Round THREE! of Level-Up Legends, and this time we’re going into the murky world of social deduction games. From classic to challenging… that’s the idea for this blog series!
Back in the mid 80s the game Mafia made a big splash, this was one of the earliest notable examples of the genre. Werewolf in its many guises followed and the scene exploded with games like Coup, The Resistance, Love Letter and Spyfall.
Shortly after these Secret Hitler hit the scene in 2016, and things would never be the same again…
Political Intrigue and betrayal!
After a very successful Kickstarter (nearly $1.5 million!) this quickly became the game that surpassed all those previous games. With a healthy dose of satire (lizardmen nazis?) and wonderful levels of production, this set the bar high for future social deduction games.
Any game where a smaller minority influences a majority to act against its best interests lends itself to a political twist and that is what we have here in Secret Hitler.
What did it do so well compared to previous games? Well, no early player elimination and the lack of a moderator were two of the things that marked this game out from the crowd. Multiple paths to victory for each side didn’t hurt either, a policy win for either side is potentially possible and the pressure of trying not to nominate Hitler in as Chancellor toward the end of the game is palpable, as is the tension of assassination mistakes or glory…
How could this be improved and what would ‘Level-Up’ a game like this? Well, we’ve been running sessions of this across our sites for a long time and it’s here to stay. Just as beautiful but so much more… Blood on the Clocktower.
A grisly murder… is only the beginning…
With the death of their beloved storyteller starting off the game, realisation sets in that among the townsfolk that something rotten lurks amongst them, masquerading as one of them during in the day and killing by night. Can evil be vanquished and will good triumph? A game that can be played with as few as 5 players and a storyteller but really shines in the 10+ region, this is social deduction at its best.
When looking at BotC (as it’s known) it seems to be just a fancy version of Werewolf, but it is so much more than that. Yes, evil kills someone every night and also everyone votes in the daytime if they should execute a player, but here the similarity ends.
The main selling points of playing BotC? Interesting player powers including some that affect how others work, also elimination is not the end and also three sets of characters in the base game for different levels of players… Yes, you need a moderator to make this work but it’s a very rewarding job, just as being a DM in D&D is.
So, how is elimination not the end? Well, Ravenswood Bluff (as the town is called where this takes place) is known to be haunted. When people die, they can still be involved in the game as a ghost and they even get one last vote to use in any execution, this certainly removes the sting from player elimination.
The main part of the game though is the narrative that weaves from the characters in the game and the way their powers can intertwine. Every player has a role and each role has something special about them. In the first game set ‘Trouble Brewing’, it could be something as simple as knowing if evil players are sitting next to each other at the start of the game or you may be able to protect a person from death each night from the Demon.
Unfortunately, the bad guys get cool powers too! For instance, one of the Minions specialises in poison and if you are poisoned then your power doesn’t work the way it normally does that day which leads to some very interesting situations but even the threat of their potentially being a poisoner in the midst is enough for anyone to doubt everything they think they know.
With two other deeper character sets to play, things get a bit crazy. The second set, ‘Bad Moon Rising’, is all about being proactive as a player but also risking killing colleagues… is it worth the price? The last set ‘Sects and Violets’ really throws a spanner into the works, information galore but, how much of it can be trusted?
This is a very intense game and not for everyone but if Social Deduction is your thing then you really should give this a go sometime, luckily we run regular events across our sites, just check out our events page for details.
Don’t be worried if you come alone to one of these evenings, we’re a dab hand at making people feel welcome (it’s what we do!) and there are even ways in the game we can level the playing field between new players and this more experienced if you feel you need it! Just don’t trust anyone too much in the game, it caould all be a ploy…
Be warned, this kind of game is very addictive, once you enter Ravenswood Bluff, it is likley that you may never leave…
…alive.