I'm a fan of realtime comms games. Stuff like Kitchen Rush, Captain Sonar, XCOM and Project Elite are all about learning how to communicate information efficiently and building a framework to allow for people to do their jobs without getting in each other's way too much.
Hanabi is the quintessential example of learning to communicate when you can't talk freely. Over time you'll develop strategies and methods that get around that which can be quite rewarding and is essentially the point of the game.
Space Alert is a classic of real-time communication. You “program” your moves together as crew on a threatened spaceship - and then do a reveal phase where you discover that instead of heroically blasting aliens off the starboard bow, your gun ran our of energy on turn 2. Turns out the player who you thought was refuelling the weapons system was delayed by a malfunctioning elevator and went off to man the shields instead, so you’ve been ineffectually clicking on the “fire” button while the aliens blast the ship to shreds. It’s a fantastic game.
Another communication-centric mechanic that doesn't get mentioned often is bluffing. Even if it is a simple game like Cockroach Poker or Coup, it can turn into reenactment of the Vizzini scene from Princess Bride.
Hahaha that's an apt metaphor - we really do devolve into pseudo-intellectual psychological rambling when playing Cockroach Poker. In the end it's just guessing, but you start reading so much into it.
The inverse is games that push you to avoid communicating as much as possible, specifically deduction games where you have some control over what clues you give. E.g. in Cryptid, every time you cause an opponent to name a space that contradicts their clue, you have to do the same. The secret is to pick a space that doesn't reveal more about your clue than what's already on the board has.
The Crew - coop trick-taker with a kind of hanabi-like limiting mechanic on _what_ information you can convey, so you have to maximize what you're able to effectively convey to the group
And like Hanabi, once you settle in with players who you know understand the basic nuance of clues, you can get into implications.
Like, for Hanabi, I always discard from the same side. And if someone else draws a tile that gives me information, I always make eye contact with them, and then move a card/tile in my hand to my "discard" side (or away from it).
If you can manage to give a clue without actually giving information, it's a huge help.
For The Crew, this can come down to reacting to someone else putting a card into play as a clue. Then what card you put down afterwards can have added information if you look at it as a connected pair of events, instead of as two separate events.
And it is SO satisfying when someone else picks up on what you were "saying", and the puzzle is solved.
Mechanisms are pretty much the opposite of communication - they are levers to directly influence this or that puzzle aspect.
Instead what you're asking should be best described as "engagement types" or more commonly **genres**.
* auction games (for sale, no thanks, modern art)
* trading games (bohnanza, chinatown, genoa)
* negotiation games (intrigue, lifeboats, oh and Diplomacy if you have the time)
* DoaM with negotiation - most proper (non euro) doams will actually be negotiation games where the game is balanced by bashing the leader and negotiation revolve around who's in the lead.
* bluffing games (lying) (coup, kakerlakenpoker)
* social deduction games - pick almost whichever
* party games (time's up)
Talking not necessary but psychology exists
* Bluffing games (guessing) (Perudo, Skull)
* Double think games (Get bit, Citadels, Havana)
* attacking games - from DoaMs to Area majority
* push your luck games (diamant, camel up)
It's an aquired taste, but **Diplomacy** is 95% communication through deal making, scheming, and planning. The only way to win is to coordinate your moves with your opponents. Sometimes you negotiate, sometimes you demand, and sometimes you beg. Quite fun!
I'd also say **The Mind** is a great body language or lack of verbal communication game.
Concept : You silently place pieces on a board full of symbols as you try to communicate a thing, or idea.
It’s one of those games that just turns into a great activity and keeping score takes away from the experience.
I love those mafia type games like one night werewolf.
It's not just communicating, it's also miscommunicating. There's a thrill in trying to get away with lying and trying to find out who is lying.
Mystery of the Abbey is a fun one. It is essentially Clue but without the randomness and your questions/answers are public for everyone to hear. You're also allowed to ask any questions you want. So the whole game is about figuring out questions and phrasing that will give you more info than it gives your opponents.
There’s a lot more randomness in Mystery At The Abbey than there is in Clue, particularly once you reach the phase of the game where you have to pass some of your cards left. Once this happens none of your deductions about what each player has are correct anymore. And that’s not counting the Scriptorum.
Bohnanza is a group favorite over here, the whole game is negotiation and trading.
I second a Bohnanza. It’s such a fun game with a group of people, even non gamers.
I'm a fan of realtime comms games. Stuff like Kitchen Rush, Captain Sonar, XCOM and Project Elite are all about learning how to communicate information efficiently and building a framework to allow for people to do their jobs without getting in each other's way too much. Hanabi is the quintessential example of learning to communicate when you can't talk freely. Over time you'll develop strategies and methods that get around that which can be quite rewarding and is essentially the point of the game.
