Quest is a 4-10 player social deduction/ hidden role game which goes down a storm at a family game night, party or even a work social. Players try to deduce who among them are on the side of Good or Evil from the outcomes of cards played anonymously into the centre of the table.
The format is simple enough that people who aren’t seasoned board game veterans can understand all the rules after a single playthrough and yet after playing it myself over 20 times, I find I can still be surprised and entertained when bringing it to a new setting.
Keep it secret, keep it safe
Quest functions like your classic hidden role game, where every player is given their role on a card which they must keep to themselves.
There is a ‘night’ phase where all players close their eyes while select evil players found out who their partners in crime are. Some evil roles, like the Scion, are in the same boat as the good players, unaware of all other player’s roles and given the sole task of carrying out Evil’s will.
Upon opening their eyes, the game truly begins.
He’s Evil! No, She’s Evil! No–
Players win the game by being sent on small teams to go on ‘Quests’ and winning (or losing) the majority of the quests on the board. The teams are decided by a leader that is randomly chosen at the beginning of the game and then nominated by the previous leader at the end of each quest reveal.
Good players win the quest if all players anonymously playing their card labelled ‘Success’. Unless the board says otherwise, Evil players win if just one of their team manage to play one of their very evil, very nasty ‘Failure’ cards.
The drama of the reveal phase, the flipping of cards one by one to see whether the quest has succeeded or not, is extremely engaging from the get-go as the table erupts in blinding accusations and players teaming up or breaking off from who they once trusted so dearly.
Quest sets itself apart from the sea of social deduction with it’s simplicity and the lack of a voting system. In Secret Hitler or the previous iteration of this game The Resistance: Avalon there is a voting system which often slows the pace of a game and can lead to some shenanigans with locking out certain players from doing anything. This feels great for Good players when they’ve made their minds up, but absolutely terrible when as an evil player you’ve become a spectator. Quest’s pace is relentless and there is very little downtime, making for a great party game.
In a Land of Myth, and a Time of Magic…
Setting up the game is extremely easy. Once you locate the board that corresponds to the number of players in the game, the rulebook will tell you what role cards from the box you’ll need.
You can choose from either the optional characters closer to the end of the rulebook, or the simpler recommended ones at the beginning. Most of the time, the optional characters introduce a lot more randomness and increase the difficulty for veterans of the game to locate Evil characters. Although, the rulebook also has some nifty little tips on what set-ups to play if Evil are constantly running away with the game which, in my experience, is usually the opposite of what happens.
These optional characters are most suited for people who try to ‘break’ the game and optimise the fun out of it. Most of the time new roles introduce headaches and confusion without increasing the tension, especially as this game is at its best at higher player counts, where you will almost always have a newer player who is less experienced.
But is it fun?
Yes. I very much urge you to buy Quest and bring it to family game night, your friend’s party, or even the Christmas do at work. I cannot stress enough how many times I have played this game with random people and have had an absolute ball with it.
