Gentle Jack: The Party Game for Bad Friends

Gather your friends for a night of bad decisions! 

Gentle Jack is the drinking game of Gadgets with questionable utility, ominous Omens, and the lingering question: just how much can a friendship endure?

The Foul-Mouthed Party Game for Bad Friends 

Gentle Jack isn’t just another drinking game, but a chaotic battle of strategy, sabotage, and survival. Every card drawn can twist the rules, curse your friends, or unleash Jack’s sinister influence on the entire table.

Some effects stick around. Others hit hard and fast. All of them are designed to keep you laughing, yelling, and plotting your next move.

The Cards 

In Gentle Jack, the cards are your weapons, your curses, your instruments of chaos, and your only hope of survival.

There are two main types: Gadgets and Omens. One empowers. The other... well, good luck.

Gadgets - Your Arsenal and Lifeline

Gadgets are your tools of torment. They're your dares, your drinks, your delightful disruptions. You might command a rival to twerk like their life depends on it, or curse them with a persistent, and delightfully evil, Charm (more on that below).

Brave the chaos, conquer the challenges, and you'll be rewarded with even more firepower. The more havoc you cause, the more dangerous you become.

Omens - The Dark Deck of Cursed Mischief

Every so often, Jack demands blood. That’s when the Omens come into play.

Draw from the Omen deck and prepare to suffer, or watch the whole table descend into madness. These cards are unpredictable, often cruel, and always hilarious. 

Special Cards: Charms & Boons 

Charm cards can show up in any deck and they don’t just hit once. They stick. Whether you're doomed to sing every sentence like a senile siren or blow a kiss to the nearest player before every turn, Charms will shake things up.

Charm cards are marked by the rather rude icon of someone's cursed hand giving the middle finger.

Boons, on the other hand, are your rare moments of grace. Found only in the Gadget deck, they let you dodge, redirect, or deflect disaster. Just don’t expect them to come often. Use them wisely.

Boons are marked by an orange shield icon, your only hint of safety in a game designed to ruin you.

How do you play?

Gather 4 to 8 friends and crack a drink.

Each player starts with 3 Gadgets in hand, while the ominous Omen deck waits in the center of the table.

The oldest player kicks things off by drawing a new Gadget, then unleashing one of their cards on an unlucky target (or the whole table, depending on the card). Play continues clockwise: draw a Gadget, play a Gadget, make some friends (or not).

Your mission: To collect as many Gadgets as possible and be the one left with the most comically large hand when the deck runs dry.

Pledge Levels

From solo scallywags to party planners and collector-level buccaneers, each pledge can unlock different exclusive treasures, like limited edition coins, collectible coasters, early app access, and even a chance to be immortalized in the game.

What Makes the Pioneer Edition Special? 

The Pioneer Edition is our heartfelt thank-you to the early pioneers who help bring Gentle Jack to life. As a special, limited-edition version of the game, the Pioneer Edition is only available to our Kickstarter backers and will never be sold in stores. It features exclusive components, a unique box design, and exclusive cards that will only ever live in this edition, crafted to reward those who took a chance on us from the very beginning.

Whether you're backing for the love of party games, bold ideas, or chaotic fun with friends, this edition is our way of saying: you were here first, and we’ll never forget it.

What's in the Box?

• 160+ Game Cards (Omens + Charms)
• 5 unique and exclusive cards (3 Gadgets + 2 Omens), only available in the Pioneer Edition
• 1x Collectible metal 'Jack's Coin' turn tracker
• Rules Booklet (Pioneer Edition)
• A Dread-Inspiring Pioneer Edition Box with Matte Finish

The Collectible Omen Coasters

Exclusively included in the Mythical Buccaneer and Captain's Pledge tiers, the Omen Coasters are ultra-limited collector’s items. Each coaster is uniquely numbered, with only 20 ever made per Omen.

Backers of the Captain’s Pledge will receive three coasters, including one featuring the custom Omen designed after you.

Stretch Goals

Our Story

The story of Gentle Jack started over 12 years ago, when a beer-loving board game enthusiast (hey, that’s me, Thor) set out to create something special for his close group of friends. Just a fun little game to make our weekends more interesting.

