.

He designed the cards for the game, printed them off at home, then tested the idea on his family during the pandemic.

The game was an immediate hit.

"The first time they played, I'll never forget the look on their faces," Bourassa recalled. "They were like, 'This is an actual game!'"

"Other games, the fun ends with the game ends," Bourassa said. "This kind of ramps up to watch one of your friends struggle to perform a three-minute eulogy for someone you just made up.

"We still bring up characters as if they're part of the family. One of our taglines is: 'You'll create memories you'll never forget with people you've never met.'"

Shawn Bourassa said he was inspired by the game’s theme by his wife, who is a lover of anything spooky. He’s using a hearse to promote his new card game Youlogy.
Shawn Bourassa said he was inspired by the game’s theme by his wife, who is a lover of anything spooky. He’s using a hearse to promote his new card game Youlogy.

Bourassa is driving around Saskatoon in a hearse to promote his new card game Youlogy. (Travis Reddaway/CBC)

Any new game that might inspire others to come up with their own is good news, says Jeff Kocur, one of the owners of Amazing Stories, a comic and game store in Saskatoon.

"There are many hundreds, if not thousands, of people who play games in Saskatoon, and it would do nothing but encourage people to play and encourage people to try to create their own games," he said.

"I know a number of people have tried to do their own games and it's not an easy thing to do."

Bourassa says he has created 30 game prototypes that he has been testing through Facebook.

Production has been self-funded to this point, but Bourassa has begun working with Panda Games, a company that helps gamers produce their own games. Youlogy could hit store shelves within six months.

Bourassa says he's excited about reaching a wider audience.

"I love when people have fun," he said. "I love facilitating that."