Living Unabridged

Did you have a family game night this week? If you had any snow last weekend, that was a great time to break out the board games.

Last Friday we had friends over and we played three games while they were here. (There may have been more but I know the adults played two and the kids played one.) This week I'm going to share with you one of the games we played. (The others will show up in future posts because they are also current favorites.)

Family Game Night #4:Dixit

This game is somewhat similar in play to Apples to Apples, except there's no reading required. Each card is unique. On your turn you choose one of your cards and come up with a word or phrase clue for that card. Each player chooses one of their cards that they feel matches the clue. Then the players try to decide which card was yours. If no one guesses your card, that's bad for you. If everyone guesses your card, well, that's also not a good score for you.

So how to play is simple, but thinking up clues that aren't too hard or too easy can be a tricky task.

The images are fascinating, as if someone had cut apart a lot of picture books and you've stumbled on the pieces but you aren't familiar with the stories. The game is different every time not just because the cards and players are different, but because everyone will see something slightly different on a card.

This is a great family game because you don't have to read and play is level between adults and kids. Adults may come up with clues that a kid wouldn't, but kids can do the same thing to the adults. (My husband has grumbled about this game if one of our daughters uses a clue like, "From the movie we watched this morning" and her sisters know what she means but he doesn't.) I feel like this game stretches some part of my brain that is normally unused, and that's a great thing.

One rule that we've added: if we have only three or four players we add in a random card to make things trickier. It's funny how often the random card can match the clue in some way.

There are several editions of this game and also numerous expansions so you can add new cards. On Amazon right now the basic Dixit game is less than $25. Our family also owns the Journey edition (which you can see in the above picture), but that one is quite expensive right now.

Summary of Dixit:

Number of Players: 3-6, but it is technically possible to play with more. 3 is the minimum but it's definitely more fun with more players.

Recommended Ages: 8 & up, but we've played with children as young as 4 (Do be aware that some cards' images are darker than others. You can solve this problem by removing any card your family prefers not to play with.)

Reading Required: No.

Have you played Dixit? Can you describe your favorite card? 
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