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Top 10 Games Like Secret Hitler – Similar Games Players Love

games like Secret Hitler collage

Secret Hitler is a massively popular Kickstarter-funded social deduction party game, and its popularity should come at no surprise given the fact that one of the co-designers was involved with creating Cards Against Humanity.

While there are many things to like about this game, there are certainly many other games out there that provide a similar feel but may be better suited for specific preferences or situations.

Whether you are looking for a game really similar to Secret Hitler or one that can play a significantly higher player count, here is a list of 10 similar games that are worth looking into.

1. The Resistance The Game Most Like Secret Hitler

When you look at the rules and gameplay of Secret Hitler, there’s no question that the designers of this game drew some inspiration from The Resistance, a classic social deduction game designed by Don Eskridge.

The two games share a lot of the same DNA, such as the fact that players are dealt hidden roles at the beginning of the game, the spies/fascists know who is on their side, and the goal is to succeed or fail missions/policies depending on what side you are on. Both games definitely have a lot of finger-pointing, bluffing, and deceit as a core feature of gameplay. However, there is one key difference between these two games, and that has to do with perfect information.

The two games share a lot of the same DNA, such as the fact that players are dealt hidden roles at the beginning of the game.

The Resistance game

The Resistance at a Glance

Game Type
Bluffing, Card Game,
Deduction, Negotiation,
Hidden Roles, Memory,
Team Based, Spies/Secret
Agents, Traitor, Voting
Play Time
30 mins
Skill/Complexity (1.8 - 5)
Light
Age
13+
Publisher(s)
Indie Boards & Cards
and Others
Published
2009
Categories
Party
Players
5 - 10
Cost
$29.99
Our Rating
8.3/10

Similar to Secret Hitler, in The Resistance, players take turns acting as a mission leader, and nominate other members to go on missions. These team members are then voted on by everyone at the table, and must secure a majority vote in their favor in order for the mission to proceed with those team members. If approved, the team members then secretly choose to succeed or fail the mission, and those mission cards are shuffled and revealed. If at least one person fails the mission, then the entire mission fails (and the spies move one step closer to winning the game).

The way that the missions work in The Resistance provides players at the table with perfect information. For instance, if 3 people go on a mission, and then 2 fail cards are revealed, everyone at the table then knows for a fact that at least 2 of those 3 people are spies (a member of The Resistance has absolutely no reason to ever fail a mission). This goes in contrast to Secret Hitler, where the president draws 3 policy tiles from the top of the deck, discards one, and then hands the other 2 to the chancellor, who must discard 1 and play the other. In other words, in Secret Hitler, if a chancellor reveals a fascist policy, players can never be 100% sure that player is, in fact, a fascist (perhaps they were dealt 2 fascist policies and had no choice).

While the theme may be stronger in Secret Hitler than in The Resistance, if you prefer to have more perfect information in a social deduction game, then you may engage with The Resistance over Secret Hitler more. In any case, The Resistance remains to be an excellent, simple game that everyone should try at least once.

2. Deception: Murder in Hong Kong A Great Game for Creative/Abstract Thinking

A core aspect that draws many people to social deduction games like Secret Hitler is the ability to craft a narrative, which can be truthful or deceitful based on the secret role they are dealt at the beginning of the game.

If you enjoy the secret role aspect of Secret Hitler, but are looking for a game that lends itself well to more opportunities for creativity and imagination, then Deception: Murder in Hong Kong could be an excellent choice for your collection.

Deception Murder in Hong Kong

Deception: Murder in Hong Kong at a Glance

Game Type
Murder/Mystery
Deduction. Bluffing
Storytelling

Play Time
Approx 20 mins
Skill/Complexity (2 - 5)
Light - Medium
Age
14+
Publisher(s)
Grey Fox Games
Published
2014
Categories
Family / Party
Players
4 - 12 (6 is ideal)
Rules Manual
Official Rules PDF
Our Rating
8.5/10
Cost
Approx $39.99

In Deception: Murder in Hong Kong, designed by Tobey Ho, players receive roles at the beginning of the game, which will always include murderer, investigator, or forensic scientist, but can also include accomplice or witness, depending on player count. The forensic scientist is publicly known to all players, and then that player also learns who the murderer is while all other players have their eyes closed.

