If I had to decide on a single board game genre to choose as my favourite, it would probably be social deduction games. I think they’re absolutely fantastic. My first introduction to them, like most people, was playing Wink Murder in school as a kid. However, my tastes have evolved somewhat since then. I love the sheer range available with modern board gaming, and I enjoy titles with more strategy. I’ve played plenty, and wanted to share the best social deduction board games for adults.
I think the reason I love this genre so much is that it makes me feel like a detective. I much prefer being on the ‘good’ side for most games. However, the thrill of secrecy is a lot of fun even when I’m on the ‘bad’ side. Whatever your preference is in social deduction games, these titles are sure to pique your interest!
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Ultimate Werewolf
That’s right, Ultimate Werewolf, none of that ‘One Night’ nonsense. (I take it back, One Night Ultimate Werewolf is fantastic too, just not quite as good as this longer version). You can play with a ridiculous range of players, anywhere from 5 – 68! But in theory, you could buy two copies and have over 100 players, even though that would just get chaotic. I personally think it’s most fun in the 25 – 30 range, but it’s pretty good as long as you have at least 8-10 players. I wouldn’t recommend it for smaller groups.
However, when you can get enough people together, this game is an absolute dream. It’s all about clever strategy, and hoping everyone on your team plays their role optimally. There are lots of different roles with various powers. There are also just standard Villagers whose role is to help buff out the numbers for the village side. The aim for the village side is to lynch the Werewolves/ Vampires before they kill off all the village team. And the aim for the Werewolves/ Vampires is to successfully avoid detection!
Blood on the Clocktower
Full confession – I haven’t actually played Blood on the Clocktower myself. I really want to, just unfortunately I haven’t had the opportunity yet. However, it’s so highly appraised within the board game community that I couldn’t possibly not include it in this list of the best social deduction board games for adults. It’s similar to Ultimate Werewolf in that it’s played in a day/ night phase. During the day, players will discuss both publicly and privately to try and guide the decisions of other players, culminating in an elimination. During the night, players wake one at a time to use their role abilities.
The Good team wants to eliminate all the Demons before they can become outnumbered. Whereas the Evil team wants to avoid detection long enough for Demons to overrun the village. One really cool thing about Blood on the Clocktower is that players can keep playing even after they’re dead. They simply turn into ghosts, and can still try and push for victory. In fact, even if someone joins late, they can still enter the game as a traveller. All the action is facilitated by a Storyteller, who knows all the goings on. With so many roles working alongside each other, this is a game of clever bluffing and even smarter strategy. Not recommended for complete beginners.
Secret Hitler
Despite the politically incorrect title, Secret Hitler is absolutely fantastic. There are two teams, the Liberals and the Fascists. The Liberals really want to eliminate Hitler, but the Fascists want to protect him at all costs. Everyone takes it in turn to choose policies to enact. Players can elect a President and a Chancellor to enact policies. The President draws 3 policies, discards one, then passes the remaining policies to the Chancellor, who will choose one to enact. Policies are either Liberal or Fascist, and the deck contains more Fascist policies. If a Fascist policy is played, other players need to figure out if two Fascists deliberately enacted a bad policy, or if they got unlucky with the draw.
The Fascists win if they can pass 6 Fascist policies, or if Hitler gets elected as Chancellor once 3 Fascist policies pass. The Liberals win by passing 5 Liberal policies, or assassinating Hitler. One mechanic I love in this game is that although the Fascists know who Hitler is, Hitler doesn’t know who the Fascists are. So they need to make themselves known to him without making it obvious to the other players. As social deduction games go, this is one of the simplest and most fun titles out there. It can be played with 5-10 players, and plays well as long as you have at least 6 people.
Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
This invariably ends up being requested almost every week at my local board games society. Deception: Murder in Hong Kong is one of the most hilariously inconsistent games I’ve ever played. I’ve had games where it’s barely lasted 10 minutes, and other times where it’s taken over an hour. The length really does depend entirely on the cards that get drawn, and the personalities of the players. It can be played with 4-12 players, but it’s definitely more fun with at least 6. Any more than 10, and the game can start dragging on a bit too long. In general, though, games tend to last around 20-30 minutes.
One player is selected to be the Forensic Scientist. This player knows everything but can’t communicate with the other players. They can only share clues by indicating words on the various cards that they draw, trying to point the other players in the direction of the Murderer. The Murderer needs to avoid detection, and they’re helped by their Accomplice who wants to throw people off the scent. The Witness knows the identity of the Murderer and Accomplice, but not which is which, nor the specific murder weapon and key evidence. Everyone else is an Investigator. The Investigators need to use the clues to figure out the murder weapon and evidence, and each Investigator gets one guess each. However, even if they’re correct, the Murderer has one last chance to get away with it. The Murderer and Accomplice still win as long as they can guess who the Witness is.
The Chameleon
This is easily one of my favourite games, and I’m the first to suggest it when playing with friends. It’s such an easy time-filler since each round only lasts about 5 minutes. There’s technically a scoring element, but we choose to ignore that, and just play for fun. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever played it using the recommended scoring that The Chameleon suggests. It’s better to just take each round as it comes.
In The Chameleon, a word grid is placed in the centre, each player is handed a card. Two dice are rolled, and the result will decide which word from the grid is the answer for that round. Players can use the key on their cards to find the grid location that the dice roll indicates. However, one player has a card that just says ‘The Chameleon’. That player will have to try and fool the others into thinking they know the answer word. Every player will say one word that relates to the answer, but they don’t want to be too obvious and give it away. The Chameleon wins if they avoid detection, or guess the correct word from the grid.
