Chaos & Confetti

In Fae Kin, It’s a game of social deduction and intrigue as the fate of two courts hang in the balance. All players are the forbidden offspring of a love between the heirs of the Summer and Winter court. Now, they must decide who will inherit the throne and which court will earn the right to rule. 

The future of the Summer and Winter courts will be decided through deception, duels and deduction as all players work to figure out one another’s identities and to establish their team as the true heirs to power.

Player Count: 2-9

Ages: 10+

Playtime: 5-15 minutes

GAME PLAY:

Each player is dealt three cards, which they’ll keep secret. The game contains two suits, Summer and Winter. A player’s team will be decided by their highest card. Which ever suit their highest card belongs to, that is their team.

The objective of the game is to eventually crown the player with the highest single card on your team and to place the dagger with the player with the highest card value on the opposing team. If you or someone on your team gets their guess correct, they win. If an incorrect guess is made, the other team wins.

A guess can be made at any time, but it’s best to collect more information beyond simply what is in your own hand. Table discussion is legal, but the main way of gathering intel is through duels. Players will take turns going around the table and challenge each other to duels. 

To duel, a player will select an unrevealed card from their hand and challenge another player. The chosen opponent will select an unrevealed card from their hand. Both players will secretly compare their cards. Whichever card is of lower value is revealed to the table, and the other card remains secret. However, everyone will now know that there is a card that beats the revealed card.

As a reminder, the revealed card should be placed face up on the table pointing toward whoever beat that card. There is also a winter and summer end of the card. The appropriate side should be pointed towards the opponent as a reminder of what kind of card took it down. 

Duels and discussion will continue until someone feels they’ve gathered enough information to make a claim. Some more discussion may happen at this point, with players attempting to influence the guessers decisions one way or another, but then the player must lock in their final decision, placing the crown and the dagger (unless they feel everyone is on the same team and there is no need for a dagger).

At this point the game ends one way or another with a winning team being decided by the correct or incorrect guess.

OUR THOUGHTS:

We came across Fae Kin at PAX Unplugged and were lucky enough to arrive at the booth right as a demo game was about to begin. We knew nothing about the game, but within minutes we and a crowd mostly made of other newbies were playing Fae Kin with no problem. It was really that easy to pick up, but we soon learned that the social dynamics and best ways of tackling the secret identity puzzle would take a bit more effort.

Like with any social deduction game, learning how to read the people around you and how/when to bluff is key to possible success. Thankfully, Fae Kin is both fast and fun, so we were able to get in multiple rounds within a short period of time. With each round, we (hopefully) became better masters of deceit and knew how to more carefully read the revealed information while theorizing about the hidden.

We have been to gaming demos before where the game didn’t quite click with us and we were more than happy to say “thank you” and quickly move on with our lives once the demo was over. With Fae Kin, we gladly played multiple games and when a new group arrived in need of a few more players, we happily stuck around for a few more rounds.

Fae Kin is a social deduction game that keeps things simple, so it’s easy for anyone to pick up. However the duel mechanic along with the need to deduce two hidden identities with no set number for team sizes adds a nice twist. 

This is a very enjoyable lightweight party game that could easily become a staple to many gaming tables.

*Side note: It took me way too long to realize that Fae Kin sounds like faking and to understand the obvious pun.

FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS:

Fae Kin is a beautifully done game that is perfect for anyone looking for a fun and easy to teach party game. It’s also great for lovers of social deduction games who are looking for a new and unique twist on the genre, but also one that simply works without getting bogged down in convolutedness or an overabundance of rules.

Disclaimer: this review is not sponsored & all thoughts are our own.