Each player receives 4 clue cards and 4 means cards at the beginning of the game, which they place face up in front of themselves. When all players have their eyes closed, except for the forensic scientist and murderer, the murderer will select and point to 1 clue card and 1 means card, which will be the cards that an investigator will need to correctly guess in order for the investigators, witness, and forensic scientist to win the game. Each player (excluding the forensic scientist) has 1 badge token which gives them a single chance in the game to solve the crime at any point. If no player manages to correctly guess at the end of 3 rounds, then the murderer and accomplice win the game.

The forensic scientist, at the beginning of the game, has 6 clue tiles (each of which contains 6 possible clues), which provide bits of information like cause of death, location of crime, weather, and corpse condition. As quickly or slowly as they would like, the forensic scientist places 6 bullets, one on each clue tile, providing players at the table with clues to help guide them to the correct clue card and means card. Players then begin to speculate, and after the forensic scientist has placed all 6 bullets, each player (including the murderer) has 30 seconds to present their case for solving the crime.

In the 2nd and 3rd rounds, the forensic scientist draws and replaces a clue tile and provides a new clue, and players have another chance to discuss and present their case. If a player wishes to attempt to solve the crime, they must discard their badge token and can no longer try to guess, but can still participate in discussion and present their case.

Deception: Murder in Hong Kong lends itself well to some creativity and abstract thinking as players (including the murderer) try to craft connections between clues from the forensic scientist and the clue card/means card they suspect are responsible for the crime, or to deflect players to the wrong clues in the case of the murderer. The player who acts as forensic scientist must also try to help guide players in the right direction without being able to openly communicate or provide verbal clues.

Due to the fact that players can be creative and clever with clues on the table in this game, people who don’t like being the murderer or spy in social deduction games because they don’t like to lie will likely enjoy this quite a lot more.

3. One Night Ultimate Werewolf A 10-Minute Social Deduction Game

Sometimes it’s great to have a social deduction game that can be played super quickly, whether you want to start off a game night with something quick while you are waiting for other people to arrive, or something short and fun for the end of the evening.

If you enjoy the social deduction and hidden role experience of Secret Hitler, but wish it were condensed into something quite a bit quicker, then you may very much like One Night Ultimate Werewolf.

One Night Ultimate Werewolf game box

One Night Ultimate Werewolf at a Glance

Game Type
Horror Theme, Bluffing,
Card Game, Deduction,
Party Game
Play Time
10 mins
Skill/Complexity (1.4 - 5)
Light
Age
8+
Publisher(s)
Bézier Games
and others
Published
2014
Categories
Party Game
Players
3 - 10
Cost
$23.95
Our Rating
8.7/10

The goal of One Night Ultimate Werewolf is for players to correctly guess who the werewolves are and to kill at least one werewolf. The werewolves win, on the other hand, if there is at least one werewolf and no werewolves are killed. Like Secret Hitler, players are dealt secret roles at the beginning of the game, but One Night Ultimate Werewolf has a great deal more types of roles that players can receive.

The goal of One Night Ultimate Werewolf is for players to correctly guess who the werewolves are and to kill at least one werewolf.

The game is played over two phases: night and day. During the night phase, players take turns waking up (in a determined order) and performing actions specific to their role. Someone can either narrate this phase of the game, or there is a handy companion app to handle this portion and help move the game along at a quick pace.

The werewolves are the first to open their eyes, and know who the other werewolves are at the table. Other roles include the seer, who can look at another player’s card or two role cards in the center of the table. The troublemaker may switch two player’s role cards without looking at them. If a player is the drunk, they exchange their role card with one from the center without looking at it, so they don’t know who they really are. The insomniac wakes up and looks at their role card (to see if it was changed).

During the day phase, players discuss who they think the werewolves are for a few minutes, and then players vote by pointing to a player at the table. The player with the most votes is killed, and their role is revealed. If two players are tied, they are both killed, and if no player has more than one vote, then no one is killed.

