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Help figure out "Guess who your enemy is" mechanic

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andymakespasta
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Joined: 07/26/2015

I'm designing a game around a mechanic that each player is secretly one of the characters on the board.
I'm not sure if this can work (or if there are already games that use this mechanic), but the gist is:

- There are many face up character cards
- At the start, each player secretly draws a matching character goal card
- Each face up character has a corresponding character goal card
- You're eliminated if your corresponding face up character card is eliminated
- You win if you accomplish the goal listed on your character goal card.

One problem I have is how to collect information on your opponents.
My current solution is, players can draw from the remaining character goal cards, and by process of elimination slowly figure out who their enemies are. This won't work if there are more than 2 players though.

So, basically,
- Do you know any games that use a similar mechanic?
- What are ways of collecting hidden information?

let-off studios
let-off studios's picture
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Joined: 02/07/2011
High-Low

I just picked up a two-player deduction game called "Agent Hunter." In it players need to correctly determine the numbers shown on their opponent's Safehouses: three face-down cards.

When making a choice, players select and display the number card they think is the right answer. If incorrect, their opponent replies "higher" or "lower" in reference to the player's guess.

Is there a way to incorporate a similar mechanic in your game? Perhaps the position of the card in relation to a targeted card in the assortment shown on the game board? If you wanted to do a multiplayer version of the above, simply permit players to only show their chosen card to the opponent and not the other players. This means only the person asking the question learns how to apply the info from the opponent's response.

Or are there other distinguishing characteristics on the cards that players can point out and other players announce a "yes" or "no" answer?

Might a separate deck of cards such as those in Clue/Cluedo be available for use in your game?

radioactivemouse
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Joined: 07/08/2013
Mafia de Cuba?

andymakespasta wrote:
I'm designing a game around a mechanic that each player is secretly one of the characters on the board.
I'm not sure if this can work (or if there are already games that use this mechanic), but the gist is:

- There are many face up character cards
- At the start, each player secretly draws a matching character goal card
- Each face up character has a corresponding character goal card
- You're eliminated if your corresponding face up character card is eliminated
- You win if you accomplish the goal listed on your character goal card.

One problem I have is how to collect information on your opponents.
My current solution is, players can draw from the remaining character goal cards, and by process of elimination slowly figure out who their enemies are. This won't work if there are more than 2 players though.

So, basically,
- Do you know any games that use a similar mechanic?
- What are ways of collecting hidden information?

Just off the top of my head, there's a game that's not quite out yet, but there's reviews on this product called "Mafia De Cuba" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xsVWj4QoXU). It uses a cigar box mechanic where players pass a cigar box and they look through the box taking information. There can be useful or non-useful stuff.

Looking at your idea, I think this may be a key in finding out information about other players without revealing yourself. You would then, in turn, put in some of your information so that others can find information about you without totally revealing yourself.

Just a thought.

heckmanjr
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Joined: 08/25/2015
Guess Who? anyone?

Sounds interesting, but explain - why won't it work if there are more than two players? You'd still be narrowing down who it isn't, right?

Here is a thought, it may be oversimplified for your game, but the first thing that comes to mind is the old chestnut "Guess Who?"
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4143/guess-who

Here is why it may be applicable:

You could have "tiers" of information about each character on the card from the least helpful to the most helpful, e.g. gender, hair color, eye color, hats...etc. Of course this could be more interestingly applied to your theme - gang affiliation, degree achieved, etc.

This information could literally be "revealed" by covering the remaining portion of the players card.

Hope this helps...good luck with you game!

andymakespasta
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Joined: 07/26/2015
More details on the game, the

More details on the game, the backdrop is the French Revolution, and played using modified standard poker deck. Each suit represents a class: Aristocrats and military, Clergy, Bourgeois, and Sans-culottes. Each suit has 3 "leaders" that you try to influence, and having influence allows you to activate their power (at the cost of losing some influence). Some of the powers are geared towards eliminating people. Otherwise, you could denounce a person for treason, and players can throw influence to influence the trial.

I didn't think drawing from the remaining character goal cards would work with more than 2 players, was because the information would be spread out, and nobody would have enough information to pinpoint their enemies.

Another problem I had, was how to stop players from attacking other characters randomly. My original solution was you had to reveal your own character if you wanted to denounce another character, but this always seemed a little harsh. I think only revealing your suit or your number seems like a good compromise in this situation.

The cigar box is really cool. Glad you pointed it out.

wombat929
wombat929's picture
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Joined: 04/17/2015
Lifeboat

You may want to check out Lifeboat, in which each player openly controls a character, but secretly likes one other character and hates a third character.

Also, COUP uses hidden roles and bluffing and accusation.

Arthur Wohlwill
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Joined: 05/30/2015
Re; Guess who your enemy is mechanic

You could give clues based on the goals. For example, if one of the goals is to make a certain amount of money, then players might suspect a player who seemed to be accumulating money. The game Troyes has this aspect, but figuring out who each player is is only part of the game.

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