When a game night (or party) is on the horizon, you’re looking for great games to play. But if you’ve been playing the same one over and over, it might be time to switch things up with games like Secret Hitler, but maybe less, you know, Hitler-y. In this case, you’ll find all sorts of fun social deduction board games that range in themes from deep-sea adventures to the art world. Our curated list of the best social deduction games highlights top games that facilitate hidden roles and strategic deception among players. Each one has a different twist on social deduction and at least one of them’s bound to be perfect for your crowd.
Introduction to Social Deduction Games
When it comes to board games, few genres are as thrilling and unpredictable as social deduction games. These games combine the excitement of hidden roles, the challenge of deduction, and the fun of social interaction. Whether you’re a seasoned gamer or new to the world of board games, social deduction games offer a unique and engaging experience that keeps everyone on their toes.
What are Social Deduction Games?
Social deduction games are a type of board game where players are assigned secret roles or identities. The objective is to figure out who is who through observation, deduction, and strategic gameplay. These games often involve elements of lying, cheating, and deception, making them a thrilling and unpredictable experience. Unlike traditional board games, where the focus is on moving pieces or collecting points, social deduction games emphasize social interaction and psychological strategy. Players must use their wits and intuition to uncover the hidden roles of others while keeping their own identity a secret.
Benefits of Playing Social Deduction Games
Playing social deduction games isn’t just about having fun; it also offers several benefits that can enhance your cognitive and social skills. Here are some of the key advantages:
Improved Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills: Social deduction games require players to think critically and solve complex problems. You need to analyze clues, make deductions, and develop strategies to win.
Enhanced Social Skills: These games are a great way to improve your communication and negotiation skills. You’ll need to persuade others, form alliances, and sometimes deceive your friends to achieve your goals.
Increased Creativity and Strategic Thinking: Social deduction games encourage creative thinking and strategic planning. You’ll need to come up with clever ways to hide your identity and uncover the roles of others.
Fun and Engaging: Above all, social deduction games are a fun and engaging way to spend time with friends and family. They offer a unique blend of excitement, challenge, and social interaction that few other games can match.
Key Features of Deduction Games
Deduction games, including social deduction games, have several key features that make them unique and engaging:
Rules and Facts: These games come with a set of rules or facts that players must use to make deductions. Understanding and interpreting these rules is crucial to success.
Reasoning and Logic: Players must use reasoning and logic to figure out the game state or the roles of other players. This often involves piecing together clues and making educated guesses.
Uncertainty and Unpredictability: One of the most exciting aspects of deduction games is the sense of uncertainty and unpredictability. Players must navigate incomplete information and deception, making each game a unique experience.
Strategic Thinking and Problem-Solving: Deduction games require a high level of strategic thinking and problem-solving. Players must use clues and hints to make informed decisions and outsmart their opponents.
By understanding these features, you can better appreciate the complexity and excitement that social deduction games bring to the table. Whether you’re navigating a ship in Feed the Kraken or trying to uncover the Joker in DC Spyfall, these games offer endless opportunities for fun and strategic gameplay.
Top 10 Social Deduction Games Like Secret Hitler
Feed the Kraken
Age: 12+ (Community 10+) Players: 5-11 Time: 45-90 minutes
Dive deep into the sea for your group adventures in Feed the Kraken. This game like Secret Hitler has three asymmetric factions for 5 to 11 players to find themselves in. At the beginning of the game, every player is assigned a secret alliance role: loyal sailors, pirates, or a crazy cultist. The sailors aim to safely navigate the ship to the mainland, while the pirates want to take the ship through the Bermuda Triangle, and the crazy cultist wants to convince other players to summon their dark lord, the Kraken. The entire game can take between 45 to 90 minutes, making it a great option for a complete play session.
The goal of Feed the Kraken: Every player must navigate the ship toward their secret final destination while fighting against the directions of other factions aiming for their own port of call. As each turn starts, the captain is granted a new lieutenant and navigator who work together (or against each other!) to guide the ship. The navigator has the ultimate say in how the ship turns but the rest of the players must convince the navigator to move in their direction – all without anyone giving away their role directly. On the next turn, the navigator and lieutenant change again, and the actions begin again. Players discuss the previous navigation and factor this into the “help” they offer the new navigator. Or, if things go poorly enough, you can always pull your pistols and mutiny, taking over as the new captain… Whichever faction succeeds in steering the ship to the desired destination wins the game.
The Resistance: Avalon
Age: 13+ (Community 12+) Players: 5-10 Time: 30 minutes
The forces of Good and Evil face off in The Resistance: Avalon in this Camelot-themed game like Secret Hitler. Arthur and his brave warriors aim to bring the future of ancient Britain into prosperity and honor, but one of the knights is secretly the evil Mordred, who’s bent on ruling Camelot himself. Those who side with Mordred know who each other is, but no one else knows their identities – and must do their best to remain hidden among the ranks of the servants of Good. Merlin knows all identities but can only speak in riddles while keeping his own identity hidden. Players must root out the evil ones or Avalon is doomed!