Apart from being a really quick and easy-to-explain social deduction game, One Night Ultimate Werewolf is a really fun game with quite a bit of replayability with the sheer number of roles included. Because it’s easy to play multiple rounds in one sitting, players will soon discover how some of the different roles interact with each other in unique ways. If you prefer to have imperfect information and a bit of randomness, like in Secret Hitler, you may very well enjoy this game.

4. Dead of Winter A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Game

An element that can help to create memorable experiences in social deduction board games is a deeply immersive theme. For many fans of Secret Hitler, the theme of liberals vs. fascists in a pre-WWII setting comes to light in the narrative that the game provokes through its mechanisms, as well as the game’s components and artwork.

If a thematic gameplay experience is what you are looking for, then Dead of Winter will have you and your friends diving into a post-apocalyptic hellscape overrun by unstoppable hordes of zombies as you (mostly) work together to survive.

Dead of Winter game box

Dead of Winter at a Glance

Game Type
Thematic, Zombies, Bluffing
Deduction, Action Points,
Area Movement, Semi-Cooperative Game,
Dice Rolling, Hand Management,
Push Your Luck, Storytelling
Trading, Traitor Game,
Variable Player Powers,
Voting
Play Time
60 - 120 mins
Skill/Complexity (3 - 5)
Medium
Age
13+
Publisher(s)
Plaid Hat Games and others
Published
2014
Categories
Strategy / Cooperative
Players
2 - 5
Cost
$49.95 approx.
Our Rating
8.4/10

At its core, Dead of Winter, designed by Jonathan Gilmour and Isaac Vega, is a cooperative game. But if you typically don’t enjoy cooperative games, this game is not one to ignore as it has gameplay elements that are non-typical to cooperative games.

At the beginning of the game, players select an overall objective for the entire group to meet in order to win the game. However, players also receive secret objectives which they must also meet in order to personally win. These secret objectives can either be either positive or negative in supporting the group’s main objective and for the collective survival of the group. One betrayer card is shuffled into the deck each game, which means that in any given game of Dead of Winter, you will never be quite sure whether or not there is a betrayer in your group, but you will always be suspicious of everyone.

As befitting to its theme, the game is spent with players trying to keep up group morale while also dealing with negative events, fighting off zombies, and exploring different locations.

A really unique mechanism in this game that adds to the thematic experience is the crossroad cards. At the beginning of a player’s turn, the player to their right draws a crossroad card and secretly reads the text. The card provides a secret condition that, if met on the active player’s turn, will trigger a scenario and two possible options to resolve, which the player holding the card will read aloud for the active player to decide.

While Dead of Winter is a bit more complex to explain than a lighter game like Secret Hitler, it does have the capability to provide a rich and memorable narrative experience. Also, with the sheer number of possible main objectives, secret objectives, and characters, no two games will ever feel the same. If this sounds like your idea of a good time, then definitely give Dead of Winter a consideration.

5. A Fake Artist Goes to New York A Good Alternative to Pictionary

If you have friends or family that really enjoy playing Pictionary, and you are looking for a good alternative to bring along that still fits the casual/party atmosphere, but does something a little different than a standard classic party game, A Fake Artist Goes to New York is almost guaranteed to be a success in these scenarios.

It’s a party game, but with the added element of trying to pretend to conceal your true identity or figure out “who’s who” around the table, similar to social deduction games like Secret Hitler.

A fake artist goes to new york box cover

A Fake Artist Goes To New York at a Glance

Game Type
Bluffing , Deduction,
Drawing, Role Playing,
Targeted Clues
Play Time
20 mins (approx)
Skill/Complexity (1.5 - 5)
Light

Age
8+
Publisher(s)
Oink Games
Published
2012
Categories
Party / Family
Players
5 - 10 (best 6 - 8)
Our Rating
8.7/10
Cost
$38.99 approx

The main idea of A Fake Artist Goes to New York is that players all work together to draw a masterpiece of art, but one player is a fake artist who is trying to blend in and pretend they know what they are doing. The fake artist wins if either they manage to not be guessed as the fake artist at the end of the game, or can correctly guess the object if correctly accused as the fake artist by other players. The category and object for the drawing is determined by a Question Master (QM), who also wins the game if the fake artist wins. Players who are artists are trying to figure out who the fake artist is, and they win the game if they correctly guess at the end and the fake artist cannot guess the correct object in the picture.

