Trust Me is a 2-4-player bluffing and set-collection game where players strive to grow their reputation while keeping a sharp eye on their opponents’ sets. Players have just arrived at the whimsical Island of Toys, a place brimming with carnival rides, delicious snacks, and colorful performances. But alas, you have no tickets to enjoy the fun! Do whatever it takes to convince the other children to part with their extra tickets by spinning tall (or truthful) tales of past adventures. The game unfolds over two rounds, and the player with the highest sum of reputation tickets is crowned the coolest kid in the group!
The deck consists of six different colored suits, each corresponding to a specific number between 1 and 6. Reds are always 1s, blues are always 6s, and so on. On a player’s turn, they draw a card and choose one of three actions. The first action—the heart of the game—is to “tell a tale.” The player places a face-down card above any of the four face-up cards in the “park,” which acts as a bustling market where children gather to share their adventurous stories. The mandatory assumption is that the placed card matches the card it’s played on. Players then vote on whether the tale is true or a load of bunk. The majority opinion locks in the vote (in a 3-player game, both players must agree), and the tale is revealed.
- If the card was true, and the vote was true, the player takes both the played and played-upon cards into their reputation area, placing them face-up in front of them.
- If the card was true, and the vote was false, the player takes both cards and gets another turn (drawing another card).
- If the card was false, and the vote was true, the player takes both cards and receives a point ticket equal to the difference in the cards’ values. For example, if the played card was a 4 and the played-upon card was a 1, the player earns a 3-value ticket.
- If the card was false, and the vote was false, the player loses the face-down card, and it’s added face-up to the park.
The second action is to exchange a card from your hand with one in the park, placing the park card into your reputation area.
The third action is to cash in on all your tale-telling and buy points. Players can discard a set of matching suits or sequentially numbered suits (e.g., 4, 5, 6) to receive a point ticket equal to the number of cards in the set.
Play continues until the deck runs out, the sun sets on the carnival, and nighttime warmly settles in. All cards in players’ reputations that haven’t been spent are automatically discarded, earning no points. The deck is reshuffled, and gameplay continues until either the deck runs out a second time or four stacks of point tickets have been claimed. Bonus points are awarded based on the total of different numbered tickets collected.
The trip to the Island of Toys is a delightful experience. The charming, colorful art enchants the experience, while the easy-to-learn, hard-to-master concept makes the game appealing to families and gamers alike. The tactical gameplay mixed with push-your-luck elements makes every turn dramatic. However, some may find the fun to be group-dependent. Even players who typically shy away from lying or bluffing found the game enjoyable, as there are ways to score without needing to bluff (like card exchanges) giving players full agency. However, we discovered that bluffing often tipped the scales in your favor. The chance to fool other players and score extra tickets or take additional turns frequently turned the tide.
Card counting also plays a role, as all players have partial knowledge of which cards have been played and can deduce the probability of a tale’s truthfulness. Outside of probability guessing, the voting is largely luck-based. Though group discussion is optional, some hilariously entertaining debates erupted over a card’s likelihood of appearance.
The game includes an optional variant with a coin that players can use once per round to try and sway the majority vote. If the coin lands on heads, the majority locks in true; if it’s tails, the majority locks in false, regardless of the original decision. This often led to uproarious laughter, as the risky move either helped or hurt the active player.
Strategic voting comes into play, since it’s open knowledge as to how many cards remain before the deck resets. Players race to build up their sets to cash in on bigger ticket values, but they must do so before the round ends—or all is lost. Interesting plays emerged when players won extra turns, accelerating the deck draw and leaving others out in the cold, watching everyone else enjoy the rides.
Over multiple plays, the point distribution was never the same. Some games were tight races, while others had a runaway leader. Was this due to luck or skilled bluffing? It’s a bit of both. This inconsistency holds back what could otherwise be a near-perfect game.
While 3- and 4-player games were enjoyable, Trust Me truly shines as a head-to-head 2-player game. My wife and I had many back-to-back games with nail-bitingly close scores. With more room to collect cards, opportunities to claim bigger payoffs were more frequent. The reduction of public knowledge also made probability guessing a bit trickier. Our duels quickly scaled to best of three…then best of five…then it was time for dinner.
The beauty of the game is the hybrid approach to bluffing games, where bluffing isn’t actually required. The game may not be a lifer in the collection, but a trip to the Island of Toys will leave players entertained and eager to collect again. To say this game is a fun time lying to friends and family isn’t a bluff—but you’ll just have to Trust Me on that one.
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