deduction

Psychobabble

A social deduction game in which one player is a psychotherapist trying to discover what shared dreams their patients suffering from mass hysteria have been having. The game uses large cards with surreal dreamlike images set out in a grid. The Patients all know which card they’re discussing but the psychotherapist does not. The problem is that one of the patients is genuinely insane and has been give the wrong card to talk about. This patient needs to remain anonymous to win the game.

The beauty of this game is that nobody knows who that one insane patient is, not even themselves. This means that everyone has to be really cagey about their communication until they work out (if they work out) who it is. But with all this vague and obtuse communication going on how can you be sure that it’s not you who is insane?

A game of real suspense and paranoia it will have you questioning who you can trust, and even if you can trust yourself.

—description from the designer

Corps of Discovery: A Game Set in the World of Manifest Destiny

Lewis and Clark are tasked not only with exploring America, but with ridding the land of numerous invasive monsters that have appeared.

Corps of Discovery: A Game Set in the World of Manifest Destiny is a co-operative deduction game in which players each take the role of one of the crew on the expedition and set out to explore the land. The game board allows for different maps to be inserted into it, so you have many adventures ahead of you.

In addition to finding and killing monsters, you must also complete numerous daily challenges that require specific resources that you can find on the board. You have to use logic and deduction to reason out where the resources you need are located. Ally yourselves with Sacajawea and the indigenous people of the area to help you on your quest.

The game comes with two chapters: Fauna and Flora. Each has new mechanisms, a different goal, and new components to give each chapter a different feel.

—description from the publisher

Clue: Giant Edition

One mystery . . . 6 suspects. It’s the classic game of Clue with a giant twist! Can you figure out who’s responsible for hijinks in the mansion? Nine mysterious rooms are laid out in a circle, each holding dark secrets inside to discover. Spin the spinner and move to a room by standing beside the room’s large vinyl mat. Inside, you can pick up 2 Evidence Cards – but you can keep only one. Or you might spin and take possession of another big piece of evidence: one of 6 large, foam Tools. Your goal: Move from room to room, collecting matching colored Suspect, Room, and Tool cards, along with the matching foam Tool, and you’ll solve the case! Was it Professor Plum with the Rubber Mallet in the Library? Or Mr. Green with the Trumpet in the Billiard Room? No case is too small to solve with Clue: GIANT Edition!

—description from the publisher

Molly House

In Molly House, players take the roles of the gender-defying mollies of early eighteenth century London. Throw grand masquerades and cruise back alleys while evading moralistic constables who seek to destroy your community. Be careful, there may even be informers in your midst!

Over the course of an hour, players will draft hands of vice cards representing the different gestures, desires, and encounters that were frowned upon by the Society for the Reformation of Manners, a citizen group that sought to stamp out any behavior it deemed deviant in late 17th and early 18th century London. These cards allow players to host festivities with the help of their fellow mollies and create joy. But, those same cards can also lead players to be arrested and to the ultimate ruin of the molly house.

As players encounter the Society’s enforcers, they will often have to pay bribes or may be coerced into becoming informers for the Society. Informers must try desperately to undermine the community around Mother Clap’s Molly House without being discovered by their fellow mollies.

Infiltraitors

Your organization has been infiltrated by moles, nefarious informants from the enemy. As faithful agents, you must work together to uncover and eliminate all the traitors.

Infiltraitors is a challenging deduction card game with twenty missions. Suspect cards are set aside at the start; these are the traitors who must be identified by suit and numbers. Players must manage their hands to give clues on the suspect cards. Clues may match with a traitor by having the same suit or where the number is either a multiple or a factor of the traitor's.

As the clues accumulate, players may deduce the identity of a traitor card, but can you catch them all before the time runs out?