Dixit Odyssey – Quite the creative journey

Dixit Odyssey is all about letting your creativity juices flow. It’s a card game full of cards with very abstract and distinct illustrative artwork that let players’ imagination run wild.

The playing pieces you move along the score track are shaped like little bunnies – like the little white rabbit that Alice in Wonderland chased down the rabbit hole. And like Alice, players are transported to a world of wild imagination.

The first time we played the original Dixit card game, Trevor was immediately enamored with it. So Dixit Odyssey was an easy choice of a game to buy him for his birthday last year. Which also means it’s no surprise that it’s one of his most highly rated games.

Can the whole family enjoy Dixit Odyssey?

Even though the recommended ages for Dixit Odyssey are 8+, we think it’s a great game for kids even younger and the rest of the family. Since there isn’t any text to read you don’t need to worry about kids being old enough to read. And we all know how creative kids can be.

Open up these abstract illustrations and set their imagination free. In fact some of the most creative statements have come from Caleb, our youngest.

The only catch with playing with younger kids is that sometimes they want to be too descriptive in their statements. But with a little coaching on that point, they’ll be off and running.

Sometimes the tougher challenge is for older players. Too much adultitis and adults will have a harder time being imaginative.

 

How to play Dixit Odyssey

Playing Dixit Odyssey is very simple and Trevor covers it in his video review. But since we know not everyone watches the video review, we’ll give you the quick overview.

Players take turns being the “Storyteller” – meaning they select a card from their hand of cards and say something about it. It’s completely open to what they say. They could say a sentence, a couple words, a single word, a whole story, or even just make a sound. The catch is to not be too specific or too vague.

The Storyteller than places their card face down on the table and the others players then select a card from their hand that may also work for what the Storyteller said. They also place their chosen card on the table. Once everyone has placed a card, the Storyteller mixes them all around and then sets them out in random order next to the side of the board.

Then all players but the Storyteller guess which card they think is the Storyteller’s card. They place a peg in their cool player board to make their choice. Then everyone reveals at the same time and points get awarded based on how everyone voted.

Then it’s on to the next Storyteller. Very straightforward game play.

The fun of Dixit Odyssey, lies in the creativity it induces. Great stuff!

(I’ll also mention that Dixit Odyssey has additional ways to play based on the number of players – so you can mix it up with even more players.)

 

Which version of Dixit should you get?

Dixit is definitely a game that we think you should try. It’s great for opening your mind to think in new, creative, and imaginative ways. The real question though is which Dixit game you should buy.

Asmodee has published a number of Dixit games and will most likely continue to do so. Here are the Dixit game options as of this writing.

• Dixit (full game and cards)
• Dixit 2 (just cards – 84 more to add)
• Dixit Odyssey (full game and cards)
• Dixit 3 (just cards – 84 more to add)
• Dixit: Journey (full game and cards)

Every Dixit game is full of unique artwork so choosing the version based on the illustrations won’t suffice. Instead it’s best to determine who you’re most likely to play it with and when. And for us we think Dixit Odyssey is spot on.

The original Dixit game was awarded the Spiel des Jahres winner in 2010 (Best Game of the Year) – which obviously helped it become so popular and spawn many expansion games.

While the original Dixit board game has great artwork, it really doesn’t play well with more than 6 players. When we played it with a number of couples we had to play it in teams. And we found that playing in pairs/teams really slowed the team down and didn’t lend itself to as much creative flow – mostly because creative ideas by one person would be shot down or watered down by their game partner.

We haven’t had the chance to play Dixit: Journey yet as it just came out this year. But like the original, it only has tokens for up to 6 players.

So for playing with more than 6 players, Dixit Odyssey is the way to go. Even though we’re a family of 6 we know we’ll play Dixit with more than just us, so having a version that allows for more players is the way to go for us. There are also additional ways to play Dixit Odyssey with larger groups which we think are also great.

Another cool thing about Dixit Odyssey is that the game box is large enough and has space for all the Dixit cards available to date.

Of course, with such a cool game that’s all about the illustrations, chances are we’re going to get some of the other Dixit games to have more creative artwork to play with.

 

How does Dixit Odyssey score on the “Let’s Play Again” game meter?

Dixit Odyssey gets a good score on the “Let’s Play Again” game meter. The first time we played, it was inevitable that ending the game once a player reached the top of the score track wasn’t acceptable.

They wanted to play through all the cards. So rather than it being “let’s play again” it was simply, “let’s just keep going”.

Definitely a good sign!

The Board Game Family Game Ratings
	Caleb
	Brooke
	Jaden
	Trevor
	Mom
	Dad
	Average