How would you describe your ability to focus at work during the holidays? How would you describe your knowledge of different names for Santa Claus? How would you describe your love of The Muppet Christmas Carol?
These are just some of the prompts you could come across in the holiday expansion for I’m Kind of a Big Dill. If you want to read more about the rules of I’m Kind of a Big Dill, you can read our review of it from a few short weeks ago.
The holiday season is something unique when approached from a tabletop gamer’s angle. On the one hand, holiday parties are a great opportunity to play games with new people. On the other hand, good luck finding a game that will attract gamers, casual gamers, and non-gamers alike.
Unless you want to play mass-market games like Monopoly and Scrabble, or basic playing card games (no hate), one of the better options is likely going to be party games. I’ll leave it to you to curate what party games are appropriate for your family or friend groups, but the Holiday edition of I’m Kind of a Big Dill is a pretty safe choice for just about any group. The box comes with an extra two “Dill Meter” player boards and dry-erase markers, bringing the player count up to 12 people max. The 60 prompt cards are more than enough to handle that size of group for several games of fun. But here’s another fun fact: You can play I’m Kind of a Big Dill as a cooperative two-player game. That means that if you don’t intend to play with a big group, you just need this single stocking stuffer sized box to play.
When asked, I tend to say that I celebrate a secular, commercial Christmas. The inclusive Christmas that is about Santa Claus and snowflakes, rather than any of the numerous cultural and religious winter holidays. I respect everyone’s beliefs and their right to celebrate as they wish, but I also want to be able to include them in my own holiday fun. That’s one of the things I do love about this game. It mostly avoids any religious landmines in favour of white elephant parties, Festivus, and finding the Christmas Pickle. (As an aside, I have no idea how that became a thing, but it legitimately is a thing. They didn’t make it up as a Big Dill joke. Although I guarantee that’s how it made the cut to be included in the game.)
How would you describe your desire to eat the chocolate from an Advent calendar? Honest answer, I can restrain myself and would be just as happy with a dice Advent calendar as a chocolate one.
Is that an honest answer? (Yes, it is.) Am I downplaying my chocolate obsession? (Maybe a hair.) Am I exaggerating my love of dice calendars? (Our YouTube Channel says I am definitely not.)
Do you know me well enough to know how I would describe my desire to visit the North Pole? I have some seriously Christmas-crazy friends, and I’m not sure I could tell if or how they possibly could be exaggerating their ability to spread Christmas cheer to all who are near.
In short, whether you are playing a partner or a party, I’m Sort of a Big Dill Holiday Edition is a dill-ectable treat. (Sorry, not sorry.)
You can find Left Justified Studio online at left-justified.com or on Facebook at facebook.com/LeftJustifiedStudio.t
6. Epilogue
For each chapter, the players take it turns acting as a Spirit, to frame a scene for the player’s Client on their left. As secondary characters are introduced, they are written down on an index card and played by the Spirit and other players.
In the Establishment Scene, the Client will introduce themselves, perhaps introduce some supporting characters, and describe their life in a way to exemplify the deadly sin which motivates them. The Spirit and other players help by taking on the roles of those supporting characters.
Each of the Vision Scenes will be framed by a randomly drawn playing card. If a Heart is drawn, the scene will be about love. If a Club is drawn, the scene will be about the harm done by the Client’s sin. If a diamond is drawn, the scene will demonstrate the inverse virtue of the Client’s sin (For example, Greed becomes Generosity.) If a spade is drawn, the scene will be about loss and death as a result of the Client’s sin. If a supporting character is killed in a scene, the Client should tear that character’s index card in half to reinforce the permanence of that death.
Once all the Spirits and Clients have completed their visions, a Council of Judgement is formed. Each player has one blind card, and everyone will simultaneously give that card to the Client they feel is most worthy of redemption. If any Client receives two or more cards, they are transformed and live out a good life. If they receive a single black card, they remain stuck in their evil life, but maybe are a little less bad. If they receive a single red card, they improve their life, but at a cost. However, if a client receives no cards at all, they are doomed to sink further and further into the self-destruction of their sin.
Once the game is over, it’s helpful to hold a bit of a debriefing to talk about what happened and how you may feel about it. What did everyone take away from the game? Some form of aftercare is important after games like Expect Three Visitors. Games like this are designed to be emotionally engaging and thought-provoking, and you want everyone to leave the table satisfied rather than upset.
Roleplaying gamers tend to fall on a spectrum. On the one side, there are players who want to chuck dice at bad guys and on the other end are people who want deep emotional roleplaying. Expect Three Visitors is one of the most emotionally charged games I’ve encountered in a long time. This is especially true if you frame this game as a holiday game, played at a time when both vice and virtues are on their highest display. Let me be VERY clear, that I say that as a compliment. Unfortunately, I fall pretty far into the “chuck dice at it” end of the spectrum. While it may not be apparent from the holiday content we put out, the holiday season is hard for me. It’s hard for a lot of people. For some, this game is exactly what they want: a chance to face a world of vice head-on. I, however, like to play games that let me escape from the sort of things I too often deal with in the real world. So this isn’t a good game for me, but it is a great game for the sort of players it caters to.
This review is scheduled to go live on Black Friday. A day that arguably celebrates a number of vices. So I’d like to end this review by asking you to take care of yourself and to take care of one another. Tip your servers and thank your retail workers. Be happy, be kind.
You can find Plane Sailing Games online at https://planesailinggames.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PlaneSailingGames
