A love letter to a system that works, built for the person who made it.

What this is

Fair Play Deck is an unofficial prototype built for Eve Rodsky, the author of Fair Play. It’s a demonstration of what her card system could feel like as a shared app for two partners: tactile cards you deal across a table, standards you agree together, and a weekly check-in that replaces mid-week nagging.

It isn’t affiliated with, or endorsed by, Eve Rodsky, Fair Play, Hello Sunshine or the Fair Play Policy Institute. We made it for her, in the hope that she likes it.

The ideas are hers

Every concept on this site comes from Eve Rodsky’s work: the 100 cards and their suits, Conception, Planning and Execution, the Minimum Standard of Care, Daily Grinds, Wild cards, the Happiness Trio, Unicorn Space and the four rules. The card definitions and suggested standards are her text, shown with credit.

Rodsky, a Harvard-trained lawyer, spent years interviewing hundreds of people about how their households really run, and treated the home the way she’d treat any organization: clear roles, one owner per job, agreed standards and a regular meeting. The result became a New York Times bestseller and a Reese’s Book Club pick, followed by The Fair Play Deck, Find Your Unicorn Space and the 2022 documentary Fair Play.

What we tried to get right

• One holder per card, all of CPE. The app never splits a card’s conception, planning and execution between partners.
• Fair, not 50/50. No card-count scoreboard. Balance is shown qualitatively, with extra attention on the Daily Grinds.
• Requests wait for the check-in. A shared “for our check-in” list gives frustrations somewhere to go.
• Unicorn Space is the payoff, not an afterthought. Each partner’s card sits on the home screen.
• Shared from the start. Either partner can begin and invite the other, so one person doesn’t carry the job of launching the game alone.