I went looking for a new game to end the BGA session with, and my eyes lit up when I say Dinosaur Tea Party. It had been ages since I played it at Alpal’s, and it was just the fun I had in mind.
Dinosaur Tea Party is multiplayer Guess Who. It might sound like an oversimplification, but that is the premise. It’s actually a remake of Whosit, but I am guessing most people won’t recognise that name.
Each player is a dinosaur at an exclusive tea party (hence the name), but no one can remember anyone’s name. What a social faux pas! So players look at the board and ask questions like “Are you wearing glasses?” or “Are you in a room with green wallpaper?”, and by process of elimination identify each player.
There are some twist rules as well. There are usually three party members that have their own rules. One will always lie, one will alternate answers, and finally one always answers No. This adds a spanner in the works when eliminating guests!
There are some fun optional rules as well. I say optional – they are shown in the rules this way. When you ask a question, don’t do it as directly as “Are you wearing glasses?”. Be polite and make it idle chit-chat at a fancy vent. Ask instead “Oh the art here is wonderful. You do have your glasses on to help enjoy the fine details?”.
But not everyone enjoys role-playing, so I call it an optional rule. I actually missed this aspect on Board Game Arena. Playing this way, you click on the trait you want to ask a player, and the system answers with a tick or cross.
The winner of Dinosaur Tea Party is the first to guess three characters. When someone identifies you, another character is drawn so there is no player elimination. Because your answers are public, there isn’t any incentive to ‘pick’ on players either. The meanest aspect of the game is you can identify a player from questions everyone else asked them.
Dinosaur Tea Party was a fun way to end the day. Also, don’t play with Rabbit. She is a data processing demon, that will tell you who you are with scary accuracy!