Monster my Neighbor
Overall Rating: 10/10
Age: 7+
GLAM Age Range: 7-Adult
Number of Players: 3-8
Playing Time: 20 min
Publisher: Z-Man Games
Complexity: Medium
Available At: Amazon.com
Quick Take: This is my favorite kind of social game. There's a good mix of strategy and luck and it's super quick to pick up the basics of play. It's like a cross of Love Letter and One Night Ultimate Werewolf, you play with a small number of cards each round and are either trying to capture the monster in your midst or if you are the monster, to survive without being caught until the final round. Cards get passed around a lot and all the cards say what they do on them so as long as you get the basics explained to you before your first round of play you can pick the game up easily after the first round or so.
How to Play: The goal of the game is to earn the most points. There are five rounds of play, with one of the five monster cards being mixed in the cards you play with each round. To start a round of play, you look through the deck and remove the Wanted card, a hunter card, and a hide card. You shuffle the monsters and pick one at random to include in the round. And then you shuffle the remaining cards and deal in enough cards to make it so each player will start with four cards. In a four player game this means you add 12 cards from the deck to the others for a total of 16 cards. Whoever has the wanted card goes first and then play proceeds clockwise. The cards all say what they do on the bottom, many allow you to exchange cards with other players while the hunter card can be used to try to capture the monster and the hide card can be used to protect the monster. At the end of the round, tally up your points and reset the deck with a new monster for another round of play. You can win points for capturing the monster, being able to play the monster card without being caught, or even for being a friend to the monster. Tally up your total score at the end of five rounds and whoever has the most points is the winner!
Variations: If you want a quicker game you don't have to play the full five rounds.
Similar Games To Check Out: Werewords, One Night Ultimate Werewolf, Love Letter, Coup