DOUBT

  • Players: 5-9
  • Age: 12+
  • Duration: 30-60mins
  • Complexity: 2/5

DOUBT is a story-driven social deduction game – think Secret Hitler meets Cards Against Humanity. Players debate rumors, twist truth, and craft history. High spin-off potential!

Most similar games: Secret Hitler, Avalon, Resistance, Saboteur, Cards against Humanity, Blood on the Clocktower
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Summary

In the Beginning, There Was Doubt is a story-driven social deduction game – think Secret Hitler meets Cards Against Humanity. Set in the Great Library of Alexandria, players debate rumors, twist truths, and craft history. Its adaptable system allows endless themed spin-offs.

Game Description / Setting: 

  • Players become investigative chroniclers who gather rumor cards, argue their truth, and vote on how to weave them into a shared narrative.
  • Each player has a hidden role: Idealists who long to inspire, Rationalists who strive to expose deceit, and Opportunists who walk the thin line between belief and betrayal.
  • The story that emerges is unique every session – equal parts creation, deduction, and dramatic tension.

Gameplay: Each round,

  1. (Collector) Seeks Rumors: drawing and selecting story fragments.
  2. (Investigator) Validates Rumors: deciding which tales are plausible.
  3. (Group) Writes the Chronicle: debating & placing the fragment in the story.
  4. Passing duty: moving duty of collecting and investigating to new players.

Winning Condition:

  • Idealists win if the final story is coherent (maximum 1 inconsistency).
  • Rationalists win if Doubt reaches its peak or the story is finished with too many contradictions.
  • Opportunists win by either completing a perfect chronicle (alongside the Idealists) or betraying the group when the chance arises.
  • Secret Hitler meets storytelling: a blend of social deduction and narrative creation.
  • Replayable story engine: every game produces a new, co-written “story” of lies and belief.
  • Easily rethemed: the game’s mechanics can easily be adapted to new settings and spin-offs (journalists, mythmakers, witch trials, etc.).
  • Strong table dynamics: discussion, bluffing, and storytelling drive both laughter and tension.
  • Fans of social deduction, creative storytelling, and semi-cooperative strategy games
  • Players who enjoy Secret Hitler, Avalon, Blood on the Clocktower, Saboteur, or Cards Against Humanity, but want deeper narrative engagement and richer replay value.

Performed playtesting with friends, at game club in Zürich, at boardgame designer meetup in Zürich & Luzern, and at hexcon game festival in Trondheim.

Game mechanics work very well.

Story/Theme/Setting/Design seems to be a good fit already, but could be checked/swapped to increase attraction level or other target audiences.

  • 80-100 Rumor Cards (story fragments & events)
  • 10 Role Cards (Idealist, Rationalist, Doubter)
  • Story playboard
  • Doubt Marker
  • 1 Die (Inconsistency Tracker)
  • 10 Coins (for bribes and overwriting)
  • Goblet Token (Collector of Testimonies)
  • Donkey Token (Investigative Field Correspondent)
  • Player Aids & Rulebook

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