What Do You Meme

1 Overview

What Do You Meme? is a caption card game for 3 to 20+ players published by What Do You Meme LLC. Each round, a Judge reveals a meme photo card. All other players choose their funniest caption card from their hand and submit it face-down. The Judge picks their favorite caption. The player whose caption is chosen wins the round and collects the photo card as a point.

It is the meme-format answer to Cards Against Humanity -- faster, more visual, and better suited to groups that spend time online. Plays in 30 to 90 minutes depending on group size and how much everyone is laughing.

2 Components

• 75 photo cards (iconic meme images)
• 360 caption cards
• Easel to display the photo card

3 Setup

1. Separate photo cards and caption cards into two decks.
2. Deal 7 caption cards to each player.
3. Choose a starting Judge. The Judge role rotates clockwise each round.
4. Place the easel in a spot everyone can see.

4 Gameplay

1. The Judge draws a photo card and places it on the easel for everyone to see.
2. All other players choose one caption card from their hand and place it face-down in front of the Judge.
3. The Judge shuffles the submitted captions and reads each one aloud while displaying the photo card.
4. The Judge picks their favorite combination. No explanation required -- judging is entirely subjective.
5. The winning player takes the photo card as a point token.
6. All players draw back up to 7 cards.
7. The Judge role passes left. Repeat.

5 Winning

The official rules do not specify a win condition -- most groups play until the photo card deck runs out or to a target score (first to 10 photo cards, for example). Agree before starting.

6 Tips

Know Your Judge

This is the most important rule. The Judge's taste determines everything. Pay attention to what made them laugh in previous rounds. A Judge who likes dry, deadpan captions needs a different caption than one who rewards absurdism or shock value.

Timing Over Content

Sometimes the funniest caption is not the most obvious match but the one that creates the best comedic timing when read aloud. Think about how the Judge will deliver the caption, not just what it says.

Subvert Expectations

The most predictable captions lose. If the photo obviously suggests one type of joke, a caption that takes it somewhere unexpected often wins. The Judge has usually already thought of the obvious punchline before reading the submissions.

7 Expansions and Related Games

• What Do You Meme? Family Edition: Clean version suitable for all ages.
• NSFW Expansion: Additional adult caption cards for the base game.
• Pop Culture Pack: Movie and TV-specific meme photos and captions.
• What Do You Meme? After Dark: Standalone adult-only version with more explicit content.
• What Do You Meme? Stoner Edition: Cannabis-themed standalone.

All expansions are compatible with the base game and can be shuffled in.

8 FAQ

9 Common Mistakes

Picking the Most Obviously Funny Caption

In caption games, the obvious answer loses. If a photo of a distracted boyfriend is on the easel, every player has already thought of three captions about distraction and preference. The Judge has too. Players who go for an unexpected angle, a completely different genre of humor, or a reference that only the Judge will appreciate almost always beat the player who submitted the most technically correct punchline.

Ignoring the Judge When You Are Not Judging

Many players treat the rounds where they are not Judge as throwaway rounds. These rounds are your data-collection opportunities. Every time the Judge picks a caption, note what style of humor they rewarded. That information is worth more than any single good caption.

Reading the Caption Too Fast

The Judge reads captions aloud. If a caption requires a specific delivery to land, the Judge may not deliver it the way you imagined when you submitted it. Choose captions that work in print as well as spoken aloud. Captions that are funny regardless of tone are safer bets than captions that depend on perfect comedic delivery.

10 House Rules & Variants

Rotating Judge Elimination

After each round, the player who submitted the worst caption (Judge's subjective choice) is eliminated until only one player remains. This creates higher stakes than the standard "most points wins" format and keeps everyone fully engaged because the threat of elimination changes how aggressively players gamble on risky captions.

Table Vote

Instead of one Judge deciding, all players vote anonymously on the best caption for each round. The caption with the most votes wins the photo card. This removes individual Judge bias and works especially well with groups where one person consistently dominates because their humor aligns with the current Judge.

Two-Caption Round

Each player submits two caption cards per round (choose their best two). The Judge picks one winner from all submitted cards. This gives players more flexibility and makes it more likely that genuinely funny combinations emerge. It also uses the caption deck faster, so this variant works best when you have expansion packs available.

Photo Submission

Allow players to use their phones to find a meme image of their choice instead of using the photo cards. Each player shows their chosen image, and all other players submit a caption card. Works especially well with internet-savvy groups who know obscure or niche memes that make the captions hit differently.