Dixit
Every picture tells a story – but what story will your picture tell?
Dixit is the lovingly illustrated game of creative guesswork, where your imagination unlocks the tale. In this award-winning board game, players will use the beautiful imagery on their cards to bluff their opponents and guess which image matches the story. Guessing right is only half the battle – to really succeed, you’ll have to get your friends to decide that your card tells the story!
Every turn, the storyteller will call out a short phrase or word to match the image on his card. Then each player will choose the card that most closely matches that phrase, and then everyone must guess which card the storyteller saw when he invented his brief tale. Correctly guess the storyteller’s card, and you’ll move ahead. Convince everyone else that your card is best, and you’ll do even better.
Dixit is a wonderfully simple game, playable by nearly anyone with whom you share a common language. With a fantastic range of beautiful illustrations and rules that can be understood by children and adults alike, Dixit will appeal to anyone with an imagination. It’s no surprise that Dixit won the Spiel de Jahres award for game design in 2010. It is brilliant and simple, beautiful and imaginative, and fun for all.
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Overview: Dixit is a party game in which 3 to 6 players use creativity and psychology to communicate through intricately illustrated cards.
Gameplay: Each player receives a hand of cards portraying a myriad of full-color illustrations. They contain many fairy tale and storybook inspiring images with many details. Players take turns being the “Storyteller”. They select a card, placing it face down on the table, and say a word or phrase about it. The other players add a card from their hand that they feel matches the phrase as a “bluff”. All the cards are shuffled and placed face up on the table. Everyone votes on which card they think was the Storyteller’s.
Players receive points by choosing the original image and by having their bluff image selected. The Storyteller scores by having some, but not all, players select his image. This dynamic is what creates the psychology of the game. The Storyteller needs to use his knowledge of the other players to choose phrases and images which will only be correctly translated by at least one, thus keeping him from being too obvious and too vague simultaneously.
Everyone takes a few turns as the Storyteller until the draw deck is depleted, which typically takes less than an hour. The player with the highest score wins.
Pros:
– The illustrations contain many details with some crossover themes, thus enabling decoys to be chosen easily.
– The rules are short and easy to learn, making this accessible to all ages and perfect for casual gatherings.
Cons:
– The relatively small pool of cards can limit the replay value of the game involving the same group of players.
– Score is kept track by moving wooden bunny tokens around a numbered track printed on the game box. Bumping this knocks the markers over and hinders accuracy.
Historical Figure/ Fictional Character I’d Most Like to Play Against: Jim Morrison
Dixit will challenge your imagination as you strive to understand your opponents’. It provides fast, lighthearted fun which can be added to almost any occasion.
Dixit is a fun family game made by Jean-louis Roubira. What makes this game so great is
the combination of beautiful artwork and innovative game mechanics.
Game play:
First you choose a colored rabbit. This is your score marker. Every time you score, your bunny hops onto the next score tile.
Normally I don’t mention what kind of score markers the game has, but in this case I gladly make an exception. If you open the dixit box, you will see that there is a beautiful “landscape” and it’s on this landscape your bunny will hop.
At the beginning of the game, you will get six cards. On these cards are images of random stuff. (for example: a dragon and a boy, a cradle in the middle of a forest,…)
These beautiful pictures are like fragments of a fairy tale.
One player starts the game and chooses one of his/her cards. (this player is the storyteller for this round) Then he/she gives a tip that matches the image on the card *. Then the storyteller lay down that card face down. Now, the other players choose a card from their hands that also matches the tip. Then all those cards are mixed and shown.
All the players, except for the storyteller, must choose which card they think that belongs to the storyteller. Based on which cards those players choose, points are assigned.
Then there is a new storyteller.
And so it goes on until one player reaches 30 points.
*The tricky part as a storyteller is that not all players may choose your card, but at least one must. So your tips cant be to simple or to hard.
Conclusion
Dixit is an easy to learn game that is a must-have if you want to have some fun with your family or friends. You will learn a lot of new things thanks to the tips other players give . I, for example, like to give tips that are based on Greek or northern mythology.
It’s fun for both young and old and I hope other people will enjoy the game as much as I do.
pros
– easy to learn
– beautiful art
– innovative game mechanics
Cons
– if you play this game with the same persons over and over again, you will get bored after a while.
(tip: buy an expansion to overcome this con)
I hope you enjoyed reading this review!
Have a nice day 🙂
The Basics:
o Ages 3+ (box suggests 8+…don’t you believe it)
o Takes 3 to 6 players
o About 30 minutes to play
Geek Skills:
o Active Listening & Communication
o Logical & Critical Decision Making
Learning Curve:
o Child – Easy
o Adult – Easy
Theme & Narrative:
o Anything you can imagine…
Endorsements:
o Gamer Geek approved!
o Parent Geek approved!
o Child Geek approved!
Overview
In Dixit, players take turns telling a short story, a description, or even making a sound based on colorful illustrations. This games requires all the players to listen, communicate, be imaginative, and have their wit at the ready.
The game is comprised of 84 colorful and beautifully illustrated cards that depict whimsical and magical places and things, a small wooden “Bunny” for each players that is used to keep score, numbered tiles 1 though 6 for placing votes, and a built-in-the-box score track. All the game components are of high quality and sturdy ensuring hours of great game play for your little geeks, friends, and you.
The illustrated cards are beautiful to look at, which is fantastic, considering they are at the heart of the action. There is nothing to read on these cards which makes it a wonderful game your young little geeks can play, too. Each card shows a whimsical illustration with no context to what is on the card or anything you might consider “descriptive”. Defining the context and what is being shown on the card is the player’s job, but more on that in a moment.
The built-in-the-box score track and the “Bunny” player pieces are also colorful. In fact, even the vote markers are colorful. Shoot, everything is just “beautiful” about this game. The art design was spot on with every aspect of the game, including the packaging . The only bland thing about the game is the single, two-sided instructions, but even that is illustrated!
