Growing Sideways:
A Conversational Card Game
Building Connection with Conversations
Real conversations. Stronger connections.
ABOUT THE GAME
Talking about bodies, boundaries, relationships, and growing up can feel awkward, for both kids and the adults who care about them. But the truth is, both want to have these conversations.
Growing Sideways was created to take the pressure off and the awkwardness away. So meaningful conversations can flow through fun and engaging gameplay.
WHAT IS IT?
Growing Sideways is a conversation card game that helps youth and trusted adults explore real-life topics in a way that feels natural, approachable, and even fun. Players roll a custom die to select a card from one of six categories: Values & Decision-Making, Consent & Boundaries, Bodies & Changes, Healthy Relationships, Real-Life Pressures, and Shifts & Turns. As they respond to the prompts, they open a natural dialogue about their feelings and experiences, without any pressure to say the "right" thing.
Who can play?
Growing Sideways was designed with youth ages 10–13 in mind, with content developed and reviewed to align with National Sex Education Standards for that age group. That said, families with younger or older youth have enjoyed playing too because the conversation-based format adapts naturally to where your family is. Players engage alongside parents, caregivers, grandparents, guardians, older siblings, mentors, or any other trusted adults a young person feels safe talking to.
DOES IT WORK?
Growing Sideways has been developed through a human-centered design process shaped directly by the youth and families it is designed to serve. Through multiple rounds of community testing and real family feedback, we've heard how Growing Sideways creates a fun, safe space to talk about issues that can feel heavy. It encourages connection without focusing on perfection. Players have space to think out loud and consider other perspectives without feeling lectured or tested.
IS IT FUN?
Of course! Growing Sideways incorporates interactive elements that keep gameplay exciting while supporting meaningful conversation. Players may be asked to act out prompts, involve the whole group, or steal points. The new Shifts & Turns category adds gamechanger cards that raise the stakes and keep everyone engaged.
For families who've played, the experience has built trust and opened conversations that continue long after the game ends.
LIMITED COPIES AVAILABLE
Get Your Copy | $25 + Shipping
Growing Sideways is available now through our online shop. Each game ships in a simple white box with the game logo, we're keeping packaging minimal while we continue developing the final design. What's inside is what matters.
This is a limited release. Your purchase directly supports a small nonprofit doing big work, and every copy includes a QR code linking to a short feedback survey that will shape future versions of the game.
This is a limited release. Your purchase directly supports a small nonprofit doing big work, and every copy includes a QR code linking to a short feedback survey that will shape future versions of the game.
How Growing Sideways Began:
This Isn't a First Attempt.
Nearly 30 years of EyesOpenIowa — from a tin can to a tested, community-built card game.
Families Can Talk
Our first product of its kind, paper prompt cards tucked inside a portable tin, designed to spark honest conversations at home. Questions were drawn directly from FAQs we regularly heard from parents and educators.
Let's Talk Trivia
Redesigned as a trivia-style card game for educators and families, EyesOpenIowa created six color-coded categories, 100 prompt cards, and a focus on fact-based sexual health conversations with teens. As a free resource, gifted to anyone who requested one.
Continued Adaptation
Brought Let's Talk Trivia into community settings, tabling events, and youth education trainings, adapting content on the fly to stay accurate and relevant. Watching it in action was telling — youth loved the dice, and what started as a simple category-picker sparked a competitive energy we hadn't anticipated. It was time to rebuild.
New Prototype & Community Testing
Selected for a competitive nonprofit innovation cohort, we received grant funding and training to develop 100 new question prompts across 5 categories built from years of community input. We mailed game kits to families across the United States and their feedback was eye-opening, identifying gaps, sparking new ideas, and revealing what players wanted more of. The next chapter of Growing Sideways had begun.
Launch Innovation Program
With the cohort's support, we ran structured playtesting with 41 family units and gathered 111 survey responses, using every piece of feedback to refine and shape the game into what it is today. This version is the result of that work — and the story isn't over.
Growing Sideways
Built from the ground up with community input, this version features 300 cards across an expanded 6 categories, custom dice, and competitive gameplay mechanics shaped directly by youth. Aligned to National Sex Ed Standards for ages 10 to 13. We are proud of how far this game has come, and we are not done yet.
TESTED WITH REAL FAMILIES
Real Families. Real Feedback. Real Impact.
41 family units tested nationwide. 111 survey responses across 4 rounds. Youth and caregivers playing in their own homes, in real life — not a lab.
We didn't just measure whether people enjoyed the game. We measured what happened after. And what we found was consistent: the conversations didn't stop when the game did.
Youth brought topics up again on their own. New questions surfaced days later. Families told us the game created an opening they didn't know how to make on their own.
"We started talking about things we wouldn't normally bring up.”
"It got less awkward the more we played."
"It felt more normal to talk about weird things we usually would avoid."
(Quotes are representative of common themes across participant feedback)
it’s More than just a game, IT’S A TOOL FOR CONNECTION
"Conversations don't end when the game does, they continued long after."
WHAT'S IN THE BOX
300 prompt cards: Values & Decision-Making, Consent & Boundaries, Bodies & Changes, Healthy Relationships, Real-Life Pressures, and Shifts & Turns
Custom category dice
Game instructions
QR code linking to feedback survey
White box with Growing Sideways logo
final packaging is in development, we're keeping it simple while we get the game into your hands.
COMMUNITY-POWERED DEVELOPMENT
You're Not Just Buying a Game, You're part of Building It!
Growing Sideways was shaped by community feedback from the very beginning. That doesn't stop with this release.
This version includes 300 prompt cards across 6 categories, custom dice, and new interactive gameplay elements, including the brand-new Shifts & Turns category, expanded card content, and a custom category die. These additions represent our most ambitious update yet, and we're bringing them directly to real families to find out what lands.
Every copy includes a QR code linking to a short feedback survey. Your responses will directly inform the next version of the game. As a small nonprofit we can't offer paid participation this time — but every family who plays and shares their experience becomes a genuine co-creator of what Growing Sideways becomes next, and we'll find meaningful ways to show our gratitude.
VISION & FUTURE GROWTH
Growing Sideways Has Momentum and a Clear Path Forward
Growing Sideways was not rushed to market. It was built over years, tested with real families, and shaped by genuine community feedback. The result is a game that works, and a proven process for making it better.
Our goal is to develop Growing Sideways into a sustainable, scalable product that generates reliable revenue to support EyesOpenIowa's broader educator work. The infrastructure is already in place: a tested game, an engaged community, alignment to national standards, and a clear iteration process. What we are building toward is the capacity to reach more families, refine the game further, and prove that community-centered educational tools can sustain themselves.
This version is the next step. We are proud of how far it has come, and we know exactly where it needs to go.
Interested in being part of what comes next? We would love to connect at maddy@eyesopeniowa.org