Abigail Smith and Sidjay Slack initially crossed paths while in first form at Campion College. The two friends ended up migrating to the United States and, while they enjoyed international board and card games, they wanted to play one that reflected Jamaica’s vibrant culture and would reconnect them to their island roots. The concept began as a holiday experiment. Before they knew it, the dynamic duo were playing their cards right with ‘Bere Vibes’.
“As we have seen the rapid increase in digital media, we reflected on what happens when technology isn’t at our grasp. Bere Vibes serves three functions; to connect family and friends, to preserve culture which can be passed down, and also to learn more about our unique culture,” Smith told Living.
With Smith going away for college and Slack leaving the island after completing her undergraduate degree at The University of the West Indies, it was during their time abroad overseas that they noticed a gap in the gaming industry, “We went to many game nights as we built our network, and soon realised there were no games on the market that focused on our culture,” Smith explained.
So Smith created the first deck about six years ago. Going home in December 2019, she figured it was the right time to put her theories to the test. She printed the cards on cardstock from her work printer on sheets, cutting them out and putting them in her suitcase.
Creating a unique focus group for this experiment, inclusive of her close friends and family members, the cards were an instant hit. “It was exciting to see what my parents knew and answered, as opposed to my younger siblings and friends who would jump at the opportunity to match up the customs and traditions with current affairs. The feedback was, ‘When are you launching this?’,” she shared.
Unfortunately, self-doubt began to rear its ugly head, hindering her progress. Over time, friends started inquiring about her new card adventure. Slack was among those friends who later lent her hand, offering creative direction and bringing her business mindset on board.
DIFFERENT TIME ZONES
“We both have distinct insights, based on our experiences. So we are able to look at things differently and push each other. We live in different time zones. With Abigail now residing in the United Arab Emirates, collaboration took a little bit of someone going to bed late or waking up earlier to put the final pieces together,” Slack pointed out, adding, “We are also able to cover for each other when needed, especially during stressful periods when we need some grace. Overall, it was a really fun process. We both played a role in designing the cards and the box from scratch.” And, after creating drafts and doing mini polls, the first pack was born.
‘Di Original Pack’ of Bere Vibes boasts exciting categories like Proverbs, Guess Dis, Jus Dance and Act it Out. Since launching in February of last year for a test run, it has been doing extremely well. The only downside is that it only consisted of 90 cards.
Following on the review that more cards are needed, the team created ‘Di Bigga Pack’, with 200 brand-new cards and an additional category of Hum It. “We launched the second deck for pre-order at the beginning of December and this will be available widely at the start of January. The second deck focuses on more trivia and voting style of play. We tested this deck in the summer and again, received lots of great feedback,” Smith revealed.
It is their hope that Bere Vibes becomes a household name. “We also hope to encourage other Jamaican game-makers and we want to see more people engage with our culture in this type of way. You can get our cards on our website berevibes.com where we ship to the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. And, we are happy to announce that we are now available on Amazon Prime,” Slack asserted.