To set up the game, shuffle the big deck of cards and deal each player 6, face down. Each player selects a “Bunny” player pieces and takes 6 vote tiles that match their “Bunny” colorful. The “Bunny” player pieces are placed on the score track on the spot marked “0″ and the first player is selected. You are now ready to play Dixit!
In this game, all the players participate. There is no down time, but the roles of the players shift. Depending on the role the player has, the goal of their turn is different. There are only two roles, which will make it easy to remember and to play. The roles are “Storyteller” and “Everyone Else”. See? Easy to remember.
If the player is the Storyteller, they look at their cards and think of a single sentence, a sound, a quote from a poem, movie title, or whatever they can think of that would describe one of their cards. This is a little more complex than I am making it sound. First, the illustrations do not provide the player with any clues about what the illustration is about. This is intentional because the Storyteller must not only use their imagination to craft a description, but their description must also not be so descriptive as to actually make it easy to identify the card. Essentially, the Storyteller must balance their description between explicative and purposely misleading. The reason for this will be clear when it comes times to score points.
Once the Storyteller selects a card and crafts a description, they place their card face down in front of them and say the description out loud to all the other players. Everyone else in the game must listen carefully to what the Storyteller says and then select one of their cards from their hand that they think contains an illustration that matches or supports the Storyteller’s description. Once they have selected the card, they place it face down on top of the Storyteller’s card.
After all the players have placed a card on the pile, the Storyteller collects the cards, shuffles them, and places them in a line in front for all the players to see. The first card placed is number 1, next is number 2, and so on until all the cards are played. The other players now look at all the other cards and do their best to determine which card is the Storyteller’s. When they think they have figured it out, they select the vote tile that has the number that matches the card they want to vote on and then place the tile in front of them, number side down.
Once all the players have placed their vote tile, they are all flipped and placed on their corresponding cards (vote tile “1″ goes on card “number 1″, and so on). The Storyteller reveals which card was the “real card” and points are scored.
o If all the players voted for the Storyteller card, or if none of the players voted for it, everyone except the Storyteller is awarded 2 points. This goes back to what I said previously about the Storyteller being required to balance their description between explicative and purposely misleading. If they described it too well, all the players would easily select it. If they described it so vaguely as to not really be of any help, then no one might select it.
o In all other cases, the Storyteller is awarded 3 points as do any player who voted for the Storyteller card.
o Additionally, each player scores 1 point for each vote placed on their card.
After the points are totaled, the “Bunny” player pieces are moved that many spaces ahead on the score track. All the cards played are collected and set aside. One new card is dealt to all the players for a maximum of 6 cards in their hand. Lastly, the role of the Storyteller is passed to the next player. A new round is ready to begin.
The game continues until the very last card is drawn and the players are unable to maintain 6 cards in their hand. The winner of the game is the player who has collected the most points.
Final Word
Dixit is one of those rare games that can be played with a mixed age and skill group with little to no difficulty. It is because of this that this game is a big hit in my family. Whenever we have guests over with kids (or even without kids), Dixit makes it to the table. This is also a great game for the non-gamers in your life. The rules are not complex, there isn’t a high level of difficulty, and all that anyone really needs to play is good listening skills and an imagination.
Another benefit of this game is the ability to see how my little geeks interpret stories and images. Many times over, I have been blown away with some of the very imaginative stories or how they intrepidity the stories told to them. What we do when we play (with just the family), is go through each of the cards after they have been played which allows the players to describe what they were thinking. In some cases, this is even more entertaining than the actual game. Hearing my kids tell the story as they understood, it is very insightful and somewhat magical. The imaginative mind of a child is truly incredible.
But the magic of Dixit doesn’t end there. This game is also very playable in any language. Even sign language. Children and adults with speech and hearing difficulties can join right in the fun. Teachers and educators can use this game to stimulate short story writing, impromtu speech practice, or as a psychology experiment to demonstrate how people think based on what they hear. Truly fantastic.
Have I sold you on the game yet?
‘Dixit’ is a game with light rules that nonetheless manages to tap deep aspects of social cognition. If you are a person who revels in acts of interpretation, who enjoys reading people as much as exploring layers of subtext in literature and the visual arts, then chances are you will appreciate the unique invitation that ‘Dixit’ represents. It is an invitation to play with meaning.
Players are dealt hands of cards, with each card bearing a unique complex image. There are two basic roles for players. In the primary role, you will be asked to select a card from your hand (unbeknownst to other players) and use it to create an utterance that “matches” the image. That’s right, any utterance. You can recite the whole Gettysburg Address (in Klingon, if you wish); you can hum a few bars of ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’; or you can issue a monosyllabic grunt. But you should know that for whatever utterance you do make, the other players, in keeping with their secondary role, will secretly choose one image from their own hands that they feel best matches your “hint”. Then you will gather the cards bearing their selections, shuffle them, and spread them out onto the table such that your own card is included amongst the many foils.
After scrutinizing the the images, the other players will then simultaneously indicate which on display is the “true” inspiration of your utterance. Scoring is structured so that you are rewarded for offering clever clues–meaning an utterance that is neither too hard nor too easy to interpret. (If either everyone or no one chooses your card, you get bupkis.) In their secondary roles, other players will score points if they correctly interpret your utterance, and/or if they manage to deceive other players into choosing *their* foil.
Similar metacognitive “voting” mechanisms have been used before. But what makes ‘Dixit’ tick–and in an astonishingly novel way–is the artwork on the cards. Simply put, ‘Dixit’ features the most brilliantly evocative art that I’ve encountered in any game, bar none. Marie Cardouat has graced the game with hundreds of little expressionist gems that look as if they were pulled from the pages of a Jungian fairy tale. In terms of style, the illustrations are at times childlike, dreamlike, and often are subtly unsettling. Like imagery on Tarot cards, Cardouat’s compositions beg to be puzzled over. And in this capacity, they preserve the most crucial functionality of the game.
