My continuation on the series exploring the bugs in hidden role games. Last time I spoke about mostly mechanical bugs, but now I want to talk about things that usually come from players. Well, technically all things in games eventually come from players, but these are problems stemming from how players react to the game, more than how the game reacts to players.

Bug #4: Player Preferences

Hidden role, along with its close counterpart, bluffing, is a genre that some people have a strong distaste for. Some people absolutely hate the idea of lying to or tricking their friends, and they hate being under pressure. However, the advantage hidden role has over bluffing is that only a percentage of players have to do any lying, usually the minority. So you can play the game honestly if you enjoy the deduction, or don’t mind being lied to as much as having to lie yourself. And, if you have friends who you really want to play with but are fans of bluffing, then you can even play the same game with them! But you all know what the issue is here.

Players can’t control which of the two vastly different experiences they get to partake in. A player who loves lying and want sot get the edge on other players could end up as traitor, but they are more likely going to end up with what they see as “nothing to do but play the best card in their hand.” A player who enjoys helping out and likes when people trust them might end up having to lie to their friends and possibly end up doing it so poorly they just end up disappointing the one other player on their team.

This is the bug that inspired me to make these articles. I’ve seen a couple games that try to fix the issue, and some that have it as the primary selling point! After all, it is one of the things that’s most likely able to get more pople to play. They’ll actually know what they’re getting into from the start. But even if you can find a way to make it work, it’s likely to be buggy. If every player gets the choice, then most players will pick the traitor team, since it is usually considered the more enjoyable team. Then the game ends up super unbalanced. And if there’s a way to limit it to just a few players, then you break that promise of picking your team. It also doesn’t help that a genre built around deduction is now going to let players do exactly what they want, often leading to the puzzle being solved solely through knowing what kind of friend you have. I don’t think there is a good solution to this problem. If you see one, let me know.

Bug #5: New Players

This is a problem that you will hear constantly if you are testing one of these games yourself. Hidden role games are about hiding what you are doing from other players. That means that you might do something evil, but tell everyone you did something helpful. So if a player wants to tell their fellow players they did something helpful, what do they say? Sometimes it feels fairly obvious, such as saying they put in a high card when they put in a low card, but sometimes it’s trickier. Sometimes there is information available that isn’t obvious at first glance. Sometimes people can count cards, or trace back a chain of events to a single point. This is fine in some cases, and at advanced levels this can make the game incredibly entertaining, but it has a huge issue.

New players hate hidden role games. When you have never played the game, or only played a few times, you don’t know what the right thing to do is. And if you don’t know what the right thing to do is, then you don’t know what the wrong thing to do is. This lead to a spiral of mistakes, and in a genre about noticing small details and decisions, this can be devastating. The genre is so dependent on all players being equally aware of all aspects of the game that any player at a small disadvantage ends up being at a major one.

In some respects this is an issue outside of the game. If all players are on equal standing, then this isn’t an issue. But if you want your game to be played, you have to take into account that your audience won’t always be able to play under ideal consitions. There are some ways to help deal with this problem, but they aren’t ideal. Limiting communication makes it so that players don’t have to come up with excuses if they make a mistake, whether intentional or not. Another option is to increase randomness, allowing players to hide behind it more easily.

Bug #6: Finger Pointing

I almost didn’t include this bug because of how ingrained it is in the genre. It ties closely to both of the above problems. One reason players want to pick their roles is so that they don’t become a target for suspicion or distrust. New players’ lack of skill can often lead to them being singled out as a problem, whether because they are a traitor or because they’re considered a “burden.”

Possibly the biggest problem facing the genre is finger pointing. Don’t get me wrong: suspicion, lying, and misdirection are all staples of the genre. A lot of people enjoy these elements, and keep playing the genre because of it. What you want to discourage as much as possible as a designer, though, is harassment. Don’t give players an excuse to yell at their friends. Don’t give them a reason to exclude them, or tell them they are useless. In a game of deception, it can feel like treating players like opponents is part of the game, but don’t treat them like enemies.

Once again, this is a little outside of the scope of the game, but I do think there are things you can do to help curb these actions. The most direct is to just express it in the rulebook. Sometimes players will read that you don’t want them to play it that way and listen, and if the player most affected by it reads it, then they can at least use it as a tool to call out the other players. Another option is some sort of emergency exit. In Spyfall, you can reveal yourself as the spy at any moment to try and make a guess and end the game. This gives players who are feeling too much pressure or can’t stand the accusations to get out fast, even though they’ll probably lose, but that’s a trade they’ll usually happily make. You can also do the opposite, and make sure that all players are included no matter what. Let each player make a contribution, even if no other player trusts them, just so that they have an opportunity to prove themself before getting the cold shoulder.

Conclusion

Sorry that I got kind of real at the end there. The genre has a lot of issues it has to contend with, but I still think it is worth saving. See what you can do about issues like this in your game, and watch out for them during playtests. Also, if you’re a player, try and curtail these while you’re playing as well.