Tag: Dixit

1446: From the Game Shelf: Dixit

Dixit

Publisher: Libellud
Designer: Jean-Louis Roubira
Released: 2008
Players: 3-6
Recommended ages: 8+
Play Time: 30 minutes

Theme: Abstract
Mechanics: Bluffing, communication, description, educated guessing
Randomness: Moderate to high
Luck factor: Depends on who you play it with!
Strategy: Light
Interaction: High

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Dixit is a card-based party game that revolves around the idea of creatively describing images. (Do not confuse it with the 1983 crossword-building game of the same name, as the two are very different!) The aim of the game is to score points — this can be achieved by, depending on what your role is that turn, describing cards in just enough detail that one or two people around the table successfully guess what you were describing, by successfully identifying what that turn’s “storyteller” was describing, or by convincing other people that the card you played was the one the storyteller was describing.

It’s a quick, easy to learn game that’s high on communication and creativity, making it ideal for social gatherings. There are numerous expansions available too, as well as standalone variants that bump up the maximum player count to 8 rather than the original’s 6.

How it Plays

The role of “storyteller” is passed around the table one player at a time. On your turn as the storyteller, you must select one of the cards from your hand and play it face-down onto the table, then describe it in any way you please — a word, a phrase, a little song and dance routine.

Once this is done, all of the other players select a card from their hand that they believe would also fit the storyteller’s description and play them face-down. The storyteller then shuffles the played cards and reveals them to the table.

At this point, players secretly vote which one they think was the storyteller’s card using cardboard chips with numbers on them. The storyteller does not vote. All votes are revealed simultaneously, and the storyteller then reveals which card was theirs.

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If all players correctly voted for the storyteller’s card or if no-one correctly identified it, all players except the storyteller receive two points. In all other cases, the storyteller and any players who successfully identified their card receive three points. Bonus points are awarded for each vote a player received for the card they played when they were not the storyteller. In other words, it’s in the storyteller’s interest to be slightly obtuse about their clues, but not so obtuse no-one will recognise what they’re talking about. Savvy storytellers will make use of references and descriptions they know only certain players around the table will catch.

Players then draw up to a hand of 6 cards, and the role of storyteller passes around the table. Play continues until the deck of cards is exhausted, and the player with the most points at the end is the winner.

Bits and Pieces

The highlight of Dixit is its 84 oversized cards, each of which depicts a different image. The images — the work of one Marie Cardouat — are all somewhat surreal in nature and deliberately difficult to describe in simple terms, but they have a consistent art style that is pleasingly distinctive and instantly recognisable.

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Scoring is tracked using wooden rabbit markers that proceed around a track printed on the box insert which may be removed if desired. The markers are well-made but their shape makes them somewhat prone to falling over or being knocked around if the table or box is bumped inadvertently, and with the close positioning of the numbers on the board, this can sometimes lead to inaccurately tracked scores. The score tracker also only goes up to 30, and it’s possible for games — particularly those with fewer players — to exceed this total, necessitating further “laps” around the board.

Voting is accomplished through coloured cardboard tokens with numbers on one side and the Dixit logo on the back. They’re functional but in keeping with the game’s playful art style, and the bright, vibrant colours make each player’s tokens immediately distinguishable from one another.

Is it Fun?

Dixit’s a game you need to play with the right people, and it’s also a game that changes over time the more times you play it with the same people. Ideally, you want to play with a group of people who all know each other well so that psychological tricks such as obscure references and in-jokes can come into play. Those who are not very creative or imaginative — or those who find it difficult to grasp more abstract games — probably won’t have as good a time playing Dixit.

The more times you play, the more you’ll come to recognise various cards as they come up, and how people generally tend to describe them. This forces you to either come up with more creative ways of describing the images — or, of course, to invest in one of the various expansion decks available.

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The game makes for some memorable occasions, however, particularly if someone comes up with a particularly creative (or offensive!) description for one of the cards. It’s fun trying to read the other players around the table, and determining how best to bluff your way to victory. It may initially seem like a simple, straightforward party game and indeed there’s nothing stopping you treating it as such. But it’s also possible to turn the game into a gruelling battle of wits against your rivals as you attempt to take advantage of what you know about all of them.

So yes, it’s very much a fun game — and a pleasantly short, light affair that’s good for either opening or capping off an evening’s gaming. If you have a group of players who would respond well to its creative challenges, it’s well worth your time.

1224: The Clue is ‘Tits’

I’m away on an (almost) full weekend of board gaming fun as I write this. Today we were particularly pleased that we actually managed to finish a complete game of Mage Knight — albeit the “quick” scenario, which still took from 10am until 6pm. (Granted, we did go out to the pub and have lunch halfway through, but still.)

What I really wanted to talk about today, though, was an interesting little game I picked up having heard it was good, but not really knowing a great deal about it. That game is Dixit, and I can see now why it’s so highly-regarded by many gaming groups.

Here’s the gist. You’re dealt a hand of six oversized cards, each of which depicts some gorgeous storybook-style imagery that doesn’t necessarily tie in with a specific concept — instead, they’re all deliberately ambiguous. The reason for this is that it’s up to the players to come up with descriptions for them.

Each turn, the player assigned as the “storyteller” must secretly pick a card from their hand, then lay it face-down on the table. They must then describe it using a word, sentence, phrase or even guttural noise, at which point the other players at the table pick the card from their hands that they think most closely fits the storyteller’s description. The submitted cards are then jumbled up and revealed, and everyone except the storyteller has to secretly vote on which one they think was the original card. If either everyone or no-one gets it right (indicating that the storyteller was either too obvious/specific or too vague respectively) then the storyteller scores no points, while everyone else scores two points plus another one per vote that was on their card. If at least one person got the storyteller’s card right, both they and the storyteller get three points each, and the other players still get one point per vote on their card.

Play then proceeds until you’ve exhausted the deck, at which point whoever has the highest score wins.

It’s a really interesting game. The mechanics are super-simple and for some groups it might be kind of a hard sell, because it sounds like fluffy filler with no real substance. And perhaps in some respects it is. But on the other hand, it’s also an extremely clever game about bluffing, misdirection and understanding the people who are sitting at the table with you. As storyteller, your ideal approach to your turn is to play a card and make an appropriate reference that only one other person at the table — preferably the person in last place — will get. Too obvious and you’ll score nothing; not obvious enough and, again, you’ll score nothing. It’s a fine line.

Where the strategy of the game, such as it is, comes in is in the combination of playing appropriate cards and giving appropriate clues while simultaneously getting your head around how the other players are playing. Do they tend to make literal references? Do they try and be deliberately obtuse? Are they obviously trying to pander to someone else’s sensibilities? In short, can you figure out how they think?

It may sound like a somewhat flimsy premise for a game, but we played two full games this evening and it became clear very quickly that you could spot patterns in people’s behaviour and adjust your own play style accordingly — while the mechanics are simple, the real complexity of Dixit comes in reading your fellow players and determining what they’re likely to do next. Knowing the people at the table obviously helps, as this enables you to describe a card using carefully-selected words or phrases that will mean something to some, but not all of the people you’re playing against.

I was very pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable the game was, and I’m looking forward to playing it again sometime — its simple nature means that it’s particularly well-suited to both those who are unfamiliar with more complex board games as well as established gaming groups who are looking for something a little “lighter” between bouts of Power Grid or Agricola.