For years, Gentle Jack lived as a passion project, something I’d tweak here and there, rebalancing cards, redesigning graphics, and refining the whole experience. It was never meant to be anything more than a personal creation.

But something kept happening: People loved it.

Friends asked to play again. Strangers joined in. And slowly, the idea started to grow, maybe Gentle Jack deserved a life beyond our kitchen table.

Two years ago, we rolled up our sleeves and committed to building a game that could stand toe-to-toe with the bests out there. We refined the mechanics, fine-tuned every card, upgraded the art with our talented illustrators, and built a twisted little world we call the Blackout Sea to tie it all together.

And now, Gentle Jack is finally ready to meet the world.

All that’s left is to add a few final Gadgets and tighten the card synergy with the Blackout Sea universe. With your help, we can bring this foul-mouthed creation to life and invite the world to play.

Shipping, VAT & Customs

To keep things fair and flexible for all backers, shipping costs, VAT, and any applicable customs fees will be charged after the campaign via our pledge manager (Hive). This allows us to calculate accurate rates based on your location, selected rewards, and the final weight of your pledge.

We’ve partnered with Quartermaster Logistics for worldwide fulfillment and will ship from dedicated hubs in North America, Europe, and the UK. This means smoother delivery, reduced customs issues, and faster shipping times for most regions.

Please refer to the shipping estimate chart below to get a sense of what to expect based on your region. These estimates are based on current rates with our fulfillment partners and include tracking, packaging and handling.

You’ll be able to confirm your shipping details and pay the appropriate fees in Hive before fulfillment begins, and we’ll keep you fully updated along the way.

The Tariff Situation (U.S. Backers, Take Note!)

As of now, the United States is applying tariffs of up to 145% on certain products manufactured in China, including tabletop games like Gentle Jack. Since our game will be manufactured in China, this may affect U.S.-based backers at the time of delivery.

This is an evolving, politically driven situation, and no one can say for sure where the rates will be when our games are shipped in early 2026.

Rather than building tariff costs into our pricing (which would unfairly impact non-U.S. backers), we’re going to handle this as transparently and fairly as possible.

How We’re Handling It

If you’re outside the U.S.: You're good. Tariffs won’t apply. You’ll still be responsible for VAT or sales tax depending on your country, but there are no import tariffs on games in Canada, the EU, UK, Australia, or most other regions.

If you’re in the U.S.: Unfortunately, tariffs do apply, but only on the manufacturing cost, not the full price of the game.

Let’s break that down with an example:

MSRP of Gentle Jack: $25

Example manufacturing cost: ~$5

Tariff (at 145%): $7.25

When Will This Be Charged?

We’ll only charge for shipping and tariffs once the games have arrived and cleared U.S. customs, so we’ll know the exact numbers. If the tariff drops before then, the added cost will drop, or disappear altogether.

If it stays high, we’ll share the burden with you. We’re not looking to profit off this, we just want to get Gentle Jack into your hands while still being able to fund further production runs.

If you're in the US and wish to avoid the added costs, then you can pledge for the $8 Print & Play version which includes no physical items.

TL;DR

Non-U.S. backers: You won’t pay any tariffs.

U.S. backers: Expect a small additional fee if tariffs are still high in 2026.

We’ll be transparent and fair, no matter what happens.

100% Human-Crafted Art & Design

Every piece of artwork, every card illustration, and every element of design in Gentle Jack was created by our team of talented biological human beings. We take pride in the originality, craftsmanship, and creative weirdness of our team. No AI-generated content was used in the making of this game.

When you back Gentle Jack, you’re supporting real artists doing real work.

The Team

Runar Thor – Creator
Delight Grace Batomalaque – Project Manager & Lead Graphic Designer
Hugo Wang – Game Designer
Tara Enguerra – Lead Illustrator
Faith Aragon – Vector Artist & Junior Graphic Designer
Terese Dahl Largo – Junior Illustrator
Angel Conte – Junior Illustrator