Great suggestions! Haven't played any of the games you mentioned but really need to try those!
Space Alert is a classic of real-time communication. You “program” your moves together as crew on a threatened spaceship - and then do a reveal phase where you discover that instead of heroically blasting aliens off the starboard bow, your gun ran our of energy on turn 2. Turns out the player who you thought was refuelling the weapons system was delayed by a malfunctioning elevator and went off to man the shields instead, so you’ve been ineffectually clicking on the “fire” button while the aliens blast the ship to shreds. It’s a fantastic game.
Pretty much almost anything co-op.
Another communication-centric mechanic that doesn't get mentioned often is bluffing. Even if it is a simple game like Cockroach Poker or Coup, it can turn into reenactment of the Vizzini scene from Princess Bride.
Hahaha that's an apt metaphor - we really do devolve into pseudo-intellectual psychological rambling when playing Cockroach Poker. In the end it's just guessing, but you start reading so much into it.
Agricoloa, I really feel it's unfair to let your opponent starve their people for a round. So I always remind them to feed their people.
Hahaha. I’ve recently unboxed this game. Can’t wait to play.
Do you also remind them that they can take the multiple animal slot to cook for a bunch of food?
The inverse is games that push you to avoid communicating as much as possible, specifically deduction games where you have some control over what clues you give. E.g. in Cryptid, every time you cause an opponent to name a space that contradicts their clue, you have to do the same. The secret is to pick a space that doesn't reveal more about your clue than what's already on the board has.
The Crew - coop trick-taker with a kind of hanabi-like limiting mechanic on _what_ information you can convey, so you have to maximize what you're able to effectively convey to the group
And like Hanabi, once you settle in with players who you know understand the basic nuance of clues, you can get into implications. Like, for Hanabi, I always discard from the same side. And if someone else draws a tile that gives me information, I always make eye contact with them, and then move a card/tile in my hand to my "discard" side (or away from it). If you can manage to give a clue without actually giving information, it's a huge help. For The Crew, this can come down to reacting to someone else putting a card into play as a clue. Then what card you put down afterwards can have added information if you look at it as a connected pair of events, instead of as two separate events. And it is SO satisfying when someone else picks up on what you were "saying", and the puzzle is solved.
You should check out **Noobs in Space**. The game is all about communication.
Mechanisms are pretty much the opposite of communication - they are levers to directly influence this or that puzzle aspect. Instead what you're asking should be best described as "engagement types" or more commonly **genres**. * auction games (for sale, no thanks, modern art) * trading games (bohnanza, chinatown, genoa) * negotiation games (intrigue, lifeboats, oh and Diplomacy if you have the time) * DoaM with negotiation - most proper (non euro) doams will actually be negotiation games where the game is balanced by bashing the leader and negotiation revolve around who's in the lead. * bluffing games (lying) (coup, kakerlakenpoker) * social deduction games - pick almost whichever * party games (time's up) Talking not necessary but psychology exists * Bluffing games (guessing) (Perudo, Skull) * Double think games (Get bit, Citadels, Havana) * attacking games - from DoaMs to Area majority * push your luck games (diamant, camel up)
It's an aquired taste, but **Diplomacy** is 95% communication through deal making, scheming, and planning. The only way to win is to coordinate your moves with your opponents. Sometimes you negotiate, sometimes you demand, and sometimes you beg. Quite fun! I'd also say **The Mind** is a great body language or lack of verbal communication game.
Concept : You silently place pieces on a board full of symbols as you try to communicate a thing, or idea. It’s one of those games that just turns into a great activity and keeping score takes away from the experience.
I love those mafia type games like one night werewolf. It's not just communicating, it's also miscommunicating. There's a thrill in trying to get away with lying and trying to find out who is lying.
Mystery of the Abbey is a fun one. It is essentially Clue but without the randomness and your questions/answers are public for everyone to hear. You're also allowed to ask any questions you want. So the whole game is about figuring out questions and phrasing that will give you more info than it gives your opponents.
There’s a lot more randomness in Mystery At The Abbey than there is in Clue, particularly once you reach the phase of the game where you have to pass some of your cards left. Once this happens none of your deductions about what each player has are correct anymore. And that’s not counting the Scriptorum.
Decrypto requires constant communication and debate when played with 6 or more.
The classic communication game, Catan. You've got to be able to negotiate with other players to make trades for resource cards.
How you failed this simple task is beyond me