Ultimately, what makes the ‘Dixit’ worth returning to again and again, is its easy enchantment, not only with respect to what is “seen” in the cards, but in the predictions you are asked to make about others’ interpretations, and vice versa. The poetry cuts both ways, as you are both the interpreter and a text that is being interpreted. This also means that the tenor of the game is highly influenced by the personality of the individuals playing it. Depending on the group, your game may be punctuated by introspective “Aha’s” or by raucous laughter. Or both. To me, this is not just the sign of a great party game, but of a great game period.
… follow any of them. It’s Time for some creativity and story telling! I was interested in this game because of it’s beautiful artwork but I really could not say if that game was something for me.
Then Will Wheaton played it on his marvelous show Tabletop on youtube and the “Wheaton-Effect” got me. I bought the game immediately. So if you don’t want to be forced to buy Dixit just because you watched Will Wheaton’s incredible fun Tabletop video you just can read my review and hope that I’ll rate it average. (by the way: No. I won’t! I love this game!)
Components:
The game comes in a box which at the same time is the game board for counting your points. In addition there are six cardboard tokens and one nice colored wooden rabbit for each player. The only other thing that comes in the box is a package of 84 tremendously beautiful illustrated cards. These oversized cards are the centerpiece of the game and the pictures on them are colorful, creative and ambiguous. Why ambiguous? Let’s see while discussing gameplay.
Gameplay:
Each player gets a bunch of cards to their hand and the one player goes first. He then chooses one card in his hand and tries to describe it somehow. Maybe with a word, a sound, a sentence or a gesture. There are no restrictions. But he should only describe it vaguely. Then he puts it face down on the table. Every other player then chooses a card from their hands which matches the description as good as possible and put it on top of the first players card. The cards get shuffled up and everybody but the first player try to guess the original card. The first player doesn’t get points when everybody guessed his card or nobody guessed his card. In every other case he gets points for each guess on his card. Every other player gets points for other players who guessed their card.
So altogether Dixit is a game of creativity and seeing things in pictures not everybody sees or everybody sees different. And that’s when we come back to the ambiguousness of the cards. There are a lot of cards with pictures that can mean everything. For example: On one picture someone will see an old tree. But wait … the tree has a face .. and arms … and holds flowers in his hands … and looks a little bit like aunt Maggie or uncle Steven (or both .. who knows). So every card can be used with multiple stories behind it and description given. Your task is to find the right one for your cards to get the most points.
Replay Value:
The replayability is quite high because the pictures deliver the potential for so many stories. But maybe when playing with the same group over and over again it can get to this point where creativity is fading and you don’t want to use an already used description again. But for that there are a few expansions available with a lot of new pictures.
Pros:
– beautiful illustrated cards
– very easy to learn (you can explain the whole rules in about 1 minute)
– great use of creativity and storytelling without scaring off the more shy players
Cons:
– replayability with the same group can weaken after a certain time
Last Words:
I played this game a few times with my family and they are not really into gaming that much. But they loved it and even wanted to play it again and again. But it’s equally fitting for every gaming group. So if you are searching for an easy to learn game … take this one. I highly recommend it. And if you are not convinced by now … go and watch the Dixit episode of Will Wheaton’s Tabletop!
Best wishes,
Blaine101
I come from a hardcore gamer background. I’ve optimized statistics in tabletop RPGs. I’ve calculated strategic moves for maximum efficiency. I’ve stared across a table as I bluffed, trying desperately to control the quaver in my voice and the motion of my eyes (okay, I’m not the best bluffer). I’m good at quick calculations, snap tactical decisions, and a near-encyclopedic knowledge of rules.
And it’s kinda refreshing to play a game that doesn’t use any of that.
Dixit is simple, whimsical, emotional, and a little magical. It’s a party game of the imagination, where almost anything goes and there’s never a “right” way to play. Ultimately, it’s about connecting with some (not all!) of your fellow gamers, about whispering secrets to each other in plain sight, and about the feeling you get when those connections are validated.
Play is simple: each player receives a hand of six (beautiful, high-quality) large cards, each with a unique piece of art. There’s no words and no numbers; every card is nothing more than a picture, and usually a strange one at that. The active player says a word — or a phrase, or does something, or sings something, whatever they want — and lays down a card from their hand face-down. All other players follow suit, trying to match a card from their own hands to the active player’s chosen self-expression. The cards are shuffled and turned over, and all non-active players use numbered chits to vote on the card they believe to be the active player’s. If all or none of the votes are for the active player’s card, the active player receives no points, and everyone else receives 2 points (plus a bonus point for every vote their card received). But if some guess accurately and some don’t, the active player (and those who guessed the correct card) gains 3 points (with inactive players again receiving a bonus point for every vote their card received). Play continues to 30 points. It’s so simple, it’s barely a game.
And yet…and yet…people come alive when they play it. I’ve watched hardened strategy gamers and casual first-timers alike rack their brains as they stare at the colorful cards in their hands, and then break into a wide smile just before making their play. A friend of mine had a card with a picture of a hand holding a torch rising from (or descending into?) the ocean, and he chose to whistle the theme from the Terminator movies, because that card reminded him of the ending to Terminator 2. I was the only player at the table who recognized what he whistled, so I was the only one to pick his card. We fist-bumped over our tuned-in communication as we collected our three points. Players take advantage of in-jokes, of shared experiences, of pop culture references, and sometimes just pure emotion. Play one game of Dixit; I promise you that it’s very easy to be won over by its simple, human charm.
The presentation is excellent. Cards are very high-quality and the art is evocative, dreamlike, and whimsical. The version I have has a board that’s half scoring track and half rules for the game. The player tokens are colorful wooden bunnies — I don’t get the reference or reason behind the bunnies, but they’re distinctive and they make me smile, so that’s good enough. My only complaint about the game is that there are not very many cards, so within a few games you’ll start seeing art recycled again. I am, however, looking to address this complaint by picking up one of the (many) expansion packs available.
Dixit is a strange communication game in that it doesn’t encourage perfect communication. You want some players to get the idea of your expression, but not all of them. It wants you to be abstract, surreal, sly, or just plain sideways about how you convey your chosen art, and in doing so, it scratches a strange itch that you never quite knew was there. It sounds strange, but when you talk about Dixit, words just won’t quite do. Play it — you’ll understand!
