Game Overview #
Just One, So Clover, and Fun Facts are the three games of the Repos Productions cooperative party games line. Rather than doing a single review for each of them, I decided to go over what I love about each of the games, and then talk about which one you should get.
What I Love About Just One #
For Just One, just one player attempts to guess the word, while the others secretly write down just one word each. Just one of each word is allowed: if any players write the same clue, those clues are eliminated. The guesser then gets just one guess to get the correct answer!
One of the biggest strengths of Just One is how simple it is. The game's simplicity ensures that everyone can participate and enjoy, regardless of their gaming experience. This accessibility is a huge part of its charm and appeal.
In a previous post, I talked about my definition of a party game. You can read the full article here, but in summary: the main characteristic of a party game is the ability to have players come and go, which is made possible by (a) simplicity, (b) flexible player count, and (c) a round that is more important than the game. With this definition in mind, I would consider Just One to be an archetypical party game.
Just One has been popular since its release. It won the Spiele des Jahres in 2019. As of the time of this writing, it is the number 4 party game on the BoardGameGeek list of party games.
What I Love About So Clover #
In So Clover, players work together to create word associations using a clover-shaped board. Each player receives a board and four randomly drawn cards with words. The goal is to write clues that link the words on the adjacent leaves. After writing the clues, the cards are removed, shuffled, and placed back on the board. The rest of the players collaborate to figure out the original placement of each card based on the clues given.
In this collection of games, So Clover is the thinkiest of the group. Finding a good word to fit together without tripping up other words gives a similar vibe to being the clue giver on Codenames. This leads to moments of contemplative silence rather than the laughing and discussions that happen in Just One and Fun Facts. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing - it can be very satisfying when you pull it off!
What I Love About Fun Facts #
Fun Facts involves players secretly answering various styles of questions, each with a numerical answer. Once all answers are written, players work to arrange the cards in order from lowest to highest without revealing the numbers. The closer the team gets from a correctly sorted order, the more points you score.
I think that Fun Facts works best when you’re playing with a group of people that you know at least in passing. Trying to guess whether a random strange that you met at a convention is more into cooking than you are is a shot in the dark. When you starting comparing yourself to friends or family, though, things can get interesting quickly.
Fun Facts also has a fantastic "reveal" phase at the end - while getting a perfect round isn't common in my experience, it always results in cheers when it happens.
Which Games Belongs in Your Collection? #
I'm a huge fan of party games, so I personally will be keeping all three of these games in my collection. They each have their own pros and cons. That said, they aren't for everyone - so which of these belong in your collection?
If you were to just have one party game in your entire collection, you can do a lot worse than Just One. It's incredibly flexible and simple, can there are few party situations where it wouldn't work.
If your parties are more "wine & cheese double dates", then So Clover might be a good fit! It fills a similar niche to classic Codenames but with more of a “party game” structure (that is to say, the "rounds" are more important than the "game").
If you play often with a handful close friends, Fun Facts can be a fun way to learn more about each other. It doesn’t always land, but when it does it is wonderful!
I hope that this game helps you decide which of these to add to your collection!
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