Each round, the person who is the Conspirator, and does not know what the chosen word is, will have the toughest time. The player must look at the initial card played by the active player and try to work out what part of the card would illustrate the word. The Conspirator will be able to look at the cards being played by the Detectives, who do also know the word, and will be searching for common themes in the cards, to help determine what the word could be. This is a step by step guide for how to play Detective Club the popular submit and judge deduction party game. Additional notions and special rules can be found below the list. These will be referenced for your convenience. Players will then talk about how the cards they chose relate to the word. If you didn’t know the word to begin with, you’ll have to think on your feet and try to justify it somehow. It’s certainly possible you did know the word and, because you are limited to the six cards in your hand, just didn’t have anything plainly obvious to use so the descriptions can get pretty creative.

When it comes to games where one player doesn’t know something, Detective Club feels a bit different. In many other games, you can ask, or draw, anything in the world. So not knowing the information makes it pretty difficult to hide that fact. But with Detective Club you have to play two of your six cards, so potentially you aren’t going to be able to make it obvious you do, or don’t, know the information.

Setup

After everyone has played their cards, the “informer” announces what the clue was. Starting with the player to their left, they need to explain to everyone how their cards match the clue, proving of coarse that they knew the clue. You will need to lie or stretch as necessary. Once all players have laid down two cards in front of them, the clue giver then reveals the theme to the table. After this revelation, each player besides the clue giver takes turns explaining exactly how the cards in front of them fit the theme. This is easily the best part of Detective Club because player success is not necessarily determined by whether they knew the theme or not. Or, maybe you didn’t know the word at all, but as a wily conspirator, you just tried to play cards that were somewhat like the ones played by the active player. Others may call that out as the reason you should be voted for, but it’s really the best chance you have at making it out without getting all the votes. Players take turns giving a clue that matches two artwork cards in their hand. The hook is that everyone except one person knows the clue and the goal is the figure out who that person is. Everyone puts down two art cards and at the end has to describe why they knew the clue and are not the mystery liar. The person who doesn’t know has to lie and stretch their way through so as not to be detected. How to Play Detective Club Step-By-Step Go to Top Turning Dixit into a social deduction game was an amazing decision. Artistic theory is based on subjectivity; not everyone is going to agree with your opinion on an illustration. Using that as a jumping-off point for a game where people have to talk their way out of suspicion is genius and proves that Dixit-esque titles are always better when given stronger gameplay hooks.

Example: Jane is the Conspirator. There is nothing on her notebook. She tries to analyze the two previous cards and looks for something that could fit in. There is water on both cards - maybe the word is "water "? She chooses a card with a big blue wave. Detective Club is a really fun deduction game, and is suitable for players at all gaming levels. The cards are beautiful, and have enough on them for a player to use a card for several different themes. The only downside is the difficulty the Conspirator may face, if positioned directly left of the active player. Analyze all the evidence, listen to the witnesses and try to to find out who is lying among your group. Only the most observant and the most cunning will be able to succeed and achieve victory! Welcome to the Club.If there are 2 or more Tokens on the Conspirator's Player Marker, then the Conspirator and the Active Player do not score any VP. Note: Over the course of the game, whenever a player plays an Evidence Card, he immediately draws a new card to replace it. Each player must always have 6 Evidence Cards in hand. Everyone chooses one of the 8 colors. They then take the corresponding magnifying glass marker and the “I” and “II” player board strip. Place the strip in front of each player, this will be where cards are placed. Example: Mike and Bill have now added a second card, and Jane understands that the word was probably not water. Maybe "nature " then? Or something similar? She places the sunflower card, hoping for the best. Detective Club is a fantastic secret submit and judge / communication party game. It reaches the same fun and excitement levels of similar party game Dixit, but has enough differences to justify owning and playing both. This game looks like it could have easily fallen in the shadows of some of the other leaders in the party board game field, but it has done a great job of setting itself apart and being one of the best at what it does. Read Our Detective Club Review Go to Top