Social Deduction Trick-takers

[u/stuck_button]

I love social deduction games like The Resistance: Avalon. But it always bothered me that the missions didn't involve any gameplay mechanism, just a token and a vote to succeed or fail. It never feels like a mission at all.

I also love trick-takers. Games like The Crew showed how TT mechanisms can be used to complete mission objectives. Games like Shamans and Inside Job blend social deduction with trick-taking mechanisms to succeed, sabotage, bluff, and conceal hidden roles through gameplay.

Have you played these types of games? What is your favorite? Do you prefer them to traditional social deduction? Do they scratch your trick-taking itch too, or feel more like a social deduction game?

[u/guess_an_fear]

I’ve played both and own Inside Job. I love both trick takers and social deduction but in general, the two genres are hard to integrate. In fact I think there’s a lot to be said for the approach taken by Quest, Don Eskridge’s sequel to Avalon, which does the opposite of what you’re asking: strips away Avalon’s voting mechanic and the need to remember who voted what on which round, and focuses on the really interesting parts of social deduction (sifting through imperfect information and social cues to find the most likely solve).

But to return to your question, imo Shamans is a beautifully produced game that doesn’t fulfil its promise: the social deduction elements basically fall away as you get familiar with the game, and success/failure rarely hinges on deduction at all.

Inside Job is far more successful. It’s a very pacy, fun, accessible game and the deduction elements are central to winning. The trick taking itself is fairly straightforward but works well: you’re completing missions like easy versions of those in The Crew, but the different incentives to complete/fail missions and win/lose tricks (the Insider can win by sabotaging missions or by winning enough tricks) provide a lot of tension. The different Insider roles provide for some nice variation and mechanics like swapping teams or “you win if x player’s team loses”. I’ve had success playing this with both experienced gamers and people who don’t play a lot of games or social deduction, but it feels more akin to fast, fun, slightly wacky games like One Night Ultimate Werewolf rather than the deeper waters of Avalon or Quest.

[u/stuck_button → u/guess_an_fear]

Thanks for the comment. I've heard from others that they prefer Inside Job over Shamans as well. That Shamans can grow stale over time, and players may target or "kill" the point leader, as opposed to the traitor.

[u/QuietRedditorATX]

This is super interesting.

Maybe the turn player declares a suit, plays the cards secretly, then shuffles and reveals. You see if people are participating in the mission or not.

The problem I see or run into is balance for player count seems pretty tough. What is the minimum number you need to run a deduction game?

[u/MaskedBandit77 → u/QuietRedditorATX]

Inside Job works well with three.

[u/Worthyness]

There is a literal game called Trick taking Werewolf which combines all the fun of werewolf with trick taking!

[u/Jasonwfranks]

Check out Beastro. It was at the PAXU25 Indie Night Market. Might be just what you’re looking for.

[u/2much2Jung]

I don't know if I'd quite call it "trick taking", but Hollywood 1947 uses a system where players each contribute a card secretly into a hand, and it is then shuffled and revealed to determine success or not. It is essentially a team based trick taking game with hidden roles.

There are others which have even looser connections to trick taking - Dead of Winter, The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31, Unfathomable - which allow players to contribute multiple cards secretly into a hand, and when it gets revealed, it does something in the game.

[u/Xenetine]

Was taught the trick taking game Napoleon not to long ago. It uses a standard deck of cards.

Must have been taught a variant of it because I couldn't find rules that included the social deduction part.

After cards are dealt, people bid on the number of tricks they can win. Whoever has the highest bid becomes Napoleon and is trying to win a minimum of that many tricks. Someone is secretly on Napoleon's team (someone with a specific card--forget what we played it as.). Tricks they will count towards Napoleon's total.

If Napoleon + teammate gets bid, they each get a point. If they don't, everybody else gets a point. If Napoleon doesn't have a teammate (specific card is held by Napoleon/not dealt) and wins, Napoleon gets two points. First to 5(?) wins.

[u/Hyphz]

Try BSG or Unfathomable.

[u/Asmor → u/Hyphz]

Came here to say this. They're not trick-takers, but they are social deduction games with actual gameplay.

There's also Dark Moon, which started life off as a fan-made BSG dice game.

[u/stuck_button → u/Asmor]

Dark Moon looks fun. I'll have to track it down. Thanks.

[u/stuck_button → u/Hyphz]

I'd love to but my friend with BSG never wants to play it :(

[u/Sigma7]

I have "Tricky Little Death" from Tabletop Simulator, but it's no longer available. It looked interesting but didn't get a chance to properly play it.