Ahhhh, Silver. A tiny game with a massive amount of strategy. Me and the missus absolutely love this one—mostly because it forces me to tap rhythmically on the table to help me remember my cards, while my wife generally destroys me because her short-term memory is, frankly, incredible.
Lore-wise, the numbers on the cards represent how many werewolves each villager attracts to your town. As we all know, werewolves are generally considered "not ideal" neighbours to have. The short version is this: you have a village of five people, and each has a number assigned to them. High numbers are bad, low numbers are good. Your goal is to have the lowest total when the round ends.
Nitty Gritty Stuff
Your village consists of five face-down villagers. At the start of the round, you’re allowed to look at two of them—but only once. This is where my tapping comes in; I tap underneath the card and repeat the number in my head like a mantra to remember what’s there. It’s weird, but it works for me!
On your turn, you can draw a card from the deck and look at it. If it has a discard symbol, you can chuck it straight into the bin to trigger its effect. This might be something like "look at the top card of the draw deck and swap it with a card in any village" or "flip over a card in your own village."
Alternatively, you can swap the drawn card for one in your village, meaning you now know what that card is, even if it stays face-down. You can also take the top card of the discard pile, but that has to go into your village face-up, so everyone knows exactly what you’re holding. Some cards even have special effects when they are face-up, like number four, the Rascal, who lets you draw two cards and keep one.
One of the reasons memory is so vital is the "multiple swap." You can swap more than one card out of your village at once, provided they are the same number. For example, if you have two number eights and you draw a five, you can discard both eights and replace them with that single five—dropping your score from sixteen to five in one go! However, if you get it wrong and try to discard an eight and a seven, you’re punished by having to keep all three cards in your village.
The round continues until someone decides to "call it." That person doesn't get another move, but every other player gets one final turn. Then, everyone flips their cards. If the person who called it has the lowest total, they score zero for the round. If they were wrong and someone else is lower, they score their total plus an additional ten-point penalty. After four rounds, the lowest overall score wins.
Tips and Tricks
- The Information Rush: Early on, it’s a rush to swap cards so you know exactly what your numbers are. But don't forget there are powers that let you peek without swapping. You don't want to swap out a card you haven't seen only for it to be a zero - the next person will definitely scoop that up from the discard pile!
- Tactical Interference: Don't underestimate the power of swapping someone else's card out (using a power, of course). Even if they just swap it back on their next turn, you've made them waste a turn and bought yourself some time.
- Don't Forget! It sounds obvious, but keep track of what's in your village. If you lose focus for a second, your whole strategy can collapse.
- Be Brave: Don't be afraid to "call it." You can wait forever for the perfect village of zeroes and ones, but a well-timed call when you have a "good enough" total can catch everyone else off guard while their scores are still high.
Final Verdict
Silver fills the "social deduction and memory" slot in our collection quite nicely. It’s hard enough to keep you focused but fast enough that you can play a few rounds in a sitting. It’s funny, tense, and perfect for when you want something with a bit more "bite" (pun intended) than a standard card game. A great addition to any shelf!
