Dixit: Board Game Part 1

Dixit by Jean-Louis Roburia

Dixit is a board game created by Jean-Louis Roubira. When first playing it I was reminded of Pictionary or the mobile game Draw Something. While the game certainly incorporates guessing and drawings Dixit is so much more than a game of Pictionary.

The game is composed of a collection of cards, all of which have been designed to be abstract, and a board. If a player wants to win he/she must be the first to get 30 points. Each player has a hand of 6 cards, for each turn one player is the storyteller. They say a word or phrase that describes one of their cards. The other players must pick a card from their own hand that they believe matches the storyteller’s phrase. The selected cards are shuffled and spread out on the table. Each player votes (in secret) for which card they believe is the storyteller’s. Points are awarded accordingly – if nobody or everybody guesses the right card, the storyteller is not given any points but the other players are given two. If a number of people vote for the right card but not all, the storyteller and those who guessed correct are given three points. If a player votes for card not chosen by the storyteller the owner of that card is given one point. The goal for the storyteller is to give a phrase that is obvious enough so that some players will vote for their card but not obscure enough so that nobody votes for the right card.

Some players decided to use sentences for their story while I decided to use single words. Neither one seemed to be the more effective, single word often led to a too obvious card while the phrases were too obscure for anyone to guess. The line between obscure and obvious is very thin in this game especially because each player has a different perception of what represents words like sadness or what is meant by phrase The Count of Monte Cristo. The design of the cards definitely adds to this balancing game of obviousness and abstraction. Each card is surrealist while still being grounded in something tangible. This allows players to come with different interpretations of the card while keeping the game re-playable after multiple turns.

The point system works very well. It rewards all players fairly based on their choices. If the storyteller is too obvious the remaining players are rewarded while the storyteller is punished. Giving points to players for choosing a card that was chosen by another player is a clever mechanic. This ensures that the players don’t chose any random card from their hand but makes the game difficult because there are now several different cards that all are interpretations of the storyteller’s story.