Beep bop boop beep? Beepin boop bop. Hmm…if you knew what that meant then you must be the robot! Maybe I should zap you right now! Wait, you think I’m the robot? No, I was just trying to call you out. I’m human, I swear. Let’s shake on it! Erm…should we?

This is just an example of the mind games that will ensue while playing Are You a Robot? from Looney Labs. A very interesting take on a classic game mechanic, it does a lot with very little. Let’s check it out!

What Is It & Who Is It For?

A 3-card social deduction micro game where players try to figure out who is a trustworthy human and who is an evil robot so they can decide what action to take to win them the game.

Honestly, anyone can play this game! I’d recommend ages 8 and up, to ensure they can really grasp the deduction that needs to be done, but other than that I’d say it can be enjoyed by casual and hobby gamers alike if you’re into this style of game. If you can’t keep a straight face though … this probably isn’t the one for you.

PROS

  • Really quick
  • Simple to learn/teach
  • Changes each game and allows for a lot of creativity
  • Easily portable
  • Funny theme
  • Works well at 2 and 3, so I like that rules are included for both
  • You can combine copies to play with more players which is cool, and since it’s small and inexpensive that is well worth it.

CONS

  • Keeping a straight face can be hard, and, unlike other social deduction games, no information is revealed through anything other than conversation, so it can definitely be difficult for some players (ex. info is revealed in The Resistance through missions, but that can’t be done here)
  • The game is just talking and reading others, as I mentioned, so it isn’t going to appeal to everyone, so you do have to make sure you play with the right people who can really get into that creativity aspect

Difficulty

It’s really hard to say for this one, because it depends on how you look at it. As far as learning the rules and teaching the game, it’s simple! There’s not much to it and really anyone could play. But, once you get really into the game you realize that it’s not so simple after all, and that with such an open-ended method for gameplay (pure discussion) it’s quite hard to deduce who the robot is, if anyone, and it can become quite the brain game. I’ll leave it at a 3/5 for difficulty but to be quite honest, it’s so hard to say.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this is a pretty nifty game for only being a few cards in an envelope, so I’m pleasantly surprised! Like I’ve mentioned, all those playing have to get in the right mindset because you do want to come up with creative questions to ask in order to deduce information. If you play with the same people every game, you can’t necessarily continue to ask the same questions, so that’s very cool how it will be different every time. There’s definitely more than meets the eye here, and for a game that’s only $2, it’s well worth trying it out!

Happy Gaming~

Additional Information:
Publisher – Looney Labs
Designer – Andrew Looney
Artwork – David Fesl
Inspired By – Burning Man 2018

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

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