In a nutshell…
Dixit (Age 8+, 3–8 players, c.30m) is a storytelling and interpretation game built around a deck of illustrated cards. A “storyteller” gives a clue about one of the six cards in their hand. The clue can be a word, a phrase, a story, a song lyric, or almost anything else. All other players then choose cards from their own hands that might also fit the clue. The cards are laid out for players to try and identify the original. The storyteller scores best if some but not all players identify their card.
What I love about it
Dixit is a beautiful, unusual game. The deck is filled with dreamlike illustrations that combine familiar ideas with unexpected details. The cards are large enough for everyone to see the artwork clearly, helping them spot details and build clues around them. My children all have their favourite illustrations but they have learnt to save them to play at the right moment.
Dixit’s reliance on clues asks players to use a different set of skills from many other games, so it isn’t the simplest game to learn. Once everyone understands how clues and scoring work, though, it opens up into a free-flowing, fast-moving game that can at times be very funny.
New players tend to give obvious clues based on colours, objects or actions. As they gain confidence, they learn that the most successful clues leave space for other players to come up with plausible alternatives from the limited set of cards in their hand. And their clues become more sophisticated, perhaps drawing on a fairy tale, a favourite television character or an abstract idea.
Players also get better at reading each other. They learn that new players may need more obvious clues until they settle in. A clue that relies on insider knowledge shared by only half the players might be effective, but it is also a high risk strategy. Guessers also start to learn each other’s preferences. One of my children will almost always build his clue around the central character. Another is all about atmosphere and mood. These differences , coupled with the flexibility to interpret cards and give clues in multiple ways, make the game increasingly rewarding over time as players build their understanding of each other.
Here’s the link: https://link.amazon/B0hlikPIL
When I use it
Dixit requires at least 3 players and gets progressively more interesting with each additional player. It’s a game that only requires concentration at specific decision-points (deciding a clue, selecting a card, voting on options). So it also lends itself to energetic conversation and ongoing chatter without some players getting frustrated waiting for others. It also takes around half an hour to play and it shouldn’t be rushed. So I bring it out most often for a family games session.
Dixit also works well across a wide ability range as long as the group dynamic is gentle. Less experienced players can describe what they see while more experienced players often experiment with stories, emotions and cultural references. Different approaches can still be successful.
Why Dixit fits the way we play
- Everyone stays involved: All players have decisions to make on every turn, whether they are choosing a clue, selecting a card or trying to identify the storyteller’s card.
- You can see what is happening as you play: All the information needed to make decisions is visible. The challenge comes instead from interpreting clues and anticipating other people’s thinking.
- Mistakes are manageable: It’s hard to define a mistake in Dixit. Players get some guesses right and others wrong, but there is no single correct way to think about a card. A clue that works brilliantly with one group may fail completely with another.
- Results make sense: The scoring system encourages players to give clues that are neither too obvious nor too obscure. Once players understand the scoring, the results feel fair.
- Focused and calm: Dixit requires constant engagement (but perhaps less laser focus than other games) and has no time pressure.
What Dixit helps us practise
I will always prioritise having fun over “learning” experiences but in this blog series I look briefly at the skills these games are helping players develop. They matter to me because they can help players access more complex (and hopefully even more fun) games in future. For Dixit I’ve identified:
- Giving clues: Players experiment with communicating ideas indirectly rather than through obvious or literal clues.
- Reading other players: Players start to recognise how different people interpret images and clues, and adjust their own clues in response.
- Evaluating options: Players compare possible clues and cards, looking for the combination that is neither too obvious nor too obscure.
- Managing ambiguity: Players become more comfortable with the idea that several different interpretations may be valid so they cannot guarantee getting things right.
Alternatives
Dixit really is unusual but there are a couple of games I’ve written about that share some of its characteristics:
Similo is a cooperative deduction card game where players work as a team to identify a secret character based on silent clues given by one of the team. It’s simpler and quicker than Dixit, but like Dixit it asks players to use illustrated character cards to give clues, and success depends on understanding how other people interpret images and the connections between them.
A game with a strong “mind-reading” component, although more on the side of reading bluffs, is Love Letter. Players compete to have the highest card at the end of each round by playing cards with different effects, themed around delivering a message to the princess. Success depends on working out what other players might be holding. Both games reward players who learn to read the people around the table rather than focusing solely on the cards in front of them.
And a game I haven’t yet written about that draws on similar skills to link ideas and images in creative ways is Concept. It’s a variation on charades where players use symbols on a shared board to communicate words and ideas without speaking. Players use markers to highlight different concepts and associations until somebody works out the answer. Concept has more structure than Dixit (including a crib-sheet suggesting how to interpret symbols) but like Dixit there are many different ways to give clues and part of the fun is to try and work out how other people think and interpret information. [Here’s the link: Concept]
Some links in this post may be affiliate links. I only link to games I already use.
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