[Review]
When was the last time you have engaged in a meaningful conversation with another individual? Even within our family, how much do we know about each other? Our likes, dislikes, dreams, frustrations, happiness?
We are so highly dependent on gadgets and closely attached to it that we are talking in the virtual space. Whatsapp, Line and other chat applications have become one of our main social interaction tool. Looking on the screen, typing on the keypad and inserting smiley icons is our new form of communication to connect people with ease and without much effort.
But, what are we missing?
Starknicked (pronounced 'stark naked'), a Singaporean startup, has launched an 'old school' card game, smôl tôk ('small talk') that hopes to help people to get to know each other in a deeply meaningful way, minus the bullshit. Nick Pang, founder of starknicked, shared: "With the internet and social media, people are more connected than ever before. Ironically, people are also becoming more disconnected from each other in their everyday lives." This motivated him to create smôl tôk as a tool to facilitate passionate, open and honest conversation that deepen relationships.
Sounds interesting but I was also a little skeptical on how well it will work.
smôl tôk can be played with your family, friends, colleagues and even with strangers! It is recommended to play within 4 to 6 players, aged 18 and above and all comfortably seated. Consisting of 30 Personality Cards, 15 Community Cards and 15 Intimacy Cards, the questions varies in difficulty. Some are intimate and funny while others can be personal and thought-provoking.
I was intrigued by many questions that were raised in the deck. "What are you procrastinating now?", "What are you willing to devote your time and energy to without getting paid?". Every question is automatically followed by a "why" or "how".
For the game (conversation) to be carried out smoothly, all players are encourage to participate in the spirit of openness and respect others as you would like to be respected. In the midst of the game, each honest and truthful opinion would be one that lead others to know you better.
Our 12 year old boy was curious when I took out the deck. He suggested playing with me, even though knowing that he is a little too young for it. :) After sorting the cards a little to enable him to answer the questions better, I briefed him about the rules and we played!
I must say through an exchange of questions and answers, both of us learnt something about each other within a short span of a couple of minutes. For example, I learnt that our boy's motto is "If you believe, you can achieve".
As my boy is observing my facial reaction after each question was posed, I was checking on him too. We had longer moments maintaining eye-contact throughout our conversation and we found ourselves thinking through the questions hard and how to articulate our answers better. It was truly a moment where we took the time to disconnect from our devices and reconnect via a simple card deck.
Care to give it a try?
smôl tôk card deck is small and easy to carry around. It can be played during meal times, parties, team-building, networking sessions and more. The current retail price for smôl tôk basic deck is S$32.90 and is available on the online store. For more information, please visit the website.
Disclosure: Sponsored Review - All comments and opinions are personal and no monetary compensation was received. smôl tôk basic deck was given for review purposes.
When was the last time you have engaged in a meaningful conversation with another individual? Even within our family, how much do we know about each other? Our likes, dislikes, dreams, frustrations, happiness?
We are so highly dependent on gadgets and closely attached to it that we are talking in the virtual space. Whatsapp, Line and other chat applications have become one of our main social interaction tool. Looking on the screen, typing on the keypad and inserting smiley icons is our new form of communication to connect people with ease and without much effort.
But, what are we missing?
Starknicked (pronounced 'stark naked'), a Singaporean startup, has launched an 'old school' card game, smôl tôk ('small talk') that hopes to help people to get to know each other in a deeply meaningful way, minus the bullshit. Nick Pang, founder of starknicked, shared: "With the internet and social media, people are more connected than ever before. Ironically, people are also becoming more disconnected from each other in their everyday lives." This motivated him to create smôl tôk as a tool to facilitate passionate, open and honest conversation that deepen relationships.
Sounds interesting but I was also a little skeptical on how well it will work.
smôl tôk can be played with your family, friends, colleagues and even with strangers! It is recommended to play within 4 to 6 players, aged 18 and above and all comfortably seated. Consisting of 30 Personality Cards, 15 Community Cards and 15 Intimacy Cards, the questions varies in difficulty. Some are intimate and funny while others can be personal and thought-provoking.
I was intrigued by many questions that were raised in the deck. "What are you procrastinating now?", "What are you willing to devote your time and energy to without getting paid?". Every question is automatically followed by a "why" or "how".
For the game (conversation) to be carried out smoothly, all players are encourage to participate in the spirit of openness and respect others as you would like to be respected. In the midst of the game, each honest and truthful opinion would be one that lead others to know you better.
Our 12 year old boy was curious when I took out the deck. He suggested playing with me, even though knowing that he is a little too young for it. :) After sorting the cards a little to enable him to answer the questions better, I briefed him about the rules and we played!
I must say through an exchange of questions and answers, both of us learnt something about each other within a short span of a couple of minutes. For example, I learnt that our boy's motto is "If you believe, you can achieve".
As my boy is observing my facial reaction after each question was posed, I was checking on him too. We had longer moments maintaining eye-contact throughout our conversation and we found ourselves thinking through the questions hard and how to articulate our answers better. It was truly a moment where we took the time to disconnect from our devices and reconnect via a simple card deck.
Care to give it a try?
smôl tôk card deck is small and easy to carry around. It can be played during meal times, parties, team-building, networking sessions and more. The current retail price for smôl tôk basic deck is S$32.90 and is available on the online store. For more information, please visit the website.
Disclosure: Sponsored Review - All comments and opinions are personal and no monetary compensation was received. smôl tôk basic deck was given for review purposes.
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Vivien ( Beautiful Chaos )
Ai @ Sakura Haruka
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