Basic Idea: You’re a story teller who’s job it is to describe a piece of artwork in such a way that only the select few will understand. You can’t be too obtuse or too blatant, but rather, as the story goes, just right.
Game Play: Each player is given a hand of cards with beautiful and surreal artwork on them. In each round of the game, a story teller is chosen (usually proceeding clockwise, but can also be anyone’s whose ready). The story teller chooses one of his/her cards and places in face in front of them. Using anywhere from one word to a sentence, the story teller must describe their chosen card. Each other player then chooses a card from their hand that “matches” the description as closely as possible, and places it with the story teller’s card. The story teller then mixes up all the cards and places them face up on the table. Each player (other then the story teller) does their best to figure out which card the story teller was describing, and secretly votes for it. When all the votes have been cast, the story teller reveals his/her card and the round is scored. The story teller only gets points if some of the player guessed correctly. If all or none of the players guessed right, then everyone gets points except the story teller. The idea is to describe the card in a way that’s cunning enough, that not every one gets it, but with enough hints that someone will. Players also get points if others voted for their card instead of the story tellers. Play continues until someone scores 30 points, or for as long as you want to play.
Thoughts: Dixit is a beautiful game. The illustrations are amazing and you spend half of the time wondering if you want to play a card or frame it. The scoring pieces are cute (various colored bunnies) and using the box as a scoring area is a neat idea, but almost every time I’ve played this game, our group has decided to keep playing, even after someone wins, so the scores seem almost unneeded. I get the most satisfaction in this game with coming up with hints. This is a great party game and a great game to play with non-gamers and gamers alike.
I write reviews for a game shop in Melbourne, and one of our best selling party games is Dixit. This is just an excerpt from a review I wrote of one of the finest party games to emerge in recent years.
For the full review , follow the link: http://gameshop.com.au/blog/thegamesshopper/2012/10/22/review-dixit/
“Dixit is partially a game about telling stories and partially a game about knowing the sorts of stories your friends are likely to tell. It’s more a game of perception and deduction than a bluffing game, and since there are no skill requirements aside from the ability to look at a picture and think of a word, it’s a game that anybody with two fully assembled cortices can play.
The game is played using a deck of some of the most gorgeous and surreal cards you’ll ever see in a game. Each card portrays a picture, often loaded with nonspecific symbolism and unattached metaphors. There is no right answer to what these icons represent – the interpretation is purely up to the players, and this lack of restriction must have made the artist just giddy when he was creating the art.
Now, the cards aren’t exactly scrambled in their complexity either. There’s usually some discernible theme or motif that multiple viewers can pick out, and that is where the game begins.
To play Dixit, the players all hold a handful of these image cards and take turns as the storyteller. The storyteller picks a card, tells a story about it, and then places it face down. I use the term story loosely. Typically, it consists of a simple phrase, or even just one word.
“To the stars!” “Seven.” “No more slices.” “There’s a fly in my soup.” “Drip drip drip drop.”
Listening to a game of Dixit from outside the room is often akin to visiting a psychiatric ward. But the stories don’t end with mere words, oh no. Instead of speaking you can whistle a tune, tap out a series of Morse Code knocks, or just give it a cryptic bobbing of the head. The point is that the storyteller just needs to communicate something about their card to the other players.
The real challenge of Dixit is when it’s your turn to be the storyteller, since in order to get points you can’t make your story too obvious or too oblique. You get 0 points if everyone guesses your card, and 0 points if nobody guesses it. For the storyteller to gain any points at all, only a few of the players can guess his card. It’s a fine task of threading the needle and appealing to certain people’s thinking while obfuscating others’.
Dixit is a gripping game because it’s all about the people that play it, and their reactions to the cards. It can be joyful or uplifting, but it can also be sad, be tragic, or lonesome. It’s often funny, and can also be sobering. But the one thing Dixit always provides is fun.”
Often, I will finish playing a new game and find myself wanting to try it out again. Maybe there are strategies I began to see that I needed to flesh out, or maybe I didn’t get a good enough impression of one of the mechanics. The game is good, but I need another go-round.
Dixit, on the other hand, we didn’t want to stop playing. Ever. Someone reached thirty points, and we just kept going around the circle. The experience was beautiful and captivating and intelligent and interesting and amazing and I can’t recommend it enough.
Dixit is very similar to games like Balderdash or Apples to Apples, but puts a clever and interesting twist to each of them. Whereas both Balderdash and Apples to Apples are focused on the written word, Dixit is based on a deck of cards covered in outstanding artwork, and a spoken phrase or word or emotion. The Storyteller chooses one of the cards in their hand, places it face down on the table, and then says a phrase out loud (I recall “Treguna, Makoidees, Trecorum, Sadis Dee!” was one last night!) and each player then chooses one of their own cards that could fit the same phrase.
The phrase is extremely important, and most of the fun of the game. It must be enough of a hint that someone picks up on it, but not everyone. Each player picks the card they believe fits the phrase best, and the Storyteller scores points based on how many people pick theirs. However, if EVERYONE picks it, or if NO ONE picks it, the Storyteller gets no points and everyone else gets two.
So, imagine that on your turn as the Storyteller, you have a hand of five cards, each a single piece of artwork, and your goal is to create a phrase that will allow a few of the people at the table to guess which card is yours, but not everyone. It requires you to be clever and subtle and creative. There are few games I could name that allow for this sort of game play.
I loved playing this game, and I was happily surprised at every new card I drew. The cards are beautifully done, and I’m extremely happy with the construction of the game in general.
My only regret is that once I learn all the cards, some of this “new car” feeling might be lost. You’ll understand if you’ve ever finished all the decks in Apples to Apples. However, I expect that this will take games and games for me to remember them all, and I hope for a series of amazing experiences until then.
