Herd Mentality Review

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Continuing Big Potato’s tradition of taking simple ideas and turning them into exceptional party games is Herd Mentality; a game all about fitting in. The base premise is that someone draws a card which asks ‘what is the most boring sport to watch?’ or ‘name a famous redhead’. Each player then writes down their answer in secret, hoping to be in the majority with the rest of the golf haters. Those in the majority get a happy little cow token while any player who is alone in their answer gets lumped with the pink cow which means their points are worthless until they shift it to the next unlucky sod.

But what makes Herd Mentality so fun are the mind games and mistakes. Trying to guess what your friends would answer is already a puzzle but then you have to consider what they think you’re going to answer and as players try to guess each other the mistakes come flooding in. ‘What’s the best type of sandwich?’, ham and cheese is such a normal answer that it would be a safe bet but two of us are pescatarian and they know I love tuna so of course the answer was Nutella. Foolish to choose otherwise really. And that’s the beauty of a lot of Big Potato games, they’re the kind of tried and tested parlor games that people have been playing for centuries with enough humor and style to keep them fresh. The rules are so simple that we got it to the table less than five minutes after the delivery driver dropped it off which is an impressive feat for any game. The only downside is that the answer sheets are paper where whiteboards would have been a much longer lasting option. 

Anna Blackwell

Play it? YES

Designer: Dan Penn & Rich Coombes

Publisher: Big Potato Games

Time: 30 minutes

Players: 4-20

Age: 10+

Price: £20

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This article originally appeared in issue 46 of Tabletop Gaming. Pick up the latest issue of the UK's fastest-growing gaming magazine in print or digital here or subscribe to make sure you never miss another issue.

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