Care for a spot of tea, darling? What a lovely hat you’re sporting, I almost didn’t recognize you! What was your name again…Sebastian? Oh no, perhaps I have you confused – you must be Carlton! No matter; eat, drink, and be merry, friend! It is a tea party after all!

What Is It?

Deduction – Players each have a secret role – a dinosaur with certain traits. Players will go around asking others about their traits with yes/no questions, i.e. “are you wearing jewelry?” or “do you have a pet?” They will then use the info they gather to figure out which dinosaur each opponent is. Players will get a new role if theirs is guessed so they can stay in the game.

Bluffing – 3 dinosaurs each game have a special “quirk.” One always lies, one always switches answers, and one always says “no.” If a player has one of these dinosaurs as their role, they must try their best not to make their quirk obvious so their opponents don’t guess their role too easily.

Multiple Turns – When inquiring about guests’ traits, if a player answers “yes,” the active player who is asking questions gets another turn. They keep going until they get a “no,” or guess a player’s name, which ends their turn.

Who Is It For?

  • 3 to 5 Players – Works well at any count
  • Ages 8 & Up – Pretty simple game, but the quirks can be tricky to understand at first
  • Fans of light deduction
  • Players who will see it as lighthearted fun and maybe get a little silly with the questions will have a grand time

Variants

Clever Play – Normally, as players answer trait questions, they’ll put their trait tokens in front of them face up for yes and face down with the “X” for no, so that players remember previous answers. For this variant, players do not put down a token when answering “no,” so it adds an element of memory as players will have to remember the “no” answers that have been given. I’m not big on this, and would probably never suggest it in my plays. I’m not a fan of memory, and to me it just feels unnecessary here.

PROS

  • Aesthetics – Really great artwork! The big cards make for a nice table presence
  • Symbology – Clear trait symbols and handy reference cards
  • Components – Simple stuff (tokens, cards, cubes) but all nice quality
  • Small rule set
  • Easy set up and clean up
  • Games are quick, and it’s easy to reset if you want to play again
  • Engaging for everyone even when it’s not your turn
  • I like that you get a new role if you are guessed, so there is no player elimination
  • The rulebook has a few recipes included, which is super fun and on-theme

CONS

  • It was odd to me that you got to keep taking turns when you got a “yes” answer. It meant that if you got lucky early on, you could get a bunch of turns, and maybe even a point, before anyone else has had a turn.
  • Replay Value – After a few plays I felt like I had seen what the game had to offer. It doesn’t change much play to play, so if you don’t like repetition, it might be a pass for you.

Final Thoughts

This game is super cute! I love the overall look of it, and how the game flows. I also really appreciate how easy it is to get right into a game, and to play a few games in a row, since they aren’t all that long. If you like deduction games in a similar style to Guess Who, this might be the perfect choice!

I do think it’s weird that you more turns as long as you are guessing correctly, but again, since games are short, it doesn’t seem like a huge issue.

It’s clearly meant to be a light, quick deduction game, and it does an excellent job at that. I highly recommend playing at least a few games with players who get into silly “tea party” voices and mannerisms, for a really funny time!

Additional Information:
My Final Rating – 7/10

Designers -Rob Daviau, JR Honeycutt, Justin D. Jacobson
Artists -Matijos Gebreselassie, Jason Taylor
Publisher – Restoration Games
MSRP – $20.00
Website

*I was provided a copy of this game to do this review*

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