Agatha Christie - Death On The Cards Review

Every board game enthusiast knows the likes of Ultimate Werewolf, Mafia, and Secret Hitler. These social deception games have become staples of many game nights thanks to being easy to learn and relatively quick to play. They also have a great formula that gets people out of their comfort zone and creates natural tension. That said, some people (including myself) have issues with deception-based gameplay. It tends to abandon smart play for charisma, constantly rewarding certain personality types. Agatha Christie - Death on the Cards recognizes this and adds strategy to balance the deception.

Race The Deck

Death on the Cards begins much like any other deception game. Players are given Secret cards that they keep hidden in front of them. One player's secret is that they committed a murder. It becomes a race against time, with the innocent players working to figure out who the murderer is by uncovering each other's secrets. These secrets tend to be scandalous in an old-timey way. One might be a former circus freak or a writer of smutty romance novels. Players use Event and Detective cards to reveal secrets, with the murderer hoping to run out the shared deck of these cards. That's how they win.

What makes Death on the Cards feel so delightfully fresh is that card management is just as important as fooling your friends. Since deception games are inherently social, they're often beholden to the whims of whatever group you've assembled. If someone pulled off a tricky win last time, some players will harass them with early accusations. One person's shy new girlfriend who nobody knows might slide under the radar only to be the werewolf all along. Any abilities or strategic tools you're given only matter so much in the face of group dynamics.

Play Your Cards Right

The deck of Death on the Cards has a variety of cards that mix up gameplay. If you don't want to cause conflict by directly revealing someone's secrets, you can use cards that let you dig through the discard pile. Or you can play a card that makes everyone pass a card from their hand on the person to the left. The rebalancing of hands might be a strategic play, but it might also just be a fun bit of chaos. Because of this, the gameplay doesn't always turn into a series of accusations and speeches. Playing defensively by collecting useful cards is also a legitimate strategy.

Also, no one ever "dies" for good. A player who has their secrets revealed becomes socially disgraced. This turns them into a card mill who cannot play, but must still draw a card at the end of their turn. They still impact the game by running the deck down, therefore helping the murderer. They can, however, be brought back from disgrace with certain cards. This is nice because it prevents that scenario where someone is killed early in game and is forced to stew while waiting for the next game.

Simply Satisfying

When it comes to presentation, Death on the Cards satisfies even if it does come up a little simple. It comes in a small box that can fit two decks of cards and the folding rules sheet. The art, pictured above, takes a more expressive and cartoonish approach than you might expect from the works of a famous murder mystery author. There is love for Christie and her works, though. The Detective cards are the characters of her novels. Many of the card titles are plays on the titles of her stories. And the very idea of uncovering scandalous secrets and causing societal disgrace fits the style of her time period.

Those looking for a new party game would do well to look into Agatha Christie - Death on the Cards. Although with a six-player maximum, it makes for a better beginning of party game. It makes use of the tension and dramatic accusations of deception games while also rewarding players who think more strategically than socially. It is still a deception game at heart, though, so you still have to get devious if you want to get away with murder.

A review copy of Agatha Christie - Death on the Cards was provided to TheGamer by Modiphius Entertainment. It is available now for $15-$20 at most game stores and online retailers.