Welcome back to my blog! Today I am going to focus on the game Chameleon. I have only played this game once, but I absolutely loved it! The main goal of the game is to fake it ‘till you make it. There is one liar, who is called the chameleon, trying to blend in with the rest of the group, but one false move, and they’re caught! This strategic game is perfect for a small group of friends. Enjoy!
The game was created by Rikki Tahta in 2012. Chameleon is a social deduction board game where players must race to catch the chameleon before it’s too late. Everyone knows the secret word except for the player with the chameleon card. The playing time is about 5 minutes but it really depends on the players. If they can quickly guess who the chameleon is, then the game ends but you can play as many rounds as you want. 4-6 players can play and the recommended age is 14 years old, but if explained well I think younger kids could play.
You are given a topic card, code cards, and one chameleon card. A topic card is chosen by the players. The topic card will be played out on the table for all the players to see. This card has a 4x4 grid filled with words that all fit into a category. For example, if you pick the topic card “Food” then a few of the words in the grid would be, Pasta, Eggs, Chocolate, etc. An example is shown below. Then the chameleon card and code cards are shuffled together and passed out, face down, to all the players. Each player will receive a code card, except one will get the chameleon card. The code card, shown below, is pretty much an answer key. Two number die are rolled and the players with code cards can determine the secret word. For example, if a yellow three and blue six is rolled, then you would look at your code card and see that under the yellow three category and next to the blue six, you see an A4. The A4 corresponds with the A4 on the topic card so the secret word is chicken. So all the players with code cards know the secret word is chicken, but the one player with the chameleon card has no idea what the secret word is.
Code Card Topic Card
Next, each player goes around and says one word that describes the secret word. This is an easy task for all the players with code cards, but the chameleon will have to say random words and hope they fit into the right category. The chameleon’s overall goal is to figure out what the secret word is without getting caught. All the other players try to figure out who the chameleon is before the chameleon can figure out the secret word. For example, if the secret word is chicken, non-chameleon players can say words like: animal, meat, etc. But the chameleon will try to say random words that somehow fit into the right category. If the chameleon would say “sweet” then you know that they were the chameleon because they don’t know the secret word. I know my explanation may be a little confusing so you can find an instructional video here.
I definitely recommend this game and I would rate it a 9/10. If you want to purchase it you can find it here. Thanks for reading my blog, see you next time!