The main idea of A Fake Artist Goes to New York is that players all work together to draw a masterpiece of art, but one player is a fake artist who is trying to blend in and pretend they know what they are doing.

At the beginning of the game the QM secretly thinks up an object for the picture and tells everyone a category clue (for instance, if it were a cat, they might designate the category as “animal”). They then take a number of title cards equal to the number of players, and write the name of the object on all cards minus one (on which they simply write an X). The QM shuffles the title cards and hands them out to players, and then picks a player as the starting player.

In clockwise order, and continuing for two rounds, players take turns simply making one mark to continue the picture. Obviously, the real artists want to provide just enough detail to let everyone know they aren’t a fake artist, but don’t want to give away too much to the fake artist for them to be able to blend in. The fake artist, on the other hand, needs to try desperately to figure out what is going on and “talk the talk” without raising any serious red flags to draw attention to themselves.

After two rounds, the QM will count to 3, and all players must point to another player who they think is the fake artist. The player with the most votes then must reveal whether or not they are the fake artist. If they are the fake artist, they then must state the object in the picture, otherwise they lose. If the QM and fake artist manage to win, they both gain 2 points. If the artists win, they each gain 1 point. The game continues for multiple rounds until any player achieves 5 points, and that player wins the game.

A Fake Artist Goes to New York is a game that can provide plenty of laughs as players try to guess out who is the fake artist.

As a fake artist, it can be challenging to try and play along and contribute to the picture in a way that makes it look like you know what you are doing.

This game is extremely small and portable, making it a great game just to keep in your bag or car at all times; in the off-chance that the need for a good party game arises, you can become known and deeply respected among your friends and family as the gamemaster and giver of joy that you were born to become.

6. SpyfallA Purely Social Party Game

If the previous game on this list, A Fake Artist Goes to New York, sounded like fun but if you aren’t a big fan of trying to demonstrate your artistic abilities, then Spyfall could be a better fit for you. Spyfall is, after all, almost entirely a social game (i.e., with very minimal physical game components), making it a great party game if that is something you are looking for.

Imagine if you will that you are a spy on a secret mission, but you’ve woken up after a questionable evening on the town and aren’t quite sure where you are. You are surrounded by special agents, and must play it off like you understand what’s going on around you as to not make other people suspicious that you are, in fact, a spy. To do so, you’ll need to piece together clues from other players to make some educated guesses, and also throw everyone off your trail by trying to frame another player as the spy.

Imagine if you will that you are a spy on a secret mission, but you’ve woken up after a questionable evening on the town and aren’t quite sure where you are.

Spyfall box cover

Spyfall at a Glance

Game Type
Team Based, , Deduction,
Communication Limits,
Bluffing, Memory,
Role Play
Play Time
15 mins (approx)
Skill/Complexity (1.5 - 5)
Light

Age
13+
Publisher(s)
Hobby World and Others
Published
2014
Categories
Family / Party
Players
3 - 8 + (best 4 - 6)
Our Rating
8.7/10
Cost
$23.99 approx

A game of Spyfall, designed by Alexandr Ushan, consists of a number of rounds as determined by the players at the beginning of the game. In each round, there is one spy, and their goal is to make it to the end of the round and not get unanimously called out as the spy, or reveal their identify at any point in the round and correctly guess the current location.

In each round, a location will be chosen at random by shuffling bags of location cards, and each player will receive a location card – minus one player, who will receive the spy card. Each round will last a certain amount of time as determined at the beginning of the game, and a player’s turn is simple: they pick another player and ask them a question which they must answer. If a player is not a spy, it’s their goal to answer the question in a way that makes other players certain they are not a spy, but without giving the spy too much information to correctly guess the location. The spy will listen closely to other player’s responses to try and guess the correct location, and answer questions in a way that does not arouse suspicion.

A round will end once the timer has run out, and then the dealer will guess who they think they spy is. All players will vote yes or no, and if the vote is unanimous that player will reveal their identify. If the vote is non-unanimous, the next player in clockwise order will guess a different player as the spy. This will continue until either one player has been unanimously voted as the spy, or all players have guessed a spy (and no unanimous decision was agreed upon).