During the night phase, players with special roles take actions that can significantly influence the game’s outcome.
The Resistance: Avalon is a standalone game, but it may be combined with the original game of The Resistance for additional gameplay elements.
Shadow Hunters
Age: 10+ Players: 4-8 Time: 60 minutes
Few games turn your hidden identity game into a survival board game quite like Shadow Hunters for 4 to 8 players aged 10 and up. Players take on the roles of three groups: the Shadows (evil creatures of the night), the Hunters – or humans – (who try to destroy the evil supernatural beasts), or the Neutrals (other humans caught in the middle). All three groups struggle against one another for survival in a secret identity vie for dominance.
To win the game – and save the humans – players must identify their allies and enemies while keeping their own identities hidden. Enemies of humans may attack with their special abilities like teleport, demolish, or suck blood, while their weapons – like Rusty Broad Axe or Fortune Brooch – enable them even greater success. But humans have their own skills and weapons, so all is not lost! Whichever side successfully defeats the enemy wins the game.
Crossfire
Age: 14+ (Community 10+) Players: 5-10 Time: 5-10 minutes
Within the world of Specter Ops, the game of Crossfire presents players with a different sort of game like Secret Hitler. The setting: A VIP must travel safely through the busy civilian sector where danger could lurk around any curve or swerve. Your ship is on its own, maneuvering through the traffic. Players must use deception and negotiation skills to complete the mission in just 5 to 10 minutes of gameplay. Of course, among you there could be an enemy lurking, trying to keep you from succeeding… Who is it? How could you ever discover the truth? Two teams on the same ship have these different missions: Get there safely or assassinate a Raxxon VIP. Who will make it? This engaging experience makes Crossfire a fun game that brings excitement and laughter through bluffing and working together or against friends.
A Fake Artist Goes to New York: Party Game
Age: 8+ Players: 5-10 Time: 20 minutes
A party game like Secret Hitler, A Fake Artist Goes to New York puts players into the world of fine art in the Big Apple. 5 to 10 players take turns as the Question Master, who sets the category for the round. They write a word within that category on dry-erase cards and pass these out to the other players. One player will have an “X” on their card, which means they are the fake artist. The players begin their part of the turn by drawing one continuous stroke each on a paper to try to draw the word on their cards. When the lines are drawn, they’re revealed and everyone must then attempt to figure out the identity of the fake artist. If they’re caught and cannot guess the secret word, the artists (other players) win points. If the fake artist isn’t caught then that person plus the Question Master score points. This pattern repeats until everyone has had 2 turns as the Question Master. Whoever scores the most points by the end wins the game.
For those who enjoy social deduction games, A Fake Artist Goes to New York is a great alternative.
Shamans
Age: 10+ Players: 3-5 Time: 30-60 minutes
Your world is threatened by dark beings known as Shadows. Your job as Shamans is to restore harmony in your world. As players, you work both cooperatively and competitively with hidden roles to stabilize the spirit world. To do so, you must perform rituals, acquire artifacts, and work together to save the world from this darkness… But the Shadows hide among you, working their own spells that may fool you into thinking they’re on your side.
During turns in Shamans, players use cards to perform various acts that may help save the world or destroy it, depending on which side the player is on. But, of course, these tasks must be carried out in secret to avoid detection and destruction.
Salem 1692: Hidden Role Games
Age: 12+ (Community 10+) Players: 4-12 Time: 25-35 minutes
Travel back to Salem 1692 to the days of the Witch Trials in Massachusetts in this game like Secret Hitler. Players take on the roles of the innocent and the not-so-innocent in this historically themed hidden identity game of accusations and magic.
Players take on roles as prominent or famous villagers from old Salem town, including the servant girl Mary Warren, farmer John Proctor, storyteller Tituba, pastor Samuel Parris, and the beggar Sarah Good, among others (12 total). Each player claims one identity for the game and must act in the game using the distributed Tryal cards. These Tryal cards reveal the true identities of each character as either a witch or not a witch.
To play, players gather cards to act: accuse or defend other players, then gather to accuse and discuss. Players, of course, must do their best to keep their true identities secret if they’ve been dealt a Witch card, else they’ll be tried and killed. But you can never defend or accuse yourself, so you’ve got to know who to trust in the game. Discover secret identities along the way or put your trust in a friend…you won’t know the outcome until it’s too late to go back. Similar to Deception: Murder in Hong Kong, this game also involves social deduction and hidden roles, creating a thrilling atmosphere of mistrust and strategy.
DC Spyfall
Age: 13+ (Community 10+) Players: 3-8 Time: 40-50 minutes
For those who love a good spy game and superheroes, grab a copy of DC Spyfall, a game like Secret Hitler that combines both into a unique, easy-to-learn hidden identity game. Like all good social deduction games, DC Spyfall asks players to bluff, cast aspersions, draw clever answers, and ask leading questions.
At the beginning of each round, players receive a card that gives clues to the group’s location, among 20 of the locations in the DC Comics universe, like Arkham Asylum, the Hall of Justice, or the Daily Planet. But one player receives the Joker card. The Joker doesn’t know the location but if he manages to find out before his identity is uncovered, they’ll win the round.
