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Dixit is a cardgame from 2008. Here is how I like to play it.
Everyone is responsible for drawing new cards as they play cards, instead of there being a âdeal cardsâ phase. Donât worry about getting out of sync, there is no advantage to having too few cards. Just draw up to handsize when you notice it.
You have to guess the card that you really thought that player played. Even though there are often situations where thatâs strategically bad (because you want to give that player fewer or more points). Thatâs why this house rule: guess honestly. This is obv an unenforcable rule unless you are The Shadow that knows what lurks in the heart, but, I find that having an explicit policy is good.
When you donât have an OK play, itâs allowed to play your worst card to get it out of your hand. You donât have to play your least-bad card. However, if you have a card thatâs even remotely OK, play it. Obviously, for this and the âhonest guessingâ rule, be Postel about it: check yourself but donât be a goof that lectures others about it.
Do not let people kid around about the clues (or go âI donât know what that isâ) until after the round has been scored. That can spoil someoneâs clue! Of course say it again if they didnât hear it or they forgot it.
Do the two or three point thing first (âToo easyâ, âToo hardâ, or âJust rightâ), and only once those points have been handed out, do the extra single points.
The three points I like make sure to convey right away with a new group is the drawing not dealing, the split score, and the honest guessing policy. Anything else here can wait, or be shown by example.
Gather all the cards that people have played in the turn, make sureâby looking at the backsides of the cardsâthat theyâre all facing the same direction before you shuffle them.
Also, flip them up quickly (either one by one in rapid sequence, or as one combined flop), and then let people take them in all at once, in good time. Do not do the thing where you say the clue for each flip, and especially donât do that if you say the clue in a different way each time.
When using the original tiles, which I like (over the pegboard from Odyssey), once everyone has selected a tile, itâs good if people place them on that card. (People should take care to not do that until everyone has selected a tile, of course.)
I like it when the clue-giver also marks a card, the correct one. That way people can see right away what happened.
Sometimes it can be a fun minigame to see how few questions you need to ask before scoring. For example, you know that people donât guess on the card theyâve played (thatâs not allowed) and you know that they havenât played the card that you yourself played. That way you can, by process of elimination, suss out who should get extra single-points. A fun party trick.
When there is downtime, think of your next few plays when itâs gonna be your turn to say a clue. Have a few spares in case those cards you have in mind leave your hand before then (do not hang on to them in case there is a perfect fit for someone elseâs card).
Iâve sometimes done well in this game even when most of my clues have been too easy or too hard, if Iâve been consistently good at guessing.
One thing that has made me sour on the game is references. Thatâs when you know another player has read the same book or seen the same show as you have, and that the others havenât, and you give clues that really tie in to that reference. This problem, I donât have an answer for. Not only is sprinkling in some references fun, itâs also hard to say what even is a reference. All language, expressions, words... itâs all references in some sense. The problem is that every injoke or nod can feel like a jab for someone else. This game is best played with strangers, which naturally leads you into relying less on references, and also when there are references, theyâre a way for strangers to bond over a shared experience.