The spy receives 2 points if no player was unanimously accused of being the spy, 4 points another player was (wrongly) accused of being the spy, and 4 points if they stop the game and correctly guess the location. The non-spies each receive 1 point if they correctly guess the spy, and the player who initiated that guess receives 2 points. At the end of the set number of rounds determined at the beginning of the game, the player with the most points wins.

Spyfall takes the lying, bluffing, and trying to outsmart opponents by either pinpointing a spy or throwing everyone off your trail that so many people love about games like Secret Hitler, but strips away just about everything except for the social aspect of these style of games.

If you are someone who doesn’t enjoy lying to other people, or having to fabricate a web of deceit, then you may not enjoy Spyfall especially if you are randomly selected as the spy. However, if you enjoy being crafty and clever in your responses and trying to convince everyone at a table that someone else is the person lying (when you know they are telling the truth), you will likely really appreciate the experience this party game has to offer.

7. CoupA Political Social-Deduction Game

Secret Hitler’s political theme, with players trying to take or maintain political control through clever deceit or deduction, is an aspect of the game that many people certainly enjoy and appreciate. If the political theme is something you are attracted to, the game Coup puts players in the role of heads of families trying to fight their way to political control by manipulating and eliminating their enemies.

Coup, designed by Rikki Tahta, is a social deduction game that only lasts 15 minutes, but still offers a very interesting gaming experience in that amount of time. Like Secret Hitler, players each receive secret roles at the beginning of the game, but in Coup each player receives 2. These character cards represent a player’s influence, and the goal is to be the last player with influence (i.e., a character card) at the table.

Coup, designed by Rikki Tahta, is a social deduction game that only lasts 15 minutes, but still offers a very interesting gaming experience in that amount of time.

Coup game box

Coup at a Glance

Game Type
Bluffing, Card Game Deduction,
Party Game, Political,
Hidden Roles, Memory,
Player Elimination, Take That,
Variable Player Powers
Play Time
15 mins (approx)
Skill/Complexity (1.5 - 5)
Light

Age
13+
Publisher(s)
Indie Boards & Cards and Others
Published
2012
Categories
Party
Players
2 - 6
Our Rating
8.2/10
Cost
$10.99 approx

Each character allows players to perform special actions on a player’s turn, but a really unique twist in Coup is that players, on their turn, can perform any action from any character card in the game (there is a reference sheet to know the different actions in the game), even if it’s not an actual character card they possess. However, if another player suspects they might be bluffing, they can challenge the active player. If challenged, a player will either reveal the correct character card and prove they were telling the truth, or turn over a different character card and accept defeat. If they were telling the truth, the challenging player loses an influence and the active player shuffles their character card into the deck and draws a new one. If the active player instead reveals a different character card, they lose an influence.

Instead of a character card action, a player can take one of three simple actions on their turn: take 1 coin in income, take 2 coins in foreign aid, or perform a coup by paying 7 coins. If a player takes 2 coins in foreign aid, they run the risk of being blocked by a player claiming to be the Duke, who has the ability to counteract foreign aid. If a player performs a coup, they select another player and that player loses an influence (this action cannot be blocked). If a player ever has 10 or more coins at the start of their turn, they must perform a coup.

If you really enjoy the lying and deceit involved in Secret Hitler, then you are bound to really enjoy everything that Coup has to offer.

In this game, players will constantly be suspicious and second-guessing other players as they try and figure out whether or not they should challenge a player who just made a move that seems too good to be true.

While the different character actions included in the game can be a little tricky to keep track of for new players, the fact that the game provides a useful resource sheet certainly helps.

Also, since the game is only 15 minutes long, it’s easy to play a quick learning round to help give new players a good feel for the game, and then play 2 or 3 more rounds in the same sitting.

8. Bang! The Dice GameA Push-Your-Luck Game with Hidden Roles

One mechanism that Secret Hitler has that’s not found in many social deduction games is an element of random “luck of the draw” on a player’s turn when they draw 3 policy tiles and then must decide which policy tile to discard. This can force players to think quickly about what they would like to do, and how their decision might clue other players in to their secret identity.

Bang! The Dice Game is another social deduction game with hidden roles that features a strong push-your-luck mechanism with dice rolling, in which players try to assassinate the right people in order to achieve their objective as determined by their role.

