Last week we played what is now one of my new favorite games, Mysterium. Mysterium is essentially like clue with weird Freudian dream analysis. One person plays the ghost of a murdered person who leaves vague dreams to this team of investigators trying to solve the crime. Each person has to identify their own suspect and then if all suspects are identified, at the end of the game the team works together to find the true culprit. The hardest part about this game is trying to interpret the dreams delivered by the ghost. One person’s way of thinking about the dreams could be completely different from someone else’s. This game ties into leadership through the ghost trying to lead the team to the correct answer but isn’t able to use words. Leadership in the team itself also emerges as people argue and try to defend their interpretations to lead the team to the correct conclusion. My entire family would love this game because we are avid clue players and this game is a cool twist on a classic family game. We like the challenge of solving mysteries but each of us like to win. WIth this game, it is possible for everyone to win which satisfies us and doesn’t leave anyone as a sore loser. Unless of course, everyone loses.

For our very first class this semester we played Avalon! This secret identity game was played both in a vanilla version where there were simply the good guys (AKA Merlin’s and King Arthur’s homies) vs the bad guys (aka the minions of Mordred), as well as a more complex version with roles within the teams. The hardest part for me about this game was having to lie to the other players. I am absolutely awful at lying so that makes me really quite bad at these sorts of games. However I still had a fun time playing, especially the version with roles.

This game ties to leadership because depending on your role, you may have to lead your team in a certain direction even if you don’t know exactly who is on your team. Leadership is also seen through the movement of the game. Someone has to step up to call when the votes will take place and when the next person should start their turn.

My brother Bob would absolutely love this game because he likes messing with people’s heads. He likes having opportunities to confuse people’s thought processes and insert doubt into decisions. This is crucial for Avalon because the game revolves around being able to convince the rest of the players that you are good even if you are not.