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We’ve all played that game. You know the one: if you could invite anyone over for dinner, who would it be? Vic Reeves would be good fun and he’s rather talented at drawing birds, so I’d like that. Ash Williams from the Evil Dead films would be handy, although keep him away from the ancient books section of the dining room, he’s got a habit of reading stuff out loud (yes, he is an historical figure, those films are documentaries). Queen Victoria would keep the rabble in line. Jack the Ripper’s a dodgy invite, but you’d be the one to solve a great mystery and find out who he really is!
Some lovely choices there. And what about people you would never invite? Oh well, there’s the obvious one who nobody would dare to mention (more on this shortly); there’s that lecturer I had in university who said I was ‘like a loaf of bread waiting to be sliced’ (whatever that meant); any of the neighbours (save me, please) especially the new psychos who recently moved in and leave their door wide open 24/7. Who does that?
Okay, but what if you had no control over who came round for your world famous buttie avec chips? What if Bill and Ted kept landing their phone box time machine on your garden path, spewing out historic figures one at a time, knife and fork in their hands, and your front door was off its hinges? You’d best get rattling those pots and pans. And you could maybe steer a few of the ones you don’t like next door…
(A note before we continue, lest I accidentally set ludicrous expectations: you will not find Vic Reeves, Ash Williams or my neighbours amongst the cards in this game. Perhaps in an expansion?)
First Impressions
What have we got here, then? Dinner Party is a dark-humoured dice game for two to six players, game time around about the half hour mark, and recommended for ages 12 and up.
What kind of people will rock up to your pad? You’d be the talk of the town if you got Jesus of Nazareth to your table. And there’s some heavy drinkers at this party, if you happen to run out of wine… (not sure it’s wise to finish this gag). Now, I know I mentioned some living people and some fictional characters in my opening gambit, but your guests here will all be famous faces from history who’ve long since passed away – so no legal action necessary!
I’m a big fan of the hand-drawn cartoon style for the historical figures. In fact, the artwork is unified across all of the components and the cards and the playing pieces – envelopes, drink tokens – feel of a suitably good quality. Can I make a suggestion? Resist the urge (strong as it will be) to scan through all of the cards when you first open the game. There’s one specific individual you have to locate who is required for the game’s start, but that card is double-sided. Let the rest appear as the rounds unfold, let yourself have some surprises.
First gathering/playthrough
Let’s set the table! Hitler’s desperate to get in on a party, any party, so he’s placed in the middle of the playing area from the off – there’s a side of his card for two players, and a side for three and more. Now separate the other 89 guests into their respective decks. The backs are all different coloured doors, five varieties. From each deck you’ll draw a number of cards equal to the number of players plus three, then return the rest to the box – no free food and drink for these guys tonight. The top guest from each stack is revealed and placed underneath, kind of like a showcase of your first possible patrons. Each player needs a bit of space in front of them which will act as their ‘table’, and three envelope tokens. Nice little touch from the rules here: the starting player is the one who most looks like a starting player. I decided that I looked most like a starting player: I was told that I didn’t.
Your table is looking empty. Time to get bums on seats! Each turn has four phases: you can charm other guests (not on the first round, as there are no guests to charm), you can invite a guest from the showcase, you’ll visit the bar, and finally you’ll act as host. Choose your guest, and note that each has a numerical value in the top right corner. This is their ‘demand’ value and it denotes how hard they are to invite and entertain – it’s not easy being a host. Roll the three dice. You can reroll any number of these dice. After this second roll, you can reroll a third time. Decide where you hope to place the new arrival. If you have no guest yet then they will simply go in front of you. If you already have guests, then the prospective newcomer must go to the left or right of them. The choice is important. Check the cards of the guests you already have: in the middle of those cards there will be arrows, and in those arrows will be a plus or a minus and an amount. If you want your new patron to sit to the right of a diner who offers plus two, then you will add this number to your total roll. Guests with green arrows (positive modifiers) are nice to sit next to, like Abraham Lincoln. Those with red arrows (negative modifiers) are unpleasant to sit beside, such as Al Capone.
How did the party go? Was there joy or tears?
What have I learned? Aside from a bunch of stuff off Google searches (I guarantee there’s plenty here that you’ll need a refresher on), think hard when choosing a guest. Bear in mind that the six sided dice each have a drink icon on two of their faces, which means numerically they only go from one to four. This means you won’t be able to go after a 13 Demand guest from the off as you can’t roll that high. You’ll need a modifier to secure them as a patron, and even then you’ll need good rolls. A lesser value guest for your first pick can be a lot easier to bring to the table.
Prepare for a shocker of an opening – my very first turn I tried to tempt Winston Churchill over. I needed ten from the dice. I didn’t get it. Tried again the second turn, still didn’t land, so my opponent was two guests ahead before I even got going. Revenge got the better of me – I went after Hitler and sent the bugger straight over – alongside Churchill, that’s got to be some tense small talk – but that eventually backfired as well… And remember, if you want to charm a guest, you still have to land the rolls! And should you go after this particular figure, or wait and see if someone better rocks up?
It’s almost as tough as hosting a real dinner party. Hopefully there won’t be as many tears.
I’ll state this plainly: I’m not keen on the majority of ‘adult’ or ‘dark humour’ games. They tend to be about rude positions or swearing. Now, I’m no prude – I’ve got an A level in Higher Swearing for cripe’s sake – but these games seem to value shock factor over actual entertainment and game mechanics. Dinner Party has a kind of ‘grown up’ dark humour, and while that humour wobbles a little along the line of distaste, there’s a strong game here that requires some tactical thinking. It’ll spark some conversation as well; it did with us. Everyone will have an opinion on the guests they’ve gathered, there’ll be some googling about who some of them are (we can’t all be historians, okay?), those in high school or college will likely chat about the figures they’ve covered in classes
With that said, we had a ton of fun here, and tended towards three or four plays when Dinner Party was brought to the table. There are far more strategies and tactical options here than the theme might suggest. It’s a game with simple rules that is super easy to learn and rapidly reveals many choices for the player to take. Go for low Demand guests or pick the juicier public speakers that everyone wants? Collect the occupations for an end game bonus? Steal Marlene Deitrich from your opponent because she should obviously be at your table where the better host is? Who should get the water, who should get the wine? Which guests should you protect above all others?
This would be a great addition to a board game collection due to its versatility. Obviously, this would be great at an actual dinner party after the food has been demolished and the drink flows. It doesn’t take much effort to teach. During a longer session too, this would be a good warm up to get everyone laughing and chatting. And if you’re short of time, you can squeeze Dinner Party in under half an hour or so. Even though it’s based on a familiar concept, it’s also a little bit different to your standard party games, and that is the game’s strength.
Head over to the Kickstarter page here and receive your cordial invite - and keep your diary clear and your finest threads ready for September 24th.