Bang! The Dice Game is another social deduction game with hidden roles that features a strong push-your-luck mechanism with dice rolling.

Bang The Dice Game box

Bang! The Dice Game at a Glance

Game Type
American West Theme,
Bluffing, Party Game,
Dice Rolling, Hidden Roles,
Player Elimination, Push Your Luck,
Re-rolling and Locking,
Team-Based Game,
Variable Player Powers
Play Time
15 mins (approx)
Skill/Complexity (1.3 - 5)
Light

Age
8+
Publisher(s)
dV Giochi and Others
Published
2013
Categories
Party
Players
3 - 8
Our Rating
8.4/10
Cost
$17.99 approx

In Bang! The Dice Game, designed by Michael Palm and Lukas Zach, players each receive one of four different hidden roles (sheriff, deputy, renegade, and outlaw), as well as one of 16 characters that provide special abilities. The sheriff is the only role that is made public at the beginning of the game, and it is the sheriff’s objective to have all renegades and outlaws killed. The deputy’s job is to protect the sheriff. A renegade wins the game if all other players are killed, and outlaws win if the sheriff dies.

On a player’s turn, they roll a set of 5 dice, and have 3 opportunities to roll the dice (and set aside any dice they don’t wish to re-roll). If they roll dynamite symbols, they must set aside those dice, and if at any point the player has 3 dynamite symbols showing, they lose one life point. An arrow will cause a player to take an arrow token at the end of their turn, which can cause them to lose life points once a player draws the last arrow token. Bull’s eye symbols with the number 1 allow a player to attack a player to their left or right, and one with the number 2 allows a player to attack a player two spots away on their left or right. A beer symbol allows a player to gain one life point (the person who rolled it can also use a beer symbol to heal another player). If a player rolls 3 or more dice with gatling symbols, all other players at the table lose a life point.

If a player ever runs out of life points, they are eliminated from the game and reveal their role to the rest of the table. The game ends right away if either the sheriff is eliminated or the outlaws and renegades are all eliminated. Players whose role objectives were fulfilled at the end of the game (even if they were eliminated on a previous turn) win the game.

Bang! The Dice Game can provide a great deal of fun as players try really hard to push their luck and avoid those dreaded dynamite and arrow symbols, and try to figure out who at the table they should try and kill (or save). Players can also be manipulative in the actions they perform in order to throw people off. For instance, a renegade or an outlaw might heal the sheriff in order to convince the sheriff that they are a deputy. The game also has a decent amount of replayability with the different character cards included in the game that, combined with the different roles, can provide different kinds of experiences depending on the combination you end up with at the beginning.

With the ability to play up to 8 players in the span of 15 minutes in an extremely portable package, Bang! The Dice Game can make a great addition to a gamer’s collection to fit a wide range of gaming situations.

9. Two Rooms and a BoomA Social Deduction Game for up to 30 Players

While social deduction games are typically known for being able to play well with higher player counts, Two Rooms and a Boom is a game that plays with an exceptionally large player count – of up to 30 players.

If you are trying to think of a good social deduction game to bring to a very large gathering (of course, during non-pandemic conditions), such as a work event or conference, then this could very well be the game you are looking for.

Two Rooms and a Boom game box

Two Rooms and a Boom at a Glance

Game Type
Bluffing, Card Game,
Deduction, Negotiation,
Party Game , Print & Play,
Spies/Secret Agents, Acting,
Elapsed Real Time Ending,
Team-Based Game,
Variable Player Powers,
Voting, Kickstarter
Play Time
7 - 20 mins (approx)
Skill/Complexity (1.5 - 5)
Light

Age
8+
Publisher(s)
Tuesday Knight Games
Published
2013
Categories
Party
Players
6 - 30
Our Rating
7.9/10
Cost
$17.99 approx

In Two Rooms and a Boom, designed by Alan Gerding and Sean McCoy, players are secretly assigned to the red team or blue team. One player will receive the role as bomber for the red team, and one player will receive the role as president for the blue team. The red team wins if the bomber and the president are in the same room at the end of the last round, and the blue team wins if the bomber and president are in separate rooms at the end of the round.