This game is perfect for anyone who enjoys Apples to Apples or Balderdash or Wits and Wagers, or any of that style of game. Furthermore, it’s perfect for anyone who loves looking at artwork and thinking about the story of all the characters in the piece leading up to this one compelling and captivating moment.
I think that means it’s perfect for everyone.
EDIT: Apologies for those who caught the first version, it was a mis-paste. 😛
Three to six players, the more the better.
About half an hour to play, but very flexible. Normally it lasts as long as the players are interested.
Think Apples to Apples crossed with Balderdash, and you’ve got a handle on Dixit. It’s a game for talking to friends, for making friends, for learning about friends. The base mechanics of the game only really require the (beautifully illustrated) cards, a way to number the ones on the table from one to however many players you have, and a way to secretly vote on one of the chosen cards; if you have more than six, I believe it would work with up to eight, but I’ve only played it with four at most.
Dixit is a game of inside jokes and references. Everyone has a hand of uniquely illustrated cards. The active player chooses one from their hand, places it face-down on the table, and gives a short description to the other players. The others must then choose a card from their hands and place it face-down with the first. The chosen cards get shuffled and flipped over, and everyone but the active player must secretly vote on one card. After everyone has voted, the active player reveals which one they chose.
The scoring system is where Dixit shines. If everyone chooses the active player’s card, they all get two points and the active player gets nothing. This ensures that your description won’t be overly precise. If nobody chooses the active player’s card, they all get two points and the active player gets nothing. This ensures that your description won’t be overly vague. Between these two situations, the active player gets three points as an award for an interesting description, everyone that guesses correctly gets three points as an award for knowing the active player, and each non-active player also gets a point for each vote their card got.
Because of this system, you’re rewarded for sharing some background with the other players. For example, I once gave the clue “my mom” at a game with my wife. The cards were flipped to reveal a few interesting things, including a ladybug, my mom’s favorite animal. My wife knew exactly which one to vote for, and the other people at the table were at a loss. However, if you only have one person at the table that you share this kind of knowledge with, you’re at a disadvantage: remember, they’ll also get three points, as well as any points other players give them through their vote. Therefore, you must rotate who you choose when making your reference.
Dixit is loads of casual, friendly fun, and lots of conversation comes out of why people chose the cards that they did. If you play with the same people long enough, it gets more and more difficult to come up with a good clue, too — I can never use my mom’s ladybug fanhood again with my friends from Oregon, for example. Points are tracked on a VP track, but could just as easily be written, allowing you to play to a particular time (when the brownies come out) or score, or until the cards run out (recommended). An expansion pack of cards is also readily available (and worth it), but it doesn’t fit well in the original box.
Recommended for a casual group of good friends, as an after dinner snack of a game.
One of the problems with party games in recent years is that many of them, for better or worse, tend to riff off the extremely successful Apples to Apples formula. Sadly this tends to leave the market full of very same same uninspired party games.
Now, 2010 Spiel des Jahres winner Dixit does, in spirit, tread down this well worn path but in Dixit’s case it’s hard to hold it against the team that put this wonderful game together. It’s just done with such unique flair and style that it can easily stand on its own. Where other games trudge down the same tired path, perhaps imagining it’s a yellow brick road, Dixit skips along with wanton joy leaving a trail of flowers and colour in its wake (yet somehow tinged with a sense of foreboding gloom…)
Okay, so the basic idea of the game is that everyone has a hand of gorgeously illustrated cards. One player, the “storyteller”, is going to choose one of their cards and say a word or phrase which communicates something of its identity (but not too much). Other players then choose one of their own cards with similarities to the storyteller’s phrase in the hope of throwing off their competition. Cards are shuffled, laid out and players choose which one they believe was the story teller’s. Everyone scores points for correctly guessing the original card or fooling other players with their own card. The storyteller will score points if some people, but not everyone, correctly identifies their card. Score is then kept by jumping small wooden rabbits around a stone path. That’s right. Rabbits around a path.
Okay, so maybe it isn’t that close to the Apples to Apples formula (certainly not as close as others imitate) but it has the feel and it’s a comparison that is often made. What makes Dixit stand out on its own however is the style that the game carries and with all due respect to designer Jean-Louis Roubira, for me it’s Marie Cardouat’s outstanding art on the 84 over-sized cards that steals the show for Dixit. Her illustrations are amazing with their ability to convey a certain melancholy gloom while using so much joyous colour at the same time. And what amazes me is their ability to reveal more and more details and interpretations even after many, many plays.
The rest of the production is also top-grade. Even the rabbits and their scoring path, which my first instinct says makes no sense, is actually perfect. They just mesh nicely with joy of the art and the social play experience and in their own way actually do make sense.
With all of the details and possible interpretations possible with each card there is a good degree of replayability. However with only 84 cards it is possible that some players will tire and become frustrated with the same art over and over. Here the highly recommended “Dixit 2” comes to the rescue with 84 more cards which mix seamlessly with the originals. Future expansions are sure to bolster this number too. If anything the biggest challenge to Dixit’s replay value is that the game kind of becomes more difficult each time you play as you are forced to invent new clues to cards you have previously used. Replay will certainly push your creative muscles.
So is this wonderful award winning game for everyone? Well, probably not. At the end of the day it is a party game and if party games just aren’t your thing then this one probably still won’t work for you. Also there is a certain pressure that comes along with being the storyteller. Many people are going to spend all of their time between turns desperately looking at their cards trying to come up with something, anything to say. For some people that experience just won’t be fun.
For everyone else though you should give Dixit a try. It actually isn’t Apples to Apples. It’s its own unique wonderful thing that really should be experienced.
Dixit puts a refreshing spin on the party game genre. A game of creative storytelling that is bound to make laughs, groans, and memories. Players try to be the best storyteller by winning the most points for victory.
