/pic6156718.jpg)
ScandalOh! is a "Brilliant Deck System" deduction game about investigative journalism in which each playing presents a different scenario, and players have to bring a scandal to light.
WHAT is the scandal plot?
WHICH celebrity is behind it?
WHICH newspaper will make it public?
The game challenges you to use genuine investigative abilities to solve each case. To get the scoop, you have to keep an eye on the celebrities and their contacts, question the newspaper editors, search for clues anywhere in the city, and consult your sources. You do all of this while exchanging information with your opponents or hiding it from them, so get ready to use all your deductive skills!
The heart of ScandalOh! is simple: Players have a hand of seven cards, and each card has a value (1 or 2 points, according to the amount of information that it provides) and several references (i.e., the subjects of the card information). During a turn, you ask for information about three different references in which you are interested. The rest of the players can offer you cards that contain the requested references, and you can trade for those cards by giving the offering players the same number of points they have offered via cards in your hand.
After each round ends, players can try to uncover the scandal. If the actual scandal is not revealed, players discard part of their hands and receive three new cards. The player or players who uncover the scandal first win.
—description from publisher
- Uncovering a jaw-dropping scandal in a newspaper to publish the story.
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Bluffing/Offer making — Players make offers of cards face down, which can be part of the negotiation or exchange phase.
- Deduction — Players use gathered information to deduce the correct story, celebrity, and newspaper.
- Hand Management — Players manage cards in their hand to make offers and exchange information.
- Press Your Luck — Players decide if they are ready to solve the scandal, with incorrect guesses leading to elimination or penalties.
- Set Collection — Players collect and manage cards which represent information or resources needed to solve the scandal.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- in scandalous you take the role of competing journalists trying to uncover a jaw-dropping scandal in a newspaper to publish the story
- how do you become the best investigative journalist and win the game by being the first player to correctly uncover the celebrity scandal and the newspaper to publish the story
- players would discard down to three cards placing their cards face down in a discard pile
- and that player is the best investigative journalist and wins scandalow
References (from this video)
- Brilliant deck system with impressive card design
- High replayability with 40 different cases using the same card set
- Fresh and unique theme of playing as a journalist
- Rewarding and satisfying deduction process
- Solid deduction game
- Can be overwhelming at first
- Political, social, or tabloid scandal
- Awkward Guess
- Clue
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- card drafting/exchange — Players have cards with information, and they can exchange these cards with other players to gain new bits of information. Players can ask for information about locations, people, or newspapers, and others can offer cards in exchange for cards from the player's hand.
- Deduction — Players receive clues and information from a set of cards to deduce the solution to a problem. The mechanics are similar to 'Awkward Guess'.
- scenario-based gameplay — Each time a different scenario and a different Scandal is played, a different combination of cards is used from a large deck, leading to many different cases.
- Set Collection/Information Gathering — Players record information from cards onto a sheet to determine the type of story, who is involved, and which newspaper will print it. This involves crossing off connections and possibilities until the whole scandal is figured out.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Scandal o
- The decks of cards in both of these games are really impressive.
- It's so brilliant it is wildly brilliant.
- You deserve to call it brilliant, call it genius, call it Einstein.
- The theme makes it feel fresh and unique in the genre.
- Deduction games are fun because if you figure out the solution first you feel ridiculously proud of yourself.
References (from this video)
- Similar to the original Awkward Guests, which the host enjoyed.
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Um I'd have slight concerns about the replayability of the game, but please do correct me uh on that.
- Maybe a little bit maybe a bit oversaturated in terms of how many there are out there.
- Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with either of those.
- Um I also thought that there wasn't enough mitigation in terms of activating the spots that you wanted.
- Um and pretty much the uh the cards not doing anything terribly interesting either.
- Um but I just like it in every way. But I'm a big sucker for really good Dawn games. I think he's a brilliant designer.
- Um hopefully I'll get copies of those for for sale relatively soon.