Saskatoon man develops new card game with a fun, morbid twist — it ends with a funeral

A Saskatoon man is taking his love of card games to new depths — six feet under, to be exact.

Shawn Bourassa, creator of “Youlogy,” describes his game as mix between Cards Against Humanity, Mad Libs, and a funeral service.

Bourassa said the game’s inspiration comes from a combination of growing up in a competitive family, his wife’s love for Halloween, and his experience as a registered nurse.

“Being a nurse, you are closer to some of the sad parts of life, so I get used to it. I’ve developed a pretty dark sense of humor as a defense mechanism,” he said.

Bourassa said he got the idea for the game years ago, but it really came to life during the pandemic.

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“When the pandemic hit, I really went stir crazy, so I thought I had to put this down on paper for my friends and family,” he said.

The game starts by picking a character card from the deck. Players write down name suggestions and then a judge decides the name. Then, the game follows the character’s life from birth to death.

A card from "Youlogy," a morbidly fun card game developed by Shawn Bourassa. (Stacey Hein / CTV News)

Each stage of life is a prompt, where players fill in the blanks, and then a judge chooses the best answer and awards a point.

Each round the judge rotates. In the last round, the character dies. The player with the most points picks a person to deliver a three-minute Eulogy on the character.

To help market the game, Bourassa bought a 1978 Cadillac Deville hearse.

(Courtesy: Shawn Bourassa)

“Getting eyes on your project is actually quite expensive,” he said.

“I went on marketplace and I found some guy selling a hearse here in Saskatoon, and then my cousin got it all decaled up.”

While the game isn’t on the market yet, Bourassa said pre-orders can be placed by pledging on kickstarter.com.