Combustible Penguin - Retail Edition

In the spirit of simple games with high strategy, Combustible Penguin is all about keeping it simple. Each turn, you will draw a card and play a card. You can choose to discard it to use its abilities or place it on your line to grow your penguin clan. Event cards will also come into play, which can hurt or help your penguin clan. Check out this video from Dad's Gaming Addiction to learn more!

Dad's Gaming Addiction Play

The Spontaniously Combustible Penguin was an odd comedy “zine” I made in elementary school, where I would write silly jokes and songs on a piece of notebook paper and pass it to kids in class. In college, my kickball team was also named Spontaniously Combustible Penguins. Over time, I had an idea for a card game that mixed one of my favorite games, Love Letter, with a game played with my family growing up: skit-skat (or 31 as I’ve learned it is also called.) I’m not sure if that is exactly what I’ve created, but I’m pretty fond of the little penguins!

I started making the game way back in 2018 (it's almost 2026 at reallease.) I had made a few computer games before, but this was the first time I put effort into a physical game, and I learned a lot. I think the best thing I’ve learned is that simplicity is very hard, but an excellent goal. "Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple." - Steve Jobs

Since then, there has been a marriage, COVID, and even a child! I’ve playtested the game over 1000 times, with over 500 people! I’m finally at a point where I believe the game runs smoothly, and I'm excited to bring it to the people!