PROS:
Simple to learn
Wonderful artwork
Stretches the imagination
Big easy to handle cards and good components
CONS:
Not sure of the replay value with multiple plays with the same game group
GAMEPLAY:
The game is super easy to learn. Each player has a hand of 6 cards of wonderful pictures, and each player takes a turn being the storyteller. The storyteller describes one of his or her cards with a word or phrase or song, then everyone pics a card from their hand to match the storyteller’s description. Everyone lays their cards down and gives them to the storyteller to shuffle, who then turns the cards over for everyone to see. Each player picks which card they think fits the description by placing their token by it. If everyone guesses wrong or guesses right, they score 2 points and the storyteller gets zero points. However, if this doesn’t happen, then the storyteller gets three points for the card being guessed as well as the correct guesser. If someone guesses another person’s card, then that other person gets one point. The game proceeds with everyone drawing back up to six until the deck is empty or thirty points are scored. Thus ending the game.
STRATEGY:
There is no clear cut strategy other than possibly knowing your players. The hardest part is finding that fine line of not giving the card totally away as the teller, yet also making sure someone can guess your card. Makes it very hard at times depending on the card. I think it would get harder the more you play with the same people, because the more each player learns each other’s style of creativity for the same card. It’s definitely a game where even some children can excel, because they have just as much chance as other people at guessing a card right.
CONCLUSION:
Dixit really makes for a memorable game that can keep you talking long after it’s played. The funny phrases and stories people come up with can make for some good laughs and good times. My family really has enjoyed playing this game, so I highly recommend it for family gamers. Social gamers and casual gamers should also get a kick out of the game based on its interaction and ease of learning. Strategy gamers and power gamers may not find this to their tastes given it’s lightness and lack of depth. Avid gamers may find it appealing just for the sheer novelty of this game’s design. If you looking for a real interesting party game, you can’t go wrong with Dixit.
Everyone gather round, it is story time!
Dixit is an interesting little game. It is incredibly simple on the one hand, but has just enough strategy to it that you never know exactly how a game might play out. It is a good time for friends and family, and equally so for the new guy or gal to your group. The rules are simple, and the game will never play out the same way twice.
Opening the box, you will find 84 cards with various whimsical color artwork, 36 tokens used for voting in 6 different colors One scoreboard
84 new cards
36 voting tokens in 6 different colors, numbered 1 to 6
6 game pieces in 6 different colors
I am not much of an art critic, however, as the art on the cards takes center stage here, I can at least attest to the fact that, in my opinion, the art does its job. I take no issue with the quality of the components of the game either.
The game states it is for 3-6 players. It is my opinion that the closer you can get to 6 the better. I cannot see a group of three or even four having a good time with this, but 5 or 6 should do great.
So, what are we going to do with this stuff? First, everyone will get 6 voting tokens of a particular color numbered 1-6 and 6 of the cards. One player will be chosen as the first “storyteller” This player will say a word, phrase, sentence, song, etc. that they feel describes the card they plan to play. The storyteller puts their chosen card down face-down. Each of the other players will play a card from their hand face-down that they believe best fits the storyteller’s description. The storyteller will shuffle these cards and lay them out face up in a line.
Each of the other players will then lay down one of their voting tokens with the number card (1-6, left to right) they believe best fits the storyteller’s description.
This is where the game gets interesting. The storyteller wants most of the players to pick their card, but they do not want everyone to pick it. If everyone or no one picks the storyteller’s card, the storyteller gets no points, and everyone else gets 2 points. Otherwise, the storyteller and everyone else who picked the storyteller’s card gets 3 points a piece, and players other than the storyteller get one point for each vote their card received. After the round is over, everyone draws back up to 6 cards. The game continues until players can no longer get 6 cards in their hand.
This means that the player has to be able to balance his clues between being appropriately descriptive of their card while not being blatantly obvious.
This game, I think, tends to lend itself better to playing with a group comprised of mostly people you know well. Friends, family, that sort of thing. It can be pretty hilarious when you use an inside joke to describe just the right card, for instance. Aside from that, you can get a decent feel for how your description will go over. That being said, I think that introducing new people to the game is great. I would just do it one at a time.
This is a game that pretty much anyone can understand the rules 100% after playing one hand, and even the younger kids can get involved, although I would say the game suggestion of 8 is pretty good, as younger kids have trouble with understanding why they should not give obvious clues. The game takes all of half an hour to play tops, so there is not a big time commitment either. Works as a good filler, or for when you have folks over who just are not into your normal board games. I would compare it to Apples to Apples in that respect.
Dixit is a great game. There isn’t any reason why replay would suffer, as you can always come up with a different story for every card everytime you play, and, if your household is like mine, there will be plenty of laughs, and at the end of the game, no one will really care who won.
While in a gaming group session, it was recommended to me to pick up a copy of Dixit for gaming nights with my wife and daughters. The other players indicated that this game was similar in nature to Apples to Apples. Upon hearing this, I was immediately turned off the game. While my daughters enjoy Apples to Apples, my wife and I found it difficult to bridge the age gap between us and our daughters. After some thought and viewing some excellent demo’s on Youtube, I felt that it was time to explore Dixit, afterall, quality time with my family is the highest on my priority list. This is what we experienced.
Gameplay
This game essentially is a social expression of a Rorschak(?) Test. Players receive pictographic cards that are like stills in an unknown story. The active player (player whose turn it is) selects one of these storyboard cards and gives some sort of hint as to what the pictograph relates to them, and hopefully at least 1 other player. The other players then submit cards from their own hand that they feel best represents the clue given. After this players vote on whose card they feel belongs to the active player.
Gameplay is very simple. Set-up time is also very rapid and the game teaches easily in about 5 minutes. The scoring was interesing and I feel was actually a very strong point of the game. However, what I found to be the strongest point is the level of social engagement that players will make during gameplay.
Artwork/Components
Let me tell you about the artwork. The storyboard cards are absolutely stunning! Sometimes I find myself looking at these cards actually wondering if there was an actual story that they depicted. The playing board, in my case it was a board and not just the box, is also very well illustrated and laid out very simply. I can’t overstate enough how beaultiful the artwork actually is in this game, it almost evokes dreamlike images!
