SOCIAL GAME DESIGN
Sip Slow
TIMELINE
JAN 2025 - JUN 2025
ROLE
Co-founder Designer
TEAM
3 designers, Stanford University
RESULT
Physical card game, cocktail recipe book
OVERVIEW
Problem
Mixed-crowd gatherings put the burden of connection on the host. Sip Slow surfaces shared interests between guests so hosts can feel like guests again.
Context
I worked with a team of four Stanford designers over six months to take Sip Slow from concept to physical product for Stanford's Design Capstone. What began as an effort to make inter-group mixing less stressful became a connection-first cocktail-mixing game.
RESEARCH
Hosts make introductions between two mutual connections, point out what they have in common, then step back.
Party hosts prioritize making guests feel included, even when the host isn't in the room. They do this by surfacing shared points of similarity between guests, then stepping back to let the connection develop on its own.
When hosts hold high-effort social events, they most remember their guests' gratitude. When they prepare less, hosts remember the conversations they had.
Less planning means the metric of success is genuine connection, not just execution. Hosts feel more present when events require less legwork.
Hosts use creativity as a social lubricant.
Co-creation gives strangers a shared purpose. Whether it's game night, themed parties, or potlucks, hosts share the burden of fun across the room through creative, communal goals.
INSIGHT
Letting the game be the host lets the host feel like a guest.
DESIGN DECISION
Let the game serve as a social co-host, focusing on introducing points of connection between guests.
Sip Slow addresses the pressure hosts feel to carry an event's social success by mimicking core host behaviors within the game itself: preparing refreshments, surfacing guests' commonalities, and steering conversation topics.
DESIGN DECISION
Leverage co-creation to break the ice through drink mixing and serving.
We themed the game around mixology so every guest gets a turn to create and serve a drink for the group, giving each player a stake in the others' enjoyment by letting them "play host" in miniature.
INSIGHT
Strangers connect over shared stories, backgrounds, and/or tastes.
DESIGN DECISION
Focus questions around background and tastes.
We built the game around two question types: individual spirit questions, answered by one player about themselves, and mixer questions, answered by the whole group through taste. This mix lets players share something personal while also discovering what they have in common with others at the table.
BY THE NUMBERS
12
Hosts interviewed
10
Playtesting rounds
60+
Playtesters
ITERATIONS
Optimal group size is 4–6 players.
We tested group sizes ranging from three to fourteen people. Below four, there wasn't enough variety in answers to spark real discovery; above eight, quieter players tuned out. Four to six hit the sweet spot for active listening and connection.
Simpler rules kept players present.
Early versions had players mix and deal card combinations themselves, which introduced confusion and pulled focus away from conversation. We shifted to a randomized deal each turn, a small change that removed friction and kept the game moving without interrupting the flow of talk.
BRANDING ASSETS
Developed branding guidelines.
We built a brand system around warmth and play: hand-illustrated vector graphics, a script typeface that feels personal rather than corporate, and a palette pulled from cocktail garnishes: navy, olive, cream, and red.
Co-authored 64 spirit and 64 mixer questions.
Each set was built and refined through the same playtesting process, pressure-testing which prompts sparked real conversation versus which fell flat, until we landed on a final deck that balanced personal storytelling and group discovery.
Co-authored a cocktail mixer book.
In the spirit of a connections-based game, we included a companion book of 15 cocktail recipes, each with a short story contributed by a different member of our design cohort.
