The party game genre is probably the most popular in all of board gaming - something that can be played with your regular tabletop group but also with colleagues, friends and families at party’s and events: people who don’t know their Catan from their Cluedo.
It can work as an icebreaker, a party starter, or even as a way to get the booze flowing, and board game developers are always looking to find the next big hit in the party game genre to follow in the footsteps of behemoths like Cards Against Humanity, Monikers and Just One.
And this is what publisher Funny Fox, I am sure, were aiming for with their 2021 release Hot & Cold, designed by Markus Slawitscheck, which has you giving worded clues to your fellow players using the age old system of the hot-and-cold index as they try to guess your temperature.
The party game genre is probably the most popular in all of board gaming - something that can be played with your regular tabletop group but also with colleagues, friends and families at party’s and events: people who don’t know their Catan from their Cluedo.
It can work as an icebreaker, a party starter, or even as a way to get the booze flowing, and board game developers are always looking to find the next big hit in the party game genre to follow in the footsteps of behemoths like Cards Against Humanity, Monikers and Just One.
And this is what publisher Funny Fox, I am sure, were aiming for with their 2021 release Hot & Cold, designed by Markus Slawitscheck, which has you giving worded clues to your fellow players using the age old system of the hot-and-cold index as they try to guess your temperature.
But does Hot & Cold raise the temperature of any party, or is it like the buffet food that has been left out to go cold?
You’re Hot Then You're Cold
Like any good party game, the premise of Hot & Cold couldn’t be simpler. Each round two players pair up. In your pair, you both know a secret word, which isn’t shown to the other players (called the detectives).
During the pair’s turn, you are trying to make each other guess which temperature card you have by giving a clue related to the secret word. The temperature cards come in Hot, Warm, and Cold. So, if the secret word was “Tree” and you picked up a Hot temperature card, you might say “Leaves” to your teammate, who will know how close that is to “tree” and can shout “Hot!” As that would be correct, they would get the temperature card, and it would be worth one point to each player.
Or, if you drew a Cold card, you might say “Shoes,” and they would know that has nothing to do with trees. Once a temperature card is guessed, the other player in the pair picks up a new one, and this back-and-forth continues for 90 seconds before the round ends and the game moves on to the next pair and a new secret word.
However, during a pair's turn the other players can work as detectives. If they are willing to use up one of their five starting score tokens, they can jump in before the paired players, to either try and guess the temperature first, or for even more points, guess the secret word. If they guess correctly, they get four points for the secret word, or two points for guessing the temperature card.
Once every player has paired up with each other at least once, the game ends, and whoever scores the most points wins. Very simple, very fast, and a lot of shouting - like any good party game on the market.
Turning Up the Heat
My very first game of Hot & Cold, I really relished in the chaos. It was fun building up that rapport within your pairs and a kind of psychic connection. Under time pressure, it wasn’t always easy to come up quickly with the perfect clue, especially for warm cards, as well trying to avoid making it too easy for the detectives to guess the temperature or secret word.
I especially liked the mechanic of making everyone pair up. It means it works perfectly as an icebreaker (ironically) in a work scenario, as it gets everyone in the group talking. It also works nicely in more regular board game groups, as it might push players who usually stick to one or two others to cooperate with different people. It avoids the issue seen in some party games where two players know each other so well that they consistently win clue-guessing games like Codenames or Decrypto.
I also enjoyed, as someone who loves a unique board game component, the card holder presented as a lovely ice cube. For such a simple party game, it gives it a nice table presence.
Cold as Ice
Sadly though, I do think Hot & Cold would struggle to fit into the pantheon of great party games.
Like I said, my initial game of it I found really fun and chaotic, but in subsequent games, I just haven’t found anything dynamic to keep you wanting to play it again. Unlike other aforementioned games like Codenames, there just isn’t enough variety within the core mechanics, so that realistically each game of it is the same, no matter who you play it with.
It becomes quite messy and simplistic with people ultimately just shouting Hot, Warm or Cold through the 30 or so minutes that you’re playing, so that while it’s fun initially, it doesn’t hold much staying power.
And while the chaos can be exciting, the biggest bugbear I have with Hot & Cold is the detectives mechanic, as I found it can lead to making the pairings essentially redundant.
I understand why it’s in there; without it each round would be far too samey, and the fun of actually guessing a pairs secret word is thoroughly enjoyable. But with the detectives consistently being able to guess other players temperature and words, games descend into people just shouting over one another and leads to constant rulings on who said the word first, which isn’t fun when there is a 90-second hourglass trickling down as well. It means pairs can have their turns essentially ruined by the other players, which if you’re trying to get someone into a game isn’t a good feeling.
While the game tries to mitigate this by giving players only five tokens to make guesses, the rules essentially incentivise constant interruption. You get to keep the token if your guess is correct, and with at least a one-in-three chance of guessing the temperature - and scoring points for doing so - why wouldn’t you keep trying? As such, the flow of the game is really stop-start, which can work for some party games, but here I don’t think the core game mechanics are strong enough to make up for it.
Am I Hot or Cold
Unfortunately, I do think I am rather chilly when it comes to Hot & Cold.
I think there is a fun party game here, with the kind of chaos and manic teamwork you would want from this kind of game. With a few house rules regarding the detectives and the influence they can have on the game, I think Hot & Cold can be a fun party starter to get people hyped and in the mood for a drink or a sing-song.
But it isn’t able to reach the highs of other games of its ilk, and as it’s not much cheaper than those better alternatives, I would strongly recommend them over this one. There isn’t a great deal of replayability, and it’s not a game that will be staying permanently in my collection.
However, if you’re in the mood for some shouting and it’s available at a good price, I do think Hot & Cold will be the right temperature for some players - even if it’s just for the fun ice cube card holder alone.
