Have you ever played a simple card game and yearned for that little extra push that would make it slightly more interesting? Want to spice up a conversation by making a game out of it? Look no farther, because “Subtle Much?”, a game that’ll be launching on Kickstarter in May 2016, has you covered. “Subtle Much?” is designed to be played whilst playing another game or performing some other group activity, tasking players with completing secret objectives in order to score points. Before we get into specifics, I’d like to thank Kyle Warwick (the Founder of Moresome Games) for providing me with a prototype for preview purposes. It’s important to stress that prototypes aren’t often reflective of the final product, making everything you read about here subject to change.
Subtle Much?: 3+ Players, Ages 12+, Average Play Time = 15 Minutes
Firstly, I want to quickly address the suggested player limit. The manual suggests that the game is for three or more players, but I do not see why you couldn’t play with two. Imagine you and a friend at a restaurant having a conversation while you’re waiting for your food. All you need is a deck of “Subtle Much?” cards handy and you can bluff and deduce your way to victory all the while keeping up to date with your personal lives. While the game is admittedly more interesting as you introduce more players to the mix, I found it totally acceptable to play as a two player game.
I suppose I’m getting ahead of myself here, as I haven’t even touched on how the game is played! Simply put, the deck of cards is shuffled and each player receives one looking at it in secret. Each card has a secret objective and it’ll be up to them to complete it without being called out by the other players. If a player attempts to complete their objective, they have to wait five seconds to give others time to call them out on it before placing it into their score pile. Upon scoring, the player draws another card. However, if another player sees through the attempt they can exclaim “Subtle Much?” and briefly describe what the attempting player was trying to do. If the accuser is for the most part correct, they receive the card and place it into their score pile instead. Three incorrect accusations however automatically awards the accused the ability to place their card into their score pile, so watch carefully!
When the main event…that is, the conversation or game the players are playing is over, they’ll count the number of cards in their score pile and whoever has the most, wins! There are some other rules to consider that make the game fairly interesting…for example, if three incorrect accusations are made and the accused has NOT attempted to complete their objective, the first person to make an accusation gets the card instead. This prevents a player from constantly bluffing and scoring points after three incorrect accusations.
That’s all there is to it, really. “Subtle Much?” is an ingenious way of making any game or activity even more exciting than usual…or perhaps, a boring activity (like waiting for the bus with a friend) a bit more manageable and fun (some of the cards may not work outside of playing another game, though). I personally love the idea and think it would be a good fit with lighter card/strategy games where brain overload wouldn’t occur. Of course, you young whippersnappers out there may very well be able to pull off a complex Euro game while playing this and in fact, I recommend it. The longer the game, the more you can space out your “Subtle Much?” attempts and not be as obvious.
No matter the occasion or activity, “Subtle Much?” will add that extra spice you’ve been looking for. It’ll be launching on Kickstarter in May 2016, so keep an eye out for this one!
Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/moresomegames/subtle-much-the-game-of-deception-for-3-or-more-pl
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