The 10 Best Social Deduction Board Games of All Time, Ranked

Sometimes, t𓆉he most exciting board games are the ones where you don’t know which of your fellow players you should trust. Who amongst you is secretly 𓂃a killer? How many people at the table are spies? The best social deduction board games make answering these questions a ton of fun.

10. A Fake Artist Goes to New York

is like social deduction Pictionary. Everyone is drawing the same word, on the same canvas, one line at a time. However, one of the players doesn’t actually know what the selected wor♉d is while the drawing occurs.

That playeꩵr has to contribute to the artwork without bringing attention to themselves, or they’ll be called out as a fake once the round ends. However, if the fake artist can still guess what tꦓhe picture is meant to be, they get away with the crime. It’s a highly portable board game that you can take with you whenever you’re traveling.

9. Werewords

is a straightforward word-guessing game, but with a unique twist. You’ll have a set number of questions to ask as a means of finding the correct word, and everyone will work as what appears to be a team. However, one of the peoplℱe at the table is trying to deceive you and lead you further from th🐠e right answer.

If you don’t guess the correct word, you might still be able to win if you can 🐼identify the werewolf. It’s a s𒈔olid tabletop title for players of all ages, and works well for parties.

8. Bang! The Dice Game

Ready for an epic showdown in the Wild West? has all the guns🐎linging fun and surprising twists of fate that you’d expect to𝓀 find in a classic Western.

Only one player has a known identity in town: the sheriff. Everyone else is either a deputy, a renegade, or an outlaw. If you’re allied with the law, you have to keep the sheriff alive for as long as🍎 possible and take down all the baddies. If you’re a renegade, you have to be the last pers💫on standing to win. And finally, if you’re an outlaw, you’re basically in town just to cause chaos.

7. One Night Ultimate Werewolf

If you’re looking for a social deduction board game that’s fast and easy to learn, then you’ll love . The game has an app that sets up the narra෴tive and manages the night phase. This mechanic ensures that everyone can participate without knowing who’s who.

There are tons of interesting role cards, and each one has its ꦅown power, which guarantees that no two games are alike. This also helps prevent some players from feeling less impactful than others. If just one of the werewolves is caught at the end of the day, the game ends as a win for the villagers.

6. Spyfall

A game of starts without all but one person receiving a card with a location on it, such as a police station, a casino, or a submarine. The player who draws the card without any information about the location is the spy. As you play, everyone will take turns asking each other questions abo🏅ut the location to try and determine who’s the odd one out. However, these questions need to be as vague as possible. If the spy can guess the right place correctly, they evade capture and win. It’s a simple formula for a game that works great for big groups.

5. Dead of Winter: A Crossroads Game

In , you and your fellow players are some of the last humans to survive the fallout of the zombie apocalypse. You’ll need to work together to fortify your camp, gather supplies, and fight off monst🌄ers. However, everyone at the table has a secret objective that has to be completed in order to win.

Oftentimes, these objectives come atꦛ the expense of the other survivors. As a result, everyone has to balance the needs of the group with the needs of their specific c🤪haracter. Sometimes, only one person will win. Other times, it could be a small group, or perhaps no one if you’re not careful.

4. Deception: Murder in Hong Kong

does a great job of making you feel like a detective. In front of each player, you’ll find a mix of evidence and weapon༒ cards. You’ll have to determine, based on these cards, who is most likely to be the kille🍌r.

To help you, you’ll get a few clues from the witness, who can’t speak directly aboꦗut what happened, but will help🎃 you narrow down some of the suspect’s key attributes. If you’re the murderer or the accomplice, you’ll need to throw everyone off the scent by discussing why one of the other people at the table is more suspicious than you.

3. Unfathomable

takes place in a Lovecraftian version 😼of 1913, as you and your fellow players journey across the Atlantic Ocean aboard a steamship. When you’re several days away from shore, the Deep Ones begin to rise up.

Unfortunately, not every player aboard your boat is as trustworthy as they seem. A few of the players will have the “Hybrid” loyalty cards, and will actually be working to sink the ship fro💯m within. As a human, you’ll need to guard your available resources, dispatch enemies that rise from the waters, and if you can, throw the hybrid players in the brig to prevent them from doing any more damage.

2. The Resistance

In , players work to carry out or sabotage secret missions that will shape the future of the Empire. For t🀅he 🍸first of these missions, everyone at the table has to vote for three players to participate.

However, as play progresses, the size of the team increases. If you’re an ally of the Resistan🎃ce, you’ll need to figure out who’s actually on your team, and who’s an imposter. If you’re a spy working for the Empire, your goal is to convince everyone of your innocence.

Games usuallওy only take about fifteen minutes and are always pack🀅ed with tons of fun table talk.

1. Blood on the Clocktower

The town of Ravenswood Bluff has a dark secret: it’s secretly inhabited by demons. These mysterious entities strike at night, killing one player at a time. However, they ap🍸pear human while the sun sh𒈔ines. How are you going to catch them? By discussing it with everyone else in town and leading a witch hunt, of course.

takes all the basic💙s of a normal social deduction board game and turns them up to eleven, and for that reason, it belongs at the top of this list.

There are multiple nights, and players are allowed to leave the room to discuss the events of the game in groups. If you’re killed off, you can haಞunt the town. If you’re late, you can join as a traveler. Plus, up to 20 people can play.