Hey everyone! This game appeared in my Rulebook Preview series, which you can find here. The creators were kind enough to send a copy so that I could go ahead and properly review the game. I considered doing a Rulebook Review, but since I already touched on the rules in the preview (and also because the rules are very short) I decided to stick to a normal review. Anyway, without further ado, let’s check this game out!
Gameplay
The gameplay to Danger! The Game will be familiar to anyone who has played party games like Cards Against Humanity. One player is the “victim,” and they are in mortal danger! The other players take turns playing 1 tool card and 1 skill card, and craft a story on how they will save the victim. The victim then chooses 1 player to get the Danger card. The first player to 3 Danger cards wins! I find this gameplay extremely simple and engaging. In fact, the game encourages players to poke holes in each rescue plan, which I haven’t seen in any other similar games. This means that I am intently listening to my opponent and trying to think of a reason that their plan will fail. Is the power to control gravity really going to save the victim from a floor of lava? Can my friend actually use his ability to jump tall buildings in a single bound to out-maneuver a crowd of angry vegans? How powerful is a bed bug that is the size of a bed?
There is an expansion included in the deck which allows players to interfere with each-other by playing plot twists. These would change the scenario slightly and often times ruin another player’s rescue plan. As a group, we had a lot of fun playing with the plot twists. We were surprised to find that the plot twists were extremely powerful. By using a plot twist on the player that was winning, you could effectively stop them from gaining their third card to win. This definitely extended the game by a lot, and at the end of the game each player had at least 2 Danger cards (3 to win). I think that this is something to definitely keep in mind about the plot twist expansion, as using it will fundamentally change the way the game plays, making it significantly longer. Another note about the plot twist expansion is the fact that there are a ton of plot twists. We only got about a third of the way through the plot twist and danger decks, but we cycled through the entire tool and skill deck. That brings me to my next point.
Replayability
One thing I always worry about with party games is replayability. I’m happy to report that this game seems to still hold up after seeing the same cards several times. That’s because each card can be used in different ways, so the interpretation of each card changes from use to use. We also found that the Danger cards varied significantly. Some dangers called for a brute-force solution, while others would be better settled diplomatically. This means that one card was often times not better than the other cards. That being said, being friends with the president is probably much better than being able to juggle, so there were occasionally times when one player got the short end of the stick in terms of their cards. This only made the game funnier, like when one of the rescuers tried to convince the victim that they were best off trying to use a spoon to dig their way out of Alcatraz.
Overall
Danger! The Game was a very enjoyable experience for me and my friends. We think that this would be a perfect game for people who are looking for a solid party game. Personally, I loved Danger! The Game, and it is currently my favorite party game. That being said, the experience could be very player dependent as it relies on the creativity of the players. There can also be some biases in awarding the Danger cards due to the fact that it is not anonymous. I didn’t find these to be large downsides, so I would encourage you to check out the game! You can find it on Amazon below. Please note that I am testing out Amazon Affiliates, which means that if you choose to use one of the below links to actually purchase this game, I may get a small pittance from the Amazon overlords.
When was the last time you were in danger? Let me know in the comments below. Thanks for reading!