Garvagh artist creates the first ever Irish drinking card game for St. Patrick’s Day

If you're looking to do something a little bit different on St Patrick's Day, this County Derry artist has you covered.

Bronagh Rafferty, from Garvagh, has designed The Confession Box – an original Irish-themed board game.

The game is designed to get players to ‘absolve their sins’ by answering personal questions written on one of the cards. Players who don't want to answer must drink the number of shots or sips displayed as ‘penance’.

Bronagh, a former Loreto College Coleraine student, created the game independently with a bit of workshopping with her friends (and some alcohol!).

“It was actually called ‘Spilling the Tae’ at the start,” she says. “The ideas snowballed from there. I loved the word play on Confession, the idea of absolving sins and issuing penance. I thought it linked really well with a drinking game.

“I bought a few cheap playing card packs from Sports Direct and used a sharpie to create rough mock ups.

“I brought them with me every time I was seeing friends or family and started testing them out. Seeing what got the biggest laughs and what could be improved on. 

“Also, with it being a drinking game, it's 18+, meaning I gave myself a bit of a licence to be quite racy with the cards.”

The cards themselves are designed to emulate the feeling of a confession box.

“I really enjoyed the design process. I chose a woody brown as the main colour to mimic the real thing and leaned heavily on the gothic theme. I researched religious symbols, celtic knots and traditional playing cards.

“I modernised the artwork with my favourite font and graphic style for the wee shots of baby Guinness at the bottom of each card. My favourite shot,” she laughs.

The 99 cards are inspired by Northern Irish slang, celebrities and culture. It includes general questions like 'What did your school report say about you?' and more heated questions like 'Who was your first curt?' or challenges like 'Make up an Irish folk song about the person on your right'.

While the game is unmistakably Irish, it can be played by anyone.

During the workshopping phase she tested it at drinks with Irish friends and friends in Manchester, where she currently lives, and it was a hit with both.

To show her dedication to confessions Bronagh agreed to answer one of her own questions. The question selected was: 'Tell us a drink you can't face anymore and why?'

“Has to be Jägerbombs. I can’t even cope with the smell of them,” she says.

“It was the first time I was going on a night out with my boyfriend’s friends – to Secrets in Magherafelt. They were buying rounds and rounds of vodka blackcurrant and Jägerbombs.

“I thought I was doing really well keeping up the pace. How wrong I was. Was so sick on the bus home – I’ll spare you the specifics but I can't bare the thought of them since. The fear the next day was next level.”

The game has really taken off with her friends and family but due to her usual playstyle and the nature of the questions Bronagh has had to block a couple of people from playing.

“I t’s whipped out at every pre-drinks! It’s not one of those games where you play it once and you're bored of it. When you play it with different people you hear different stories prompted by each card.

“It’s a great conversation starter. I played with my friend Orla, who I’ve known since I was four, and we were finding out things about each other we never knew! Any time we play it in the pub, the tables next to us ask what we’re playing and join in. It’s really sociable.

“I confess nearly every time! But I have made a rule that my parents aren’t allowed to play it, so I’ve chosen who I’m playing with wisely.”

The Confession Box and more of Bronagh’s original designs can be purchased at https://bronaghraff.co.uk/