Finally!!!! Errrmaagawd you guys I FINALLY got the Weh yuh di seh game last night, and its so good! The official card game of Belize, Weh yuh di seh is basically Cards Against Humanity but in Kriol. It’s hilarious and brilliant and great adult fun. I dropped in to Chillpoint for a game night and played a few rounds; here’s how it went, how it was developed and why I love it.
I met up with Pamela, one of the game’s founders, at Chillpoint (one of the newest in the multitude of coffee shops around Placencia) yesterday afternoon to play the game in the comfortable, air conditioned meeting room. If you didn’t know, Chillpoint offers coffees and pastries and ice cream and even wine now so it is a crowd-pleaser of a place to hang out at. Pamela told me the backstory of how the game came to be: it began during covid times… boredom being the catalyst of invention. Her friend, Destiny Wagner (yeah- Miss Earth!) spent a lot of time visiting her in Placencia but with lockdowns and restrictions, the two were mostly holed up in an apartment entertaining themselves. They made up their own version of Cards Against Humanity but with Belize-based scenarios and timely/ topical phrase cards in the local Kriol dialect. An instant hit among their friends, they knew they had something special. They developed it in to a full-blown, professional product that hit the market just before Christmas. I’d been wanting to get it ever since I saw it advertised on Facebook and now that I’ve played, I’m hooked!
Not only do I love that the game is in Kriol (there’s an English translation at the bottom of each card) but I think its so awesome that a lot of the scenarios or response cards are Belize-specific. Some talk about the political parties (example: ‘Secka yuh gone vote fi UDP’ or ‘This is because you voted for United Democratic Party’) and some talk about the Belizean experience during the pandemic (example: ‘I mi tink I get a sweetheart pass’ or ‘I thought I get a pass to cheat’- referring to breaking the covid-curfew rules to see your mistress). Some of the saying are from popular song lyrics (example: ‘soh bwai gon lose deh gyal tonight’ or ‘some men will lose their wives tonight’) or from social media memes (example: ‘throw hands insted ah phrase’ or ‘fight me with your hands not your words’- you’d be familiar with this if you’re on Belize TikTok).
I had such a blast playing yesterday with a mix of Belizeans and foreigners, I can’t wait to bust this out at the next BBQ or beach day. It might even help me with my terrible Kriol (Mitch’s is spot on but he won’t teach me); mek wi play an practice! This is a really well-done game and I expect it will endure and their will be expansion packs and other merch available down the line. Pick up your own set at the Artisan Pop up Markets, Sunova Gift Shop on the sidewalk, Splash Dive Center, or online at https://seasonedlingogames.com/product/weh-yuh-di-seh/
And if I can suggest a phrase addition for the next edition of Weh yuh di seh, it would be a favorite phrase from our Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams, taught to him by his mother. “I noh say Good Mawnin to cow” meaning “I don’t have time for nonsense.”
