* I was sent The Traitors card game for the purpose of reviewing. All views and opinions are 100% my own.
I recently have heard of the reality show The Traitors which is on the BBC. It's something I have yet to watch but having heard about it and playing this game I'm tempted to. The show is where 22 strangers are moved into a castle in the Scottish Highlands to complete a series of challenges and missions together as a team. The catch, however, is that amongst the loyal contestants hoping to win a cash prize of up to £120,000, three traitors are secretly lurking, sabotaging their efforts and picking off contestants one by one. In the ultimate game of detection, backstabbing and trust, the loyalists must root out the traitors amongst their ranks in order to win or risk losing everything.
Anyway Ginger Fox have released a game based on the show so that you can have lots of fun playing with family and/or friends. This thrilling and suspenseful card game is great for those that love strategy, deception and a dose of healthy competition. The game is played best with 4-8 people so one that's best to get out when you have family or a bunch of friends over. Please note the game is suitable for 8 years and over.
What’s in the box?
8 player number cards
7 Faithful role cards
1 Traitor role card
8 event selector cards
60 game deck cards
Access to digital gameplay
Rules booklet
How to play
1. Ensure each player has a number card and is assigned a secret role of either Faithful or Traitor. There should always be one Traitor in the game. Remove the additional Traitor card, event cards, and final banishment card from the game deck, shuffle, and then deal 3 cards face down to each player.
2. Shuffle the additional Traitor card back into the deck, slot in the event cards randomly through the deck, and ensure the final banishment is at the bottom. Place the game deck in the middle of the play area and scan the QR code provided to access the digital gameplay. It's time to play The Traitors!.
3. Players take turns to pick up a card and play a card. The aim is to build a collective hoard of gold. If an event card is drawn it is played immediately. EVENTS – when an event card comes up, click the digital event to see what event will take place. A Quiet Night, a Murder, or a Banishment.
4. Quiet Night – play continues. Murder – the Traitor will secretly murder someone. Banishment – All players must discuss and vote out a player. When the Final Banishment card is drawn, or there are only 2 players left, play the final event, and then all remaining players reveal their roles.
Our thoughts
It's definitely a game that is better with more players, 6 to 8 players we feel will work better than 4. Having not seen the show I wasn't sure how easy we would find playing, however that wasn't a problem for us. I think if you have watched the show you'll have more of an idea of what to kind of expect from the card game. The idea of scanning a QR code for digital gameplay definitely is a great way to make the game feel more interactive. It's also good that it isn't essential though as you can still play if you don't have Internet access. Overall we've enjoyed the game and we must get onto watching the show now aswell.
