Tabletop Game Review: Dixit
Author: Taelinn Dolivras
About a year ago, I was discussing board games with my sister-in-law, and she mentioned that my nephew was obsessed with a game called Dixit. I had never heard of it before, and was intrigued when we looked up images of the game on the Internet. I did a little digging of my own and discovered that not only has the game won several awards, but it also has rave reviews online, and looked to be a great game for those looking to explore their creative side. So when I had the chance to play it myself, I was more than enthusiastic.
The title of the game, Dixit, is Latin for "he/she said", and that phrase describes the basis of gameplay. Each player begins with six random cards. Players take turns being the Storyteller, who looks at the images in his or her hand, and creates a sentence, phrase or word to describe one of the cards without showing it to the other players. Then, each player selects a card from his or her own hand that best matches the phrase given by the Storyteller. All selected cards are given to the Storyteller, who then mixes them together and displays the cards face up on the table. All players except the Storyteller then secretly guess which card is the Storyteller's using numbered voting chips.
If nobody or everybody selects the correct card, the Storyteller scores 0 points and each of the other players scores 2 points. If only some of the players find the correct card, the Storyteller and those who chose correctly score 3 points, and players other than the Storyteller score 1 point for each vote their own card receives. Therefore, the Storyteller's goal is only to get SOME of the people to guess correctly, and must be careful to choose a phrase that is neither too obscure nor too obvious.
Fortunately, the cards help a lot in that area. They are all beautifully illustrated, with images that are open to interpretation, and so the same card can be used for a variety of phrases depending on what each player sees in the image.
As I said before, Dixit has received rave reviews, and I sat down at the table to play it for the first time with high expectations. After playing it, however, I had mixed feelings. I loved the whimsical, weird, and wonderful images, and the simplicity of the rules. However, I didn't enjoy the game nearly as much as I had hoped. All but one of my fellow players had played before, yet the only ones of us who took the time to think about a somewhat ambiguous phrase when we were Storytellers were me and the other new player. Worse, if the other players couldn't (or didn't want to) find a card that fit the Storyteller's phrase, they threw a card into the pile that had nothing to do with the sentence, making it glaringly obvious which card was the Storyteller's. At that point, the game became boring and predictable, and I came out of it feeling like I had wasted my time.
Overall, I still like the concept behind Dixit, and I can see why other people have enjoyed it so much. I think this game has enormous potential, and would be fun to play with people who are interested in playing it correctly (and fairly!) and who enjoy party games that allow them to show their creative side. However, my own negative experience with the game means that I can't rate it as being among my favorite board games.
2.5 out of 5 hungry purses
For ages 8 and up. 3 to 6 players.
