Complexity: Light
Cards Against Humanity
A card game which involves a judge choosing a black question or fill-in-the-blank card. Each player holds a hand of ten cards at the beginning of each round, and each player contributes card(s) to the “card czar” anonymously. The card czar determines which card(s) are funniest in the context of the question or fill-in-the-blank card.
The player who submitted the chosen card(s) is given the question card to represent an “Awesome Point.”
In addition, there are a few extra rules. First, some question cards are “Pick 2” or cards, which require each participant to submit two cards in sequence to complete their answer. Second, a gambling component also exists. If a question is played which a player believes they have two possible winning answers for, they may pay in an Awesome Point to play a single second answer. If the player who gambled wins, they retain the wagered point, but if they lose, the player who contributed the winning answer takes both points.
After each round, the role of card czar rotates around the table, and play continues until everyone decides to stop.
Read MoreBring Your Own Book
In Bring Your Own Book, players take turns drawing prompts from the deck, then race to find the best phrase in their own book that satisfies the prompt.
Everyone has a book and sits in a circle. The cards are placed face-down in the middle. The starting player should also have a 1-minute timer. Each player gets four cards (with 5-7 players) or five cards (with 3-4). The starting player takes the top card off the deck, picks a prompt, and reads it aloud. Everyone except the Picker searches their book for text to match the prompt. They’re seeking for sequential text of any length: a single word, half of a sentence, a whole sentence, multiple sentences.
The first Seeker to find matching text announces “I’ve got it” and starts the timer. When the timer runs out (or every Seeker announces “I’ve got it”), each Seeker reads what they’ve found. Seekers who didn’t find text in time open to a random page and read a random sentence from it.
The Picker chooses their favorite submission and awards that Reader the card. After each round, the person to the left of the last Picker starts the next round. Once any player reaches three cards, everyone passes their book to the player on their left. This happens any time a player reaches three cards during the game. As such, it can happen as many times as there are players. It is quite possible for players to pass until they have their original book back.
The game proceeds until one player reaches the set number of cards. With 5-7 players, four cards wins it; with 3-4 players, it’s better to play to five.
Read MoreDragon’s Gold
In Dragon’s Gold, each player controls a team of dragon hunters (two knights, a thief, and a wizard). Like all dragon hunters, they have only one goal: gold, silver, jewels and magic objects. As for actually killing a dragon? It’s a piece of cake. But the most difficult part comes after the dragon is dead: the adventuring party has to figure out how to share the spoils.
As soon as a dragon is overpowered, then some additional gems are revealed, and the players who had participated in that hunting party start a negotiation over how to divvy up the gems. If the sixty-second sand timer runs out, then no one gets treasure. When all of the dragons have been slain and the treasure claimed or discarded, the game ends and players score for their holdings, with silver and magic objects worth 1 point each, gold worth 3, the Black Diamond worth 7, and the colored gems scoring 10-15 points for those players who hold more than everyone else. (In the Advanced game, the colored gems score 8-12 points in addition to a variety bonus of 5 points for each set of different colored gems a player holds. The Black Diamond is worth 19 points [in the 2011 edition], but negates a player’s score for all colored gems.)
Read MoreSaboteur
Players take on the role of dwarves. As miners, they are in a mine, hunting for gold. Suddenly, a pick axe swings down and shatters the mine lamp. The saboteur has struck. But which of the players are saboteurs? Will you find the gold, or will the fiendish actions of the saboteurs lead them to it first? After three rounds, the player with the most gold is the winner.
With the help of Dwarf Cards, the players are assigned their role: either miner or saboteur. The roles are kept secret- they are only revealed at the end of the round.
Read MoreMascarade Expansion
The Masquerade resumes anew! Will you succumb to the charms of the Courtesan, or the spells of the Necromancer? Contains 13 Character cards; 13 Character tokens; 1 Cemetery card; 1 rulebook; 5 game aids.
Read MoreSpyfall
Spyfall is a party game unlike any other, one in which you get to be a spy and try to understand what’s going on around you. It’s really simple!
Spyfall is played over several rounds, and at the start of each round all players receive cards showing the same location — a casino, a traveling circus, a pirate ship, or even a space station — except that one player receives a card that says “Spy” instead of the location. Players then start asking each other questions — “Why are you dressed so strangely?” or “When was the last time we got a payday?” or anything else you can come up with — trying to guess who among them is the spy. The spy doesn’t know where he is, so he has to listen carefully. When it’s his time to answer, he’d better create a good story!
At any time during a round, one player may accuse another of being a spy. If all other players agree with the accusation, the round ends and the accused player has to reveal his identity. If the spy is uncovered, all other players score points. However, the spy can himself end a round by announcing that he understands what the secret location is; if his guess is correct, only the spy scores points.
After a few rounds of guessing, suspicion and bluffing, the game ends and whoever has scored the most points is victorious!
Read MoreShadows in the Woods
The dwarves hide in the shadows of the trees from the wandering light. The burning tea-light (adult player) moves through the dark forest and tries to find the small dwarves in their hiding places. If a dwarf is touched by the light, it is frozen and not allowed to move anymore. The other dwarves try to release it. To achieve this they must wait until the light has gone far enough so that one of them can join it in the shadow. All the dwarves try to unite under one tree while the candle tries to freeze the dwarves. Who will win, the light or the dwarves?
Shadows in the Woods is a cooperative game for players 5 years and up. An adult player for games where children play is required, due to the open flame of the candle. An alternative version included in the rules is intended for players 7 years and up, and is quite a bit more challenging. The alternative version does not require an adult player, but does require adult supervision. (The light doesn’t move.)
Read MoreSheriff of Nottingham
The Sheriff of Nottingham is a fun and engaging game for all where each player will have the chance to step into the shoes of the Sheriff himself! Other players, acting as Merchants will attempt to bring their goods into the city for profit. Beware though, while many may act as honest merchants, there is always the possibility of contraband being smuggled into the city!
Experience Nottingham in a whole new way! Declare your goods, deal with the Sheriff and secure victory in a fun-filled and exciting adventure!
Read MoreIllegal
ILLEGAL is a crazy, offbeat party game for 5 to 9 players where participants each take on the role of an illegal dealer. The game is accessible to casual as well as expert gamers, and has a mature theme. The rules of ILLEGAL are simple, but the game will challenge your skills in negotiation, misdirection, discretion, charisma, and persuasion. The more you play, the more you will learn to expand and master these skills. Each game lasts about half an hour, and is packed with intense exchanges, interactions and a lot of humour. Launch into this risqué adventure! Dare to become one of these offbeat dealers and get a good laugh with your friends.
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