The game offers some twists on the original Spyfall mechanics, including a Harley Quinn image that may be distributed to one other player who feeds information to the Joker to help them discover the hidden location. Harley Quinn doesn’t have to know who the Joker is to drop these hints, though. And if the Joker manages to guess the location, both the Joker and Harley win points in the round – unless the Superheroes figure out Harley Quinn’s identity first.
The game includes two decks that contain eight different locations each, offering more replayability. These cards also hide who’s got the answers, helping to keep identities hidden longer. Other cards are mixed in, as well, like those that grant superpowers. Players must use these to deduce their way to the Joker’s identity or the secret location. When you play social deduction games like DC Spyfall, the interaction and engagement among players make each round exciting and unpredictable.
Escape from the Aliens in Outer Space
Age: 12+ Players: 2-8 Time: 20-45 minutes
Looking for a card game like Secret Hitler? Well, you’ve found it in Escape from the Aliens in Outer Space. The bluffing game sets players in a spaceship far beyond the usual reaches of humanity, with failing systems and total darkness swallowing up all hope… But worse, an alien plague has sneaked aboard the ship and has begun turning crew members into hideous monsters bent on destroying humans. Everyone else aboard the ship must escape the dying ship before they’re all eaten.
Escape from the Aliens in Outer Space uses a hexagon-based map to represent the ship, with each player having their own map and a pencil for marking zones along the journey to escape. Each individual map shares some of the same hexagons with others’ maps, but not all. As turns play, each player must make movements toward escape. Drawing cards enables these movements but may also put players in grave danger, as they may reveal a player’s position. Of course, among you there are the infected who still appear human, and they’ll lie every step of the way, trying to kill the remaining humans.
Like most social deduction games, Escape from the Aliens in Outer Space involves hidden roles and deduction mechanics. The goal of the humans is to escape, saving themselves with escape pods, while the aliens aim to take down the humans and turn them all. Positions and identities are kept secret, though, so players must use their deductive skills to suss out what the movements mean.
Donner Dinner Party
Age: 12+ Players: 4-10 Time: 30-60 minutes
Take a dark turn into the world of the Donner Dinner Party for a bizarre game like Secret Hitler that may actually be creepier. The game is dubbed as a “rowdy game of frontier cannibalism” so if you’re faint of heart, you better buck up and get on your mean face or you’ll be the first to get eaten.
This social deduction game is based on the real-life event in 1846 when pioneers were fated to a horrifying end: trapped at the top of a mountain in a horrific snowstorm and no food. The fast-paced game pits pioneers against cannibals in a fight for survival. Every player has their own unique equipment to help them survive, but will these items be enough to stave off the hunger and murderous desire for human flesh?
Throughout the game, players must keep their identities secret – who’s a cannibal and who’s a pioneer unwilling to save their own life by partaking of “long pig” flesh? The Donner Dinner Party goes on hunting trips for survival needs but the cannibals aim to thwart the pioneers and convince more and more to partake of human flesh. If the cannibals outnumber the pioneers by the end of the game, they win. But if the pioneers make it through seven weeks in-game, they win instead. Similar to One Night Ultimate Werewolf, this game offers fast-paced, strategic interactions and spirited debates, making it perfect for casual gaming sessions.
Conclusion
Grab your detective’s hat and a bunch of friends to indulge in these wickedly fun games like Secret Hitler. Each offers its own unique take on social deduction games and offers up different settings and themes to grab the interest of folks playing. So, head to the Salem Witch Trials, the world of DC Comics, the art world of the Big Apple, the deep blue sea, or even Camelot. You’ll find loads of fun for all in every game you play.
FAQ
1. What are some games similar to Secret Hitler for a game night?
Some games similar to Secret Hitler that are great for a game night include Feed the Kraken, The Resistance: Avalon, and Shadow Hunters. Each of these games incorporates social deduction and hidden roles, providing a thrilling experience for players.
2. How does Feed the Kraken differ from Secret Hitler?
Feed the Kraken differs from Secret Hitler by introducing three asymmetric factions: loyal sailors, pirates, and a crazy cultist. Players must navigate a ship to their secret final destination while contending with opposing factions’ directions.
3. What is the objective of The Resistance: Avalon?
In The Resistance: Avalon, players are divided into the forces of Good and Evil. The objective is for the Good players to complete missions successfully, while the Evil players aim to sabotage them. The game involves identifying the hidden roles among the players.
4. Can you explain the gameplay of A Fake Artist Goes to New York?
A Fake Artist Goes to New York is a party game where players draw a word set by the Question Master. One player, the fake artist, doesn’t know the word. The goal is to identify the fake artist without them guessing the secret word.
5. What makes Escape from the Aliens in Outer Space unique?
Escape from the Aliens in Outer Space is unique due to its setting on a spaceship with failing systems and an alien plague. Players must escape while keeping their identities secret, using deductive skills to determine who is human and who is infected.