The Resistance
Something that makes The Resistance stand out amongst social deduction games is that you don’t just need one really smart player on the team who can figure everything out. Nor can you get by with just a majority sussing out what’s what. No, the good guys can only win if everyone on the team unanimously figures out all the bad guys. That kind of all or nothing gameplay is rare to find, and it adds so much intensity to what is otherwise a very simple game. You can play with between 5-10 players, but in my experience, it’s best with 6 or 7, ideally the latter.
Players take it in turns to go on missions, and each player can secretly put in a pass or a fail card. The Resistance Operatives must put in a pass, but the Imperial Spies can choose to either pass or fail. Once all mission members have put in, the cards are shuffled and revealed randomly. If a mission passes, it’s a point for the Resistance. If it fails, it’s a point for the Empire. Other players can use this information to try and figure out who the Imperial Spies are. At the start of each round, one player will select their mission crew, and everyone votes to either approve or deny their selection. The Resistance want to stop the Empire going on missions, whereas the Imperial Spies want to avoid detection and secretly fail a majority of missions. It’s a relatively quick game, and it can be so much fun!
Coup
If I was thinking of social deduction games, admittedly, Coup wouldn’t be my first thought. Not because it’s a bad game, but simply because I don’t personally really view it as being part of the genre. However, I’m objectively wrong, and it is technically classed under the category, hence its inclusion on the list. Even though players don’t necessarily have to lie, most people do. And being able to catch them out in that lie is a big part of successfully winning.
In Coup, all players are dealt two cards face down, and each card has various powers. Some powers are more useful than others, but the good news is, you can use any power you like! All that matters is that you make other people think that you’ve got the card with that power. If you suspect someone of lying, you can call them out, but be warned! If you’re wrong, you’ll lose one of your cards, and you’re out as soon as you lose your second card. But if you’re correct, and they did indeed lie, they’ll lose one of their cards instead. Coup is all about bluffing without getting caught, and seeing through everyone else’s lies.
Obscurio
I’ll admit I’m cheating a little by putting Obscurio on the list since the social deduction aspect is such a small part of the gameplay. However, it’s such an amazing game that I’ll make an exception here. Most of the group will be working together as a team, however, one player will secretly be the Traitor. It’s the Traitor’s job to deceive the group and lead them astray, so that they’ll be trapped forever! The team needs to try and figure out who the Traitor is and vote them out before they can cause too much destruction. But voting wrong leads them one step closer to defeat, so they need to wait until they’re sure.
In Obscurio, the goal is to find the correct door by choosing the right picture. One person plays as a magical book that can see the correct door but can’t communicate through words. Instead, they draw two other pictures, and can use magnetic markers to point to two elements within those pictures. The team then use those elements to try and figure out the correct picture from a total of 6. Meanwhile, the Traitor can choose up to 2 pictures to add to the doors based on the selected elements. This is a delightfully abstract game of logic and social deduction.
Spyfall
I was first introduced to this game through the mobile version when I was at uni, but I can see how it would work even better with physical components. In Spyfall, all players are given a card. For all-but-one of the players, that card will show a specific location. But for one player, their card will indicate that they’re a Spy. The Spy knows the possible list of locations, but not the specific one that was chosen. The other players will also have been assigned a role that’s relevant to their location, and will answer their questions as if they were that character.
The players take it in turns to ask each other questions about their role and the location. They want to be specific enough that they can catch out a liar, but vague enough that it doesn’t become obvious to the Spy. The Spy wins if they avoid detection, or if they successfully guess the location. The others win if they can vote out the Spy without giving away the location. Spyfall is very similar to Chameleon, it just involves more talking and deliberating.
Two Rooms and a Boom
I included this one since it’s a print and play that you can download for free. Not only that, it’s got a really impressive player range, and can be played with anywhere between 6 and 30 people. This means it’s suitable for small family gatherings or large board game societies, and that kind of versatility is hard to find. It’s also easy enough that younger players can understand it, but without being so simple that it becomes boring. There’s certainly a fair amount of strategy, and you can make it more complex by adding in cards with different roles.
The general premise is that all the players split into two equal teams – the Blue team and the Red team. Each team then goes into its own separate room so that the opposing team can’t see or hear them. There are a series of timed rounds, during which ‘hostages’ are traded between the rooms. At the end of the last round, the Red team win if their Bomber is in the same room as the Blue team’s President. Otherwise, the Blue team win. With a range of extra roles that add in additional rules, the replayability on this game is excellent.
Conclusion
I hope this list of the best social deduction board games for adults has been helpful for you. It’s such an incredible genre, and everyone needs to experience it at least once so they can see how much fun there is to be had by lying to your friends and family. The above games highlight some of the best mechanics that the genre has to offer. Whether you’re new to social deduction games, or you’re a veteran of the genre, you now have some other titles to be on the lookout for.
Have you played a social deduction game before? What’s your favourite one? Join the discussion over in our Facebook community! And if you’re looking for more recommendations, check out these awesome two-player competitive games.
FAQs
Social deduction board games are ones where players have hidden roles which they have to keep secret from the group. They need to use strategy and careful deduction to figure out which of the other players are bluffing.
The most popular social deduction board game is probably Werewolf (also known as Mafia), at least, that’s the one that most people will have heard of. First released in 1986, there have been multiple variations, and many social deduction games build upon the basic premise.
Technically the minimum number of players you’d need would be 3, but you’d be hard pressed to find a social deduction board game for that few players. Most of them tend to require at least 5-6 players, so these games are best in larger groups.
