Nine-year-old Levi Turner and his dad Evan love nothing more than playing card games and sharing bum jokes.
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So, when boredom struck during the COVID-19 lockdown the Canberra duo created their own card game.
Go Bum is a cheeky version of the popular Go Fish! card game, where players match bums instead of animals or fish.
"You ask cheeky bum questions like 'Do you have a wiggle bum [or] do you have a golden bum?'" Levi said.
The Weston Creek father and son said that special cards in the Go Bum game included actions players must complete.
"With the pirate bum match you have to talk like a pirate," Evan Turner said.
At first the golden, stinky, and even tooty bum cards were hand drawn by the then six-year-old and his dad before they commissioned an illustrator.
Levi remembers the first time he walked into a bookshop and saw his game on the shelf.
"[I was] excited and happy ... I didn't think we were going to go that far," Levi said.
A nine-year-old businessman with bum humour
After multiple requests from family and friends to get their own copy of the game, Levi printed 100 copies in 2021 to sell at a kids' market in Gordon.
"Levi got to learn about business. He did all the selling, making change, and engaging with customers," Levi's father Evan Turner said.
They then fundraised through a kickstarter campaign in 2022 to sell the cards at selected bookshops across Australia.
"One of the nicest things that's happened lately is we've heard of some families with non-verbal autistic kids [and the Go Bum game] is a real hit with them," Mr Turner said.
The cheeky card game helping koalas
With the 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires still fresh in their minds, the pair donate part of the proceeds of their card game to koala conservation charities, including the Australian Koala Foundation.
Levi, who is in year four, regularly donates part of his pocket money to conserve koala habitat.
"Because they're adorable," Levi said.
The game has been stocked in local retailers:
- Harry Hartog Booksellers Tuggeranong and Woden
- Ronin Games Westfield Woden and Belconnen
- Book Face Gungahlin
- The Markets Wanniassa
- Little Luxton Gordon
"We're especially thankful to Ronin Games, which is family-owned and run, who was the first store to carry Go Bum and Harry Hartog who was the first major chain to carry it," Mr Turner said.
Evan said creating and sharing Go Bum had been "a journey full of surprises".
"One big surprise has been that grandmas are a big purchasing group - who knew there are so many cheeky grandmas out there?" he said, with a laugh.
Marlene Even
Journalist at the Illawarra Mercury. Previously a radio and podcast host at 2SER Radio.
Journalist at the Illawarra Mercury. Previously a radio and podcast host at 2SER Radio.
