Playthings is the strangest board game I’ve ever played (and that’s a compliment)

Playthings is like no other board game I’ve played. At the same time, Playthings feels archaic. If it weren’t for the glossy modern production values, it’d feel right at home in a mischief-loving Victorian parlour. It is simultaneously a proto- board game and a glimpse of where board games might go next.

If you’re here to find the best board games for this year’s Christmas list, that description might be off-putting. I haven’t explained whether Playthings is ‘fun’, or ‘good’, or even ‘good fun’. I haven’t declared if its $30 price tag is justified.

If those are the criteria you judge by, this might not be for you. Playthings is enjoyable, but it uses different tools from a typical board game to achieve this. You’ll also get less mileage than your average strategy game.

On the other hand, maybe you enjoy board games as artifacts. Board games as an innovation on how we define ‘play’. Board games as a site of meaning. If you do, Playthings is absolutely for you.

I’ll stop pontificating now. Let’s talk about this game with cold, hard facts.

Playthings is a 30-minute deduction board game for three to five players. ‘Deduction’ only broadly describes what you’ll be doing, but it’s the closest game design term we’ve got.

Each round, one player becomes the Night Terror, a dark force terrorizing a group of children by hiding their toys. Everyone else plays a sleuthing child seeking their favorite item.

When the children close their eyes and go to sleep, the Night Terror creeps across the cloth board, placing toy blocks face-down in each room. If it sounds like a cautionary nursery rhyme, it basically is. Everything in Playthings is designed to look like it jumped out of a toddler’s night terrors. Publisher DVC Games even wrote an ominous song for the Night Terror to sing while they place blocks.

The Night Terror can arrange the toys however they like, provided they truthfully announce when each is placed, and each fits in a different room (if able). The ball may sound like it’s firmly in the Night Terror’s court, but the children have their own ways to create advantage.

First, they have friends. Three of these cards are drawn before the night phase begins, and they list traps the children can set. Said traps are actual, tactile objects you can use to screw with the layout of your house.

A piece of string might be pulled taut under the mat, making it difficult for the Night Terror to place toys. It might be tied to the Night Terror’s wrist, or to other nearby objects. One elaborate trap my friends set involved several tiny bells and a can of Diet Coke.

Other traps allow the players to touch parts of the map at night, while some limit the movement of the Night Terror. You can even place the entire box on or under the mat. The goal is to gather information without your eyes, and you’re encouraged to be as creative as possible.

Failing this, the kids have one final option: peeking. Children are allowed to open their eyes at night to try and spy their toy. This is a risky move, as the Night Terror scores points for correctly guessing which players peeked.

Children only score if they find their toy, however – so sometimes you’ve gotta gamble. There’s two points for guessing correctly on the first go, but if you mess up, you get a second chance. In between their first and second guess, a child draws a Play card. This is a whimsical activity that forces the Night Terror to reveal an extra clue. If they still can’t find their things, that’s zero points.

After guessing, a new player becomes the Night Terror. Games officially end when everyone has taken a turn as the Terror. However, like many that defy the typical ‘game’ definition, you can stretch playtime to your liking.

Playthings’ unusual rules capture a moment perfectly. That moment is childhood, and the awesome, terrifying freedom that defines it. Your imagination isn’t limited, because you’ve not yet learned about boundaries and consequence. Play isn’t a distraction; it’s how you make sense of the world. Your teddy bears are as alive as your parents. So is the monster that lives in the dark. Joy is never more vivid than in childhood – and neither are your nightmares.

It’s an interactive piece of art, but it never takes itself too seriously. Each game came with a healthy dose of giggling, whether it be from nerves or cheeky peeking. Coming up with traps creates both tension and elation, as does trying to dodge them as the Night Terror. There’s a sense of triumph when you thwart the opposition, but if you don’t, you’re laughing instead of whining.

Playthings’ only real problem is novelty. With only a few Friend and Play cards to work with, you’ve seen everything it has to offer after a few games. Familiarity lessens the impact somewhat. After all, once the jack has jumped out of the box, you expect him to do it again.

Another, more situational problem is finding the right players. Many will bounce right off Playthings, and justifiably so. For many, the satisfaction of a board game is because it has rules. Puzzling out how to function efficiently within those boundaries creates its own kind of joy. That joy is tried-and-tested, carefully balanced, and easily repeatable. Fun is no less fun for being mathematically correct.

Playthings, then, is an acquired taste. The most universal thing about it is that it’s interesting. I love when board games are interesting, even if I don’t plan to play them 60 more times.

Want to talk more about recent board game releases? I share reviews constantly in the Wargamer Discord, and I’m always keen to chat.

A review copy of this game was provided by the publisher.

Source: Wargamer