The only quible that I have with any of the components is the bunny player pieces. While they are nice and the colours are distitinct, they are not balanced sufficiently when standing upright and are often prone to falling over if incidental contact is made with the pieces or if the gaming table is bumped. When the pieces fall over it can create confusion as to where on the track the piece was originally located. The bunny pieces are well suited to the game but should have been designed with more practicality in mind. Again this is a minor quip.
Overall Impressions
We are very fond of this game for anumber of reasons as cited above, however, the greatest strength we have experienced in this game is its level of social engagement. At times these cards can become a mini window into your childs soul. The conversations that occur after the round is complete as to why the child chose their clue is what makes this game worth its weight in gold. These moments allow the family to make stronger connections to each other and can provide times of laughter and appreciation for each other. For family game times, I can’t recommend this game enough!
“All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once you grow up” – Pablo Picasso.
How about you, dear reader? Have you grown up or does the fire of unbridled imagination burn in you still? The answer to this question is a single most important determinant if you will love Dixit to pieces or will want nothing to do with the silliness. I certainly hope it’s the former.
How it works:
Three to six players get to compete in describing and interpreting highly abstract pieces of art, distributed on Tarot-sized cards. Each turn a player comes up with a description of one of their cards – a single word, a phrase, a quote. Each of the players then finds a card from their hand that best matches the description.
Cards are mixed up and laid out with each player but the “leader” voting on which was the original image that inspired the description. The goal of the “leader” is to make sure his description is clear enough so that at least some people guess the right card, but not so clear that everyone gets it right. Other players get points for correctly guessing the original card or for others picking theirs.
The game goes until an arbitrary limit of 30 points is reached by one of the rabbit markers representing each player.
This description sounds dry, right? You bet! And then you look at the cards…
How it feels:
My reviews normally has a middle section of “how it plays” but I will forego it this time, mostly because what you feel playing Dixit is much more important. These cards, how can I describe them? Let’s say take the deranged creativity of Dali, add cozy whimsy of James Christensen and then multiply it all by the piercing childish sincerity of the Little Prince. Kind of like that. Each card shows something completely absurd – flying ships, inflatable castles, sentient clouds, trees playing soccer – but rendered with such loving care that it emits palpable warmth.
At first you think it is next to impossible to make your cards match others’ descriptions but soon you recognize that it is the emotion behind each description that you are trying to address and the cards speak that universal language fluently. Sadness, happiness, joy, doubt – so many complex emotions hide behind these images. I’ve seen reactions to the cards being flipped open range from uncontrollable laughter to wooow, to pensive looks into nothing or silent nodding.
It lets your imagination roam as you are coming up with a creative, non-obvious way of how to describe that couple dancing atop a waterfall and sometimes what you come up with will surprise even yourself. Guessing the correct card is also fascinating as you try to get into a specific mindset and figure out what that specific person would put down for that description.
Dixit truly engages people and it has been an absolute hit with several different groups I have introduced it do. The enjoyment is not purely internally aimed – the social interactions stemming from the discussions of the cards are engaging and entertaining. Children, especially those with a creative bend, have a great time with it and it is amazing in that it transcends language barriers with ease. An average game lasts for about half an hour and usually immediately leads to a next one.
The one drawback is that the variety in the base 84 cards you see is not endless and it might become somewhat repetitive. Lucky for you there are several expansions out, each adding a new deck of 84 cards to the base game, sure to prolong your enjoyment of this gem.
Conclusion:
I usually strive to make my reviews more objective, but this game defies objectivity. I love its’ spirit, its’ approach, its’ art and how it makes me feel and think. It brings back that artist inside that Picasso was talking about. If you want to stretch your creativity, get in touch with your inner child, or just have a really fun time – I strongly suggest you give Dixit a try.
If you enjoyed this review please visit Altema Games website for more board game materials.
One line impression and recommendation:
Firm favourite with everyone we’ve played it with; gamer, non-gamer and kids alike.
Highly recommended.
How to play:
The active player attempts to describe a card without being too obvious or too obscure. The description can be anything, a word, a phrase, sing a song, make a sound or perform an action. We normally tend to go with one or two words but your imagination is the limit. Everyone else then selects a card from their hands that matches the description. Everyone except the active player votes on which one was the target card.
House rule:
If playing with less than six players we will add a card or two from the draw pile to make up the maximum 6 cards. We find this adds a bit more challenge as there are more cards to select from. It’s also hilarious when the deck plays better than anyone else and gets all the votes.
Review:
Dixit was one of the first games we bought when we decided to start a serious games collection. My other half had played it with work colleagues and liked it then one day came home with a copy of the base game. As it doesn’t work too well with just two we convinced my best friend to try it out with us. It immediately became one of my favourites! I would have loved it for the artwork alone as I’m strongly drawn to aesthetically beautiful games but it’s so much fun to play as well.
We’ve since played this with my family, my in-laws and our friendship/gaming circle and it’s become our most played game. My completely non-gamer sister-in-law loved it and happily requested a second round. Our niece has so much fun she doesn’t notice if she’s not winning. That says a lot, Little Miss 9 has a serious competitive streak and hates to lose so much that she cheats at snap. We have originally let her play with her mum as a team but think she could go it alone now. My father-in-law is a force to be reckoned with and he’s a Chilean mathematician (his English is a bit patchy and not the most creative type).
We haven’t found anyone who doesn’t like this game, from the completely gorgeous yet bizarre artwork which inevitably triggers a lot of giggles to the gentle competiveness which doesn’t leave anyone feeling bitter, it appeals to a wide range of people. We never play just one game.
The only drawbacks are: firstly, after a few games with the same group, that the cards start to get very familiar and you know how someone will attempt to describe them. The expansions are a must in this regard but they’re all so oddly beautiful I wanted to collect them all anyway. Secondly, although the cards are of excellent quality, they are of a large size and so can bit difficult to shuffle unless you have big hands.
Overall:
A great warm up to more serious gaming or the perfect introduction for non-gamers to the new wave of board gaming. Lots of fun for people of all ages and abilities.
Apples to Apples is sort of a party game archetype: one player takes the role of judge and plays a card, everyone else plays cards in response, and the judge determines the result. Simple enough.
