Target Audience:
Survivor: The Game is designed for casual party gamers ages 8+, encouraged that the players are fans of the TV show, but it’s not necessary.
Game Name: Survivor
Creator: Exploding Kittens / Survivor Productions
Platform: Physical card/board game
The game that our team made is called Truth or Die, and it’s a social deduction game based totally around lying. Players are either assigned to tell the truth about given questions or lie about them, and then the rest of the players are tasked with determining who the liar is. The liar is in a mafia-style role, and they are tasked with the need to survive until the end of the game, when there either remains an equal number of liars to non-liars, or until the liar has successfully lied a certain number of times. Survivor has similar aspects to it, but there’s also some key differences. Much of the overlap came structurally, lots of lies, social manipulation and cards that hold secrets, but there was definitely a different emotional impact when comparing it to our playtests.
Survivor works simply on the surface: Each player has two “characters” from the real Survivor TV show that they represent. Players draw, trade and steal item cards that help them gain some sort of advantage in rounds called “tribal councils.” A tribal council is when the group elects at least one, at most two of these players’ characters out of the game. The catch that makes the game great is that before the vote occurs, and after all cards are exchanged and finalized in players’ hands, there is a wonderful moment where any player may pull any other group or single player aside. It’s during these moments that there are opportunities for players to be vicious, lying, conniving evil liars (can you tell I was burned?), but also opportunities for players to present themselves as allies and planners and leaders. For example, some player might tell you that they are sure that you will be able to win together if you just vote this third person out. Then when the votes come out, you learn that you were the only one who voted for the third person, and the rest of the votes went to… you.
What is the difference? It lies in what the bluffing is actually about. Truth or Die replaces these resource management techniques with emotional stakes. The players aren’t bluffing about the idols in the game, or who they’re going to vote for, they’re bluffing about their own lives—childhood, regrets, habits, etc. The only currency in Truth or Die is credibility. I think that the aspect of more bluffing can be embedded in our game, because that’s what makes it so much fun. Maybe we can add some sort of resource or reason for more players to lie, more than just the liar character, and more than just about their lives. There could be a resource that allows people to ask questions about former lies, etc. Truth or Die is a game where you’re telling stories about yourself, and that’s the true difference.
MDA Breakdown (Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics)
- Survivor
- Mechanics: card drawing, trading, vote casting, advantage stacking, lying
- Dynamics: alliances, betrayal, strategy, whispers and power shifts
- Aesthetics: chaos, suspense, competition, Survivor theme
- Truth or Die
- Mechanics: hidden roles, forced lies, personal prompts, card drawing, vote casting
- Dynamics: social storytelling, memory-based deduction, trust erosion
- Aesthetics: tension, vulnerability, paranoia
Ethics & Endings
One thing that stuck with me is that Survivor encourages lots of lying with zero real consequence. Once the game ends, so does the narrative. The lies that were told are sealed in the game box. But in Truth or Die, the lies could feel stickier. Even if you know someone was just playing a role, it’s hard to un-hear a fake (or real?) story about how they took credit for someone else’s work.
On the other hand, the lies from Survivor can and do still last in the minds of friends. I certainly still think, how could he have done this to me, about someone who lied straight to my face about voting for me. You make promises in a super specific way that is supposed to be broken when the game is done. But is it? This is potentially troubling for more competitive or sharky players. If someone is brutal in the game, there’s certainly people who would allow those emotions to penetrate into their lives after the game. I think Truth or Die’s more playful mechanic of telling fake stories is lighter than breaking promises that you keep in-game.
