With its simple rules, take-that player interaction, and strong theming, Gay Sauna would fall into the ‘family board game’ category were it not for the 18+ age recommendation on the box. That comes 100% from the theme: in Gay Sauna, each player is a patron at a wet and wild gay cruising spot, competing with their buddies to land the most hookups before the lights come on and the night ends.
Gay Sauna the board game has a totally sexually explicit theme. Your goal is to bang men, well and often, by successfully flirting with compatible partners in a series of different cruising spots over the course of a night. But – unlike the titles on our guide to the best sex board games – the game itself is trying to amuse you, not arouse you.
The gameplay is pretty simple. Each round a new cruising spot opens up, populated by visitors. Players each get a turn to do a couple of actions: try and hookup with a visitor; visit the bar to lock in a hookup when the night ends; find mischief (and draw a single use Mischief card); or just stroke yourself to keep yourself horny enough to enter the fray.
Flirting is handled by a die roll and checking how compatible your character and your intended are – different die results might require you to have compatible roles, or shared fetishes, if you want to get down to business. Then there’s a die roll to see see if the sex leaves you fired up or flaccid. The horniest player gets the first action in each round, while totally deflated characters can’t attempt to flirt again until they stroke up some more enthusiasm.
It’s a funny board game, often hilarious. A lot of that is the contradiction between the fussy, mechanical process of playing a board game – declaring your actions, reading out cards, rolling dice, comparing values to look for success – and the horny subject matter: “Fuck, my flirting roll failed – but wait! Ryan has a rubber fetish and I’m wearing a rubber harness, so I get a reroll!”
Then there’s the whimsical sense of place. The event cards, which get flipped over at the start of every player turn, emphasise the relatable human side of the venue. A “sticky floor” will make all the foot fetishists in the current lineup depart, as the other patrons put their flip flops on; a “cleaner coming through” kills the mood completely and sends all the patrons scurrying. And my favorite Mischief card, “slap on the rock hard dong”, is just the most bro move imaginable.
It’s funny, but the jokes are being told by the gay community, not about them. The creators Reroll Works are an LGBTQ collective based in the Netherlands . They provided this review sample, and they’re about the only place you can purchase Gay Sauna if you want a copy.
For the benefit of the straights, baby gays, and those who grew up isolated from a community of gay peers, there’s a little guidebook of terminology about gay subculture and the sauna and cruising scene. Confounded players can learn the differences between a twink, an otter, and a bear, or work out what happens in “the dark room”. Hint: it’s gay sex.
This is a profoundly sex positive and body positive game. There are a lot of body types represented, including unapologetically fat bears, and a few bottoms with breasts. The guidebook acknowledges that it has simplified the complexity of human tastes and sexuality to create workable rules – but those same rules actually model your potential hookups giving or denying consent, as some of the visitors simply won’t flirt with you if they’re not into your type.
The rulebook is sloppy: the whole “hanging at the bar” subsystem isn’t explained properly at all. Much more attention has gone into production values: there’s a fully illustrated board, loads of original character art (though there are duplicates in the deck, so you might bang your doppelganger), and even a cardboard dice tower that looks like a sauna just for the vibes.
That’s the point, really. This is a game about splashing around with your buddies in a gay sauna, having a laugh, and banging some dudes. Where the rules are lax, the stakes are so low it hardly matters. I’ve played so many take-that party board games with silly cartoony themes; this one has heart.
Gay gamers will get the most from this. It’s a light enough game to play with gay friends who aren’t gamers at all, and like all lightweight take-that games it’s a solid framework for banter and an excuse to drink and eat snacks. While board game hobbyists won’t be challenged by the rules, the theme is a breath of hot, steamy, slightly salty air compared to the default science fiction, fantasy, and renaissance settings that dominate the industry.
For more great board game recommendations, check out our guide to the best board games, with titles for beginners and hardened veterans alike. If you want a game to play with your significant other, our guide to the best board games for couples is full of two-player treats.
Source: Wargamer