With Apples to Apples, though, it might be too simple. Most games descend into pandering to the current judge or rehashing the same tired material: if someone says “I have the PERFECT card!”, it’s probably Helen Keller or Hitler. There’s really just not much there.
Dixit is often cited as the paragon of gaming creativity, and I’m generally inclined to agree. But it’s impossible to deny that it doesn’t have its roots in the A2A archetype. Dixit, however, adds a great deal to that baseline.
Each player in Dixit has a hand of big, beautiful cards with wonderful and surreal illustrations. Even if you decide the game isn’t for you, take some time to enjoy images of the cards online. It’s worth it! The judge, or “storyteller” in Dixit parlance, takes a card from his or her hand and tells a little story about it. A sentence, a single word, a fragment of a song. Whatever.
Then, each other player plays a card from their hand that they think goes well with the storyteller’s story. All the cards played are shuffled face down and the judge lays them out.
Each other player now attempts to pick which card was the storyteller’s. Points are given out based on who votes for what: the storyteller doesn’t want to be so obvious that everyone picks her card, but not so obscure that no one does. Then, hands are refreshed up to six and the game moves on. Minor changes to a simple archetype.
Where Dixit shines is the depth of possibilities in those cards. The illustrations are simple, but evocative. They’re not abstract, but the disparate figures are juxtaposed with fantastic settings. There are so many intricate details in each composition, it’s quite possible that four voters might have latched on to four different aspects of the same image. The possibilities for creative (and surprising!) free association are enormous.
Of course, that enormity can be overwhelming. When a new player takes their first crack at being storyteller, it can be overwhelming trying to pick a card and craft a perfect story to go with it. I’ve found that even ostensibly creative folks often balk at the possibilities. And people that are utterly sure they’re uncreative can just shut down at the task.
But once the game gets rolling, even the most staid gamers can get into the action. Even if a player isn’t big on surreal flights of fancy, they learn to make their sentences play evoke associations with their own card based on the cultural experiences they share with the other players.
That, if anything, is the main skill required to win in Dixit, which alone puts it miles ahead of A2A’s tired jokes and pandering. But I couldn’t in good faith encourage anyone to play Dixit to win. Enjoy the amazing art, work the right side of your brain, and enjoy a bit of free association–with the cards and the friends you’re playing with.
I absolutely love Dixit but it is not for everyone. My gaming group for the last time I played Dixit was with 2 non-creative people who had a very hard time coming up with ideas on their turn. Another one who has a strange way of thinking and then myself who is in the creative industry. So when I came up with ideas, I was very quick about it. However the first 2 had the hardest time coming up with anything at all. In fact it took them a very long time to come up with something to the point where they dread it when it was their turn.
But the ironic thing about this game is that even though you might suck at being creative, you can actually do well at scoring if you are good at knowing how your other players think. If you can guess the correct card they put out, you can soar your way to the 30 victory points just on that alone.
So I personally believe that this game is best played with creative people as it will keep the game flowing faster but it is still playable with non-creative types simply because they can do well if they’re very analytical and may be able to understand how the other player thinks and then they will find a way to guess the correct artwork.
Speaking of artwork, the game is worth the price for the artwork alone. It is beautiful and there is so much abstract thought put into it. I also really do like the way the scoring system works. Even though we’ve seen this mechanic before in other games, I find that this way works the best because the foundation of what you decide to use as your hint comes from these wonderful pieces of art.
For me the most exciting part about the game is seeing how people guess and also what people come up with when it is time to put their cards down. That part is the most fun for me.
Anyways, I highly recommend this game but I would caution introducing it to non-creative types unless they are open minded gamers. Otherwise, be prepared to wait a very long time for them to come up with something on their turn. It is definitely best played with people with a lot of creativity and can just think on the spot.
After playing it a number of times with the same group, you will be want to pick up the next expansion and the next expansion after that. I think this game has a lot of replay value especially if you are changing up the combination of players in your gaming group.
Dixit is a great game that I’ve loved playing with different people, based on describing beautiful illustrated cards, so that some but not all other players guess yours the game is very simple in it’s mechanics. However Dixit thrives where other easy to learn games quickly become tiresome because of it’s encouragement of players imagination and own personal view on each card. I’ve loved seeing what different people think of when asked to describe certain cards and some have become great stories and links in themselves. I recommend this game as a great way to encourage people who are net yet into board games and for those who want to play a game where it really doesn’t matter if your winning or losing.
I have played Dixit many times and with different groups of people and it is still very enjoyable for me, even after playing with the same cards over and over again.
The rules: the players are each dealt six beautifully illustrated cards and they take turns in becoming the “narrator”. The narrator picks a card from their hand, places it face down on the table and says a hint that describes the card in some way. The other players then choose a card from their hands that can be described by the narrator’s hint in the best possible way and place them face down as well. The narrator then shuffles all the cards and reveals them. The other players must now secretly vote which card they think belongs to the narrator. If all or none of the players find the narrator’s card, the narrator gets no points. Therefore, the narrator should use hints that do not directly describe the card, but should not be very vague either. The players who found the correct card get points, while extra points are awarded to those whose card was incorrectly voted as the narrator’s card.
The most entertaining moments of the game in my groups are when someone tries to justify how the card they picked has a connection to the narrator’s hint, when there clearly is none. This game needs lots of creativity and the ability to see through the narrator’s hints, so it may not be a good choice for people lacking these skills. Another problem is that the game may become stale and boring after playing many times with the same group. However, this can be solved simply by adding one or more of the expansions, thus increasing the number of cards. Houserules may also extend the game’s life. For example, we used a rule where the hints used must be in some way connected to a movie.
To conclude, I would like to mention something that happened to me recently: I was with a few friends who actually hate playing boardgames and at some point, I mentioned Dixit. Although at first everyone moaned about not wanting to play games, in the end they reluctantly agreed to try it, “maybe for 10 minutes” as someone said. We ended up playing from 9pm to 4am!