In each round (the number of which is determined by the number of players), players in the game are physically divided into two separate rooms. Each round is progressively shorter, with the last round only being 1 minute long. After someone in each room nominates a leader (who can either abdicate their role or be usurped by another player), players in the room begin to interact with one another and can provide any information they would like. For instance, they can choose to show their role card if they would like to anyone.

At the end of the designated amount of time for the current round, the leaders select hostages (the number of hostages depends on the current round). The leaders then meet in an area between the two rooms, begin timers for the next round, call their hostages over and exchange them, then return to their room to continue with the next round. This continues until the end of the final round, at which point the end-game winning conditions are evaluated and a winning team is revealed!

There are also 70 unique character roles included in the game that can be added for immense levels of replayability. These roles bend the rules in one way or another, and provide guidance, privileges, and restrictions for the ways that players can interact with other players. Using these roles can be great if you’ve played with the same group for a couple rounds and want to begin to introduce some more flavor and variety into the game.

Given the fact that a round can be played in less than 10 minutes and can be extremely easy to teach to a very large group of people, coupled with the fact that it can provide a great deal of fun and enjoyment, Two Rooms and a Boom is almost guaranteed to be a big hit with a group of people.

As mentioned above, this game could be perfect for large gatherings, even for ice breaker activities at work functions or a way to pass the time at family reunions or other celebrations.

10. Sheriff of Nottingham A Family Bluffing Board Game

It can certainly be a lot of fun in a social deduction game like Secret Hitler to get into the roles of the game in order to bring the theme to life and have a good time. Sheriff of Nottingham is a family-weight bluffing game that can lead to these kinds of hilarious moments as players take turns lying – or accusing other people of lying – in order to win the game.

The goal of Sheriff of Nottingham is to be the most profitable merchant by bringing goods into the city’s gates. While you, for the most part, might be a truthful and virtuous merchant, bringing in only legal goods, you may be tempted to sneak in some illegal contraband in order to make more money. There’s one main challenge standing in your way, however, and that’s the sheriff.

While you, for the most part, might be a truthful and virtuous merchant, bringing in only legal goods, you may be tempted to sneak in some illegal contraband in order to make more money.

sheriff of Nottingham board game box

Sheriff of Nottingham at a Glance

Game Type
Medieval Theme
Humor, Card Game
Bluffing, Card
Drafting, Negotiation
Play Time
60 mins
Skill/Complexity (2 - 5)
Light
Age
14+
Publisher(s)
Arcane Wonders
Published
2014
Categories
Kids Game / Family
Party
Players
3 - 5
Rules Manual
Official Rules PDF
Our Rating
9/10
Cost
$24.99 approx

In each round of the game, one player takes on the role of the sheriff, and the rest of the players merchants. Players simultaneously decide which goods cards will go into their goods bag for that round, and once they snap the bag shut, they cannot change their mind. Players then must declare their goods to the sheriff by telling them the type of good they are bringing, and the quantity. They must declare a type of legal good, and cannot lie about the number of goods cards in their pouch. They can lie, however, about what goods are actually in that pouch.

The sheriff then must decide who – if anyone – they would like to inspect and order to open their bag. At this point, players may plead their case and even bribe the sheriff not to open their bag, or even to open another player’s bag. If the sheriff does inspect a player’s bag and they are telling the truth, the sheriff must pay that player gold equal to the penalty value of the player’s goods. If they were lying, that player must pay the sheriff the fine as well as discard any goods they were lying about.

The game ends once each player has been the sheriff twice. At that point, players add up the value of their legal goods, contraband, as well as bonus points for having the most or 2nd most of any category of goods.

Sheriff of Nottingham makes for an excellent family game, and one that works great with a group of people who aren’t looking to take the game too seriously. While it is fun to try and maximize your points and win in the different categories, the game is really about the experience of players getting in to the theme, trying to bribe the sheriff, and get away with shady business. If this sounds like fun to you, this game can be loads of fun.

That just about covers the roundup of best games like Secret Hitler and our top 10 recommendations. Annually we come back and add or remove games that are best suited in this category.

We left the popular party game Codenames out of this category on purpose. This is because we’ve dedicated a category for games that are similar to Codenames you can check out.

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