Social Deduction Games - Which One is for You?

[@theoofiesgaming8175]

Thank you for the video, spotted a few videos we would love to try!

[@MeepleUniversity]

Our pleasure :)

[@kairachann3482]

Great list! I think Deception is a great game for us, Fake Artist too haha gotta try Luke's trick lol

[@MeepleUniversity]

Haha that was a pretty funny moment!

[@madhujith]

Really really surprised that Feed the Kraken isn't on that list!!!

[@velderak1458]

There is an E G R E G I O U S lack of Feed the Kraken on this list...

[@tolkienfan4ever]

Well, that’s not good to hear! Love me some FtK!!! I came to this vid hoping to see it at Number 1. 😢

[@MeepleUniversity]

Haha, well as we mentioned in the video, (not in the index list) this is not our top 10 list of social deduction game, this is a few that we think people might enjoy based on game, what they like, etc. Thanks for the visit!

[@unlimitedrabbit]

I adore Mantis Falls but it tends to be underappreciated due to its two player (with an optional tacked on three player variant) nature. The suspense of not knowing if you can completely trust that the other player is a witness like you (cooperative game) or an assassin trying to un-alive you (competitive game) creates such thick tension.

[@MeepleUniversity]

Thank you for the suggestion. Sounds like I need to check it out, Luke might have played it. Just looked it up on BGG, the "sometimes cooperative" games usually does create tension. Thank you!

[@Poiuytrew.Q]

I got avalon and Quest in the last big box kickstarter - which had so much stuff and it’s confusing to separate out everything. I never played the games prior so I came into it not knowing anything. I think I also got Coup in that kickstarter which isnt social deduction but it’s the one we end up playing instead!

[@MeepleUniversity]

Ah yeah would have been a bit confusing separating all the goodies in the box hehe. Hope you enjoy them all!

[@Mathroy]

Good video! I host (and moderate) game nights of Town of Salem. It is essentially much like Mafia, but with more roles, some unique, some not. The point in having some non-unique (like for example there could be 3 Doctors in a game) is to help players on either Evil or Neutral team to try and claim roles that they are not. That is what I dislike about games like Werewolves or Blood on the Clocktower, players are not naturally encouraged to claim roles. Even the main Evil team (Mafia) cannot have more than 1 Mafioso. The rest of them will be assigned random roles like Godfather, Framer Blackmailer, Consigliere, etc, and when the Mafioso is killed, one of them randomly gets promoted to Mafioso. I have a few hundred hours of playtime on the video game version (which is where this comes from) and decided to make my own cards to introduce all the video game roles into the card game, keeping the game interesting and adding tons of replayability. Tons of Neutral roles keep the game very balanced and prevent some stalemates or gamebreaking situations, or at least the possibility of having those roles in. Also, when no player is new, I do not add the classic villager role (called Townie here) into the mix and mirror the video game in that every player has a useful and special role. Roles for a randomized game for 12 players can look something like this: Town -2 Sheriff -1 Bodyguard -2 Doctor -1 Mayor -1 Veteran Mafia -1 Mafioso -1 Consigliere -1 Janitor Neutral -1 Serial Killer -1 Jester Or something completely opposite and have like 5 Doctors because of the randomized role list :) Anyway, it's great fun.

[@MeepleUniversity]

Thanks for sharing that🙏

[@joyjoy5763]

Great video - I might just pull out Spyfall again 😂

[@MeepleUniversity]

Hahaha, go for it Joy!

[@skyblazeeterno]

I wouldn't say Spyfall is social deduction at all....more word puzzle. Find a link between a number of words

[@MeepleUniversity]

Either way, I'm bad at it and hard to keep straight face, and panic if I am the spy hehe

[@darbyl3872]

Thumbs up for the good reviews. Night Of The Ninja is conspicuously not mentioned, but is a great one, and often overlooked, don't know why. It takes 10 to 30 minutes, and plays 4 to 11 players. The difficulty is low, but it has enough strategy to make it fun for everyone. Werewords is also fun for 4 to 20 people, also by the Werewolf company. Burke's Gambit is another good one that plays 4 to 8, but it's not being made right now :-( Blood On The Clocktower. My favorite for groups of 6 or more (one person being the Storyteller / director). The complexity varies from one script to the next, and from one person to the next. You can have an expert level script, requiring an expert Storyteller, an evil team with some experience, and a good team with no experience. (Of course the roles are usually given out randomly, so it can be tough on a team with no experienced players.) You can also play the beginner script, Trouble Brewing, with all new players and a ST with only a little bit of experience. If you like logic puzzles and having conversations that may or may not be full of lies and deception, this is for you. However, the more players, the longer it plays, so that can be a factor. At 7 players, it may last an hour, at 15 it may last 3 hours. Or it can end in 10 minutes if the demon is killed on Day One. There are also scripts online for 5 to 6 players, called Teensyville, ranging from easy (with characters from Trouble Brewing) to expert (one is called Late Night Drive By 😂 with expansion characters, only found online, or as print-and-play). For 2 to 3 players, Werewords Deluxe is neat, and I've heard good things about Mantis Falls that plays 2 to 3 players, but it looks to be more difficult to learn. It may be worth the effort, though.

[@MeepleUniversity]

Thank you for sharing that! 🙏🙏 Yes you're right, Night of the Ninja actually a great game, and social deduction player friend.y. Sooo many great social deduction out there right!! Hope you have a lovely weekend!

[@skyblazeeterno]

From what I've seen of BOTC it's too expensive, needs an established experienced group and too complex for its own sake