What Do You Meme? Rules Guide

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Create your own memes with friends at your next game night

Co-authored by Hunter Rising Reviewed by Ashton Wu

Last Updated: May 30, 2024 Fact Checked

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Setup

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Gameplay

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Winning the Game

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Video

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Tips

ARTICLE

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What Do You Meme? is an exciting party game where players try to make the funniest memes by adding captions to a photo. Each round, a player becomes the judge and chooses a photo. All the other players submit funny captions to go with the picture, and the judge picks their favorite. When you want to have a good laugh with your friends, What Do You Meme? is the perfect game for you. We’ve got all the rules in one place, so keep reading to learn how to set up and get started playing!

Things You Should Know

Deal 7 Caption cards to each player and choose one person to be the round’s judge. The judge picks a Photo card for the round and sets it on the easel.
Each player gives the judge a Caption card they think is the funniest. The judge shuffles the cards before flipping them over and reading them out loud.
The judge picks the funniest caption and gives that player the Photo card. Whoever has the most Photo cards at the end of the game wins.

Section 1 of 3:

Setup

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1
Play the game with 3 or more people. You’ll need at least 2 other friends or family members to play What Do You Meme? but there’s no limit on how many other players can join. Sit around a table so everyone can easily reach the cards in the middle.^{[1]
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- What Do You Meme? is made for people 17 and older, and it may have some inappropriate cards for younger children. If you want to play with kids, try out What Do You Meme? Family Edition for a PG version.
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Shuffle and deal 7 Caption cards to each player. What Do You Meme? comes with 360 Caption cards that all have hilarious phrases written on them. Shuffle the entire deck of cards so they’re thoroughly mixed. Then, deal 7 out to each player. Set the remaining stack of cards in the middle of the table where everyone can reach them.^{[2]
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- Players can look at their own cards, but keep them secret from other players.
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3
Pick a player to be the judge for the first round. Check which player has the most followers on Instagram or choose a player at random to be the first judge. You won’t play any cards from your hand as the judge, but you do get to pick the round’s winner.^{[3]
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- The rules for the first judge may vary depending on the version of What Do You Meme? you have. For example, the family edition instructions say to let the youngest player be the judge first.

Section 2 of 3:

Gameplay

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1
The judge chooses a Photo card to place on the easel. The judge sifts through the deck of 75 Photo cards and chooses the image they want to create memes for. They’ll set the Photo card on the cardboard easel and place it so all the other players can easily see it.^{[4]
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- If you want to customize your game, use your own photos instead of picking from the deck of cards.
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The other players give the judge a Caption card face-down. All the other players look through their hands to see which Caption card they think will be the funniest when it’s paired with the Photo card. The players set their chosen Caption card face-down on the table in front of the easel.^{[5]
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- Try to pick a caption that you think the judge will like best and make them laugh. Play into the person’s sense of humor so they’re more likely to choose your card.
3
The judge reveals and reads the Caption cards out loud. Once all of the other players set a Caption card face-down, the judge shuffles them together so they don’t know which person played what card. Then, the judge flips over the cards one at a time and reads them out loud.^{[6]
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- Bonus Rule: If someone plays a Caption card with the word “Freestyle” on it, then all players have to make up their own caption instead of using the one on your card. Either write the captions down on scrap paper or say them aloud to the judge.
After the judge shows all of the cards, they choose the one that they think was the funniest or fits the Photo the best. Whoever played that card takes the Photo card from the easel and sets it face-up in front of them.^{[7]
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Players draw a new Caption card so they have 7 cards in their hand. Anyone who played a card during the round needs to take the top card from the draw pile and add it to their hand. The judge still has 7 cards in their hand so they don’t need to draw one.^{[8]
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- Bonus Rule: If you don’t like any of the Caption cards, discard one of your Photo Cards and your Caption cards. Then, draw 7 new Caption cards from the deck.
The person to the left of the judge gets the role for the next round. They’ll select a new Photo card to place on the easel, and everyone else will play Caption cards.^{[9]
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Section 3 of 3:

Winning the Game

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There are no set rules for when to end the game, so keep playing if everyone is still having a good time. If you want to set rules for when to end, play until every player has been the judge 2 times before ending the game.^{[10]
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Win the game if you have the most Photo cards. When you decide to end the game, count up how many Photo cards you won throughout the rounds. Each card counts as 1 point, so whoever won the most cards and earned the most points is the winner!^{[11]
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- If there’s a tie, have another player choose one last Photo card. Each tied player chooses a Caption card, and whoever’s card gets picked wins the game.