Accuse!

• Designer: Rikki Tahta
• Publisher: Indie Boards & Cards
• Players: 2-4
• Age: 14+
• Time: 20 minutes
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

Accuse! is a card game in the tradition of classic murder deductions but shorter and more interactive. Plant traps, hide information, and mislead your opponents while you work out the solution first.

The game consists of 18 evidence cards: 6 suspects, 6 weapons and 6 locations. Three cards are removed from play, and the rest are dealt out to players. On your turn, you declare a card and place it face down in its location. If anyone suspects you of bluffing, they can challenge…at the risk of revealing one of their own cards.

At any stage, anyone can stop the game to start an accusation. If they are right, they win; if wrong, they are out and the remaining players bid to see who makes the next accusation. What is fun ?

• Bluff The joy of hiding an important card, uncovering a bluff or springing a hidden trap
• Tension: The impending moment when enough information has been revealed that players are eyeing each other.
• Deduction: The triumph of a successful calculated guess or bid

The 6 central line cards are set up in a row, typically alphabetically per the suspect names. 1 Suspect Card, 1 Location card and 1 Weapon card are chosen at random and placed next to the center line, with the accusation cards placed on top of them.  Each player then is dealt one of each type of card as well as a trap card.  3 of the remaining cards are dealt face up and placed in their appropriate spaces on the Center Line.  If there are any cards left, they are split equally amongst the players.

On a turn, you will play a card from your hand, or if your hand is empty, you will flip up a face down card from the Central line.

If you play a card, you put it facedown in the spot where it belongs; though you can always bluff.  After you play, the other players have a chance to challenge your card.  If no one says anything, your card stays where it is supposed to be.  If there is a challenge, it is turned over.  If the challenge is correct, the challenger takes the card and places it in their hand.  If it is incorrect, the challenger gives one of their hand cards to the player.  If it is a trap card, the challenger must reveal a card from their hand and place it face up on the Center line.

At any point, a player can make an accusation and place the three accusation cards pointing to the suspect, weapon and location that they believe are in the hidden stack.  If they are correct, they win.  If they are wrong, they are eliminated and the game moves into the final stage.

Remaining players now make a bid with their fingers between 0-5.  The player with the lowest bid goes first, revealing a number of cards equal to their bid and then making an accusation.  This continues in order of bid until someone makes a correct accusation.  It is possible for everyone to lose.

My thoughts on the game

So, bluffing games are not really my jam.  Mostly because I really stink at it.  I can’t keep a straight face, and I’m apparently no good at lying.  But… there is a whole genre of games that rely upon this important life skill – and so I keep trying these sorts of games.  Here, bluffing is at least balanced out by an interesting deduction exercise, and I do find it interesting to try to solve the puzzle here while weeding through all the bluffs.  

Admittedly, having played many designs from Rikki Tahta, it’s no surprise that bluffing is part of the game; it really feels like this is one of his favorite mechanisms.  And, from the people I’ve played with, it’s well received.  There is a nice tension here, trying to decide when to call people out for their lying all while trying to be the fastest to solve the mystery.

Accuse! really feels like playing a game of Clue, but instead of all the tedious rolling and moving, you add in the bluffing part to confuse the deduction.  The game plays quickly, with most games ending within 15 minutes.  Given its short nature, we have often played a few games in a row when we do get it out.

The art style is very appealing, and I like the retro feel that the game presents… It’s almost like watching a 1970s spy movie!   If you’re inclined to bluffing games, this is a nice combination of bluffing and deduction.

Until your next appointment

The Gaming Doctor