It Started Over Pizza.
A debate broke out over who had the best pizza. Everybody had a spot. Nobody was backing down.
I was hanging with friends in Brooklyn, and we got into one of those debates — the kind where everyone's passionate and no one concedes an inch. And I remember thinking: why isn't there a game for this?
Not trivia, where someone's right and someone's wrong. Not shock-value cards. A real way to debate the things people actually care about — food, music, relationships, sports — where the whole point is hearing each other out. That night became YODM.
“Your Opinion Doesn't Matter” sounds dismissive. It's the opposite. It means there's no right answer — so stop trying to win, and actually listen to why someone sees it different.
Square boards. Sticky notes. Nine years.
The first YODM was a square board, a stack of index cards, and sticky notes. Then another version. Then another.
Early on it had video questions. Players could get stuck in one section for twenty minutes. Every challenge ran two minutes — far too long. And it started as a heavy drinking game, until I noticed people were finished before the round was.
So I cut. I tested at cookouts, family gatherings, and game nights. I tightened the clock to thirty seconds. Nine years of “almost there” — from the first sketch in 2010 to the box that finally shipped in 2019.
2010
Where It Began
9 Yrs
Of Prototypes
16+
Years in Youth Work
Make your move. Respect the board.
I'm Lamont Kirton. I've spent sixteen-plus years in youth development, thirty-plus years playing chess, time coaching basketball, and I wrote a book on mentorship. My work is teaching young people to think for themselves.
YODM is a party game — and it parties. But underneath, it's the same thing I've taught for years: how to disagree without disrespecting. How to argue your point andhear someone else's. How to understand that your opinion mattering doesn't make it the only one that does.
That's Brooklyn. That's hip-hop. That's chess. Make your move — but respect the board.
Anyone with an opinion.
Family cookouts where the uncles won't quit. College kids pre-gaming. Game nights with friends who are done with the same boring card games. Adults who like to debate and aren't scared to defend a point.
And if you've never stopped to ask yourself whyyou believe what you believe? Even better. That's exactly when it gets good.