Dixit

Depending on your friends, this game will be hilarious or terrifying (or both). Jean-Louis Roubira's artwork is straight from the foggy realms of Dreamland, but whether these images constitute pleasant fantasies or nightmares is up to you.

Dixit is a Latin word meaning "an utterance," which may seem like an odd title for a game with no text. That's because it's entirely up to players to provide stories, snatches of song, phrases, quotes, words or anything else that comes to mind to describe the scenes depicted on the beautifully painted cards. It gets pretty ridiculous with the right people.

Players take turns as "the storyteller," choosing one of their six cards to describe. They tell their story, lay the card facedown on the table, and wait for everyone else to choose a card to lay facedown beside it. Then each card is turned face up and players vote on which one was played by the storyteller. If everyone votes for the correct card or if no one does, the storyteller gets no points.

This is a good party game, but it's even more fun with people you know well. With the unique scoring method, the storyteller has to describe her card in such a way that some but not all players have a good idea which card she laid down.

Few games are anywhere near as whimsical as Dixit. There are plenty of creative games, but the wooden rabbit playing pieces (for keeping score), the offbeat play structure, and (most importantly) the delightful artwork rank this among the most fun and lighthearted. And while there are a bajillion things you could say about each card, if you get bored with the same ones each time there are supplemental decks available.

Just for the record, we don't think every game needs to be educational. But, if you want to encourage your children's narrative skills, economy of expression, and creativity....and have fun doing it, Dixit is pretty near impossible to beat.

• 3-6 Players
• 30 Minutes
• Ages 6+

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.