We're snatching artifacts and pointing fingers.
That's right, it's The Grimm Masquerade
from Skybound Games.
(upbeat music)
This social deduction strategy game
pits two to five fairy tale characters against one another
at an epic party thrown by The Beast.
They're competing to acquire the most roses
and become the Belle of the Ball.
Set up begins with a game board placed center.
Below that place the Point the Finger board face up.
Take the six action cards and randomly deal two down
on either side of Point the Finger board.
Then, place the remaining cards face down.
Shuffle the Artifact Cards and place them face down
to form the Artifact deck.
Create a supply of Rose tokens and place the Rose Trophies
in a stack, with the highest value trophy on the bottom.
Each player then takes seven Evidence tokens
of a single color.
Shuffle the Identity cards and deal one face down
to each player.
These are the hidden identities for the round.
Each player should look at them secretly
and not share them with anyone.
Place the remaining Identity cards face down
to form the Identity deck.
Next reveal artifacts equal to the number of players
plus two and arrange them below the Point the Finger board.
The player who most recently wore a costume
is the first player.
In clockwise order, starting with the first player,
everyone selects one artifact from the face up row.
Remaining artifacts go into a discard pile
next to the Artifact deck.
The Masquerade is ready to begin.
The Grimm Masquerade occurs over three rounds,
during which players will attempt to accrue the most roses.
Whomever has the most at the end of the game is the winner.
Each round, a player has a new character
for their secret identity.
Their goal is to conceal their own identity
while trying to unmask the identity of their opponents.
Each Identity card contains a Boon artifact
in the top left and a Bane artifact in the bottom right.
If a player can collect three of their Boon artifacts,
they immediately win the round.
If a player ever collects two
of their bane artifacts though, in a round,
they are unmasked and their identity is revealed. (gasps)
Game play occurs in turns,
during which a player first draws Artifacts
by drawing a single artifact from the Artifact deck.
They may then either keep that Artifact
or give it to another player.
Then the active player draws a second card
from the Artifact deck and must choose the opposite action
from their first card.
These new cards are placed face up in each player's tableau.
Depending on the cards in front of them,
a few things may happen to a player.
If a player has two matching Artifacts,
they must place an Evidence token on the character
who has that Artifact as their Bane
showing they are not that character.
If this is their own character, they're unmasked.
If a player has three matching artifacts of their Boon type,
they reveal their identity and win the round,
taking the Rose Trophy from the top of the pile.
If it's not their Boon type,
they place an Evidence token on that character
to show that is not their identity.
After drawing and distributing Artifacts,
players also have the option to discard a pair
of matching Artifacts to use a special action
during their turn.
The Point the Finger action is always available,
and allows the active player to guess the identity
of another player.
If they are correct, the player is unmasked
and the accuser gains two Rose Tokens.
If they're incorrect, the identity remains a secret
and the accused gains one Rose Token.
The falsely accused player then places an Evidence token
on that character on the board.
Each round, two new action options become available
including things like Peeking at the Guest List,
by looking at the Identity deck.
Or give a thoughtful gift
by giving an opponent an Artifact
and forcing them to give you two in return.
They must be random.
Once a player is unmasked,
either by having two of their Bane items,
or by having The Finger pointed at them,
they reveal their identity,
cover their character on the board,
and remove all Evidence tokens from that character.
Nobody else can be them.
They then take all artifacts into their hand
from in front of them
and no longer win the round by having three Boons.
But they can still play in the round
by drawing an Artifact on their turn,
adding it to their hand,
and then giving one artifact to another player.
In this way, they can still gain roses
by unmasking other players.
Players continue their turns until a round ends
by either all but one player being unmasked,
or a player collecting their three Boon artifacts.
At the end of the round, the winner takes a trophy
and set up again for the next round.
The first player designation passes to the player
with the least roses.
The two action cards are discarded
and replaced with two new actions.
The Character Cards are shuffled
and re-dealt to each player.
All Artifacts are returned and reset
to the number of players plus two.
Each player, starting with the first,
takes an Artifact and the remaining two
are placed in the discard.
Play continues until the end of the third round
at which point, the player with the most roses wins.
Or if a player ever has 10 roses at the end of a round,
they also win.
And that's the basics for The Grimm Masquerade.
Once you have a few games under your belt,
there's a trove of advanced options to add,
including Wager cards.
For players to gamble on which characters
might win the round.
Treasure tokens which can pair with Artifacts
for cheaper actions.
And special character abilities,
helpful for the player with the fewest roses.
I'm Becca Scott and I think if I were to be turned
into an animated piece of furniture,
I'd be a Chaise Loungue.
'Cause I like saying Chaise Loungue.
Chaise...
Loungue.
You can watch me and my friends play this game
and other awesome games on Game the Game
right here on Geek and Sundry.
We'll see you there.
(playful music)