Dixit 10th Anniversary is the brand new expansion for the party card game, Dixit, from publisher Libellud. Featuring 84 cards the pack is to be used with the base game, which we reviewed rather favourably last year. This is a rather special expansion as it features artwork from all the illustrators that featured in previous expansions, with the likes of Marie Cardouat, Xavier Collette and Marina Coudray included. Dixit is all about using the cards to tell a sort of story. However, is this expansion a fairytale or horror? Let’s find out!
For those unaware the base game of Dixit revolves around a storyteller hinting towards a card in a lineup of cards, while trying to only get some players to guess it. Each player gains a hand of cards, the storyteller then places a card face down on the table whilst saying a word or phase. The other players must then play a card from their hand, which they think is related, face down onto the storytellers card.
Shuffling this created pile the storyteller reminds players what the word or phrase was while flipping the cards over. All non-storyteller players then vote on which was the original card. Points are awarded to the storyteller if some, but not all or none, of the guessers chose the card and guessers gain bonus points if their card had been mistakenly chosen.
The base game includes 84 cards which is perfectly adequate for continued play over many games. So why do you need this expansion? From time to time, after double figure plays, it can be hard to come up with new ideas for particular cards as they come up. Creating great memories is Dixit’s double edged sword, as this means certain cards can almost form a meta for groups.
Adding a whole range of new cards, literally doubling the deck, slices through this potential staleness of ideas. Not only is the game great with just the expansion cards on their own, mixing the expansion into the original deck is something never to be undone. This is not just because there is little way other than memory to tell the card sets apart. If you enjoy Dixit enough to want an expansion there is no need to separate the cards out.
The quality of the artwork and illustrations that adorns the cards is stunning. Coming from different artists there are different styles included. To an extent this does makes some stand out from the rest, yet they all blend well with the base game deck. Of course art is subjective but due to the range of artists there should be something included that causes anyone’s jaw to drop.
No matter the artist the weird and wonderful, abstract nature, shines through. There are some that truly stand out, in particular those which have a line cutting through the image, effectively splitting it into two sections. This can go two ways leading to them being awkwardly used or amazingly used to fool opponents. Even these definitely different cards manage to have strange new combinations with the original deck though.
As a base game there is nothing stopping the replayability of the title more than groups being able to come up with new descriptions and ideas. The Dixit 10th Anniversary expansion brings in fresh cards and fresh ideas along with it, opening up the opportunity of new links that wouldn’t even be imagined before. Top quality artwork is expected of Dixit and this expansion doesn’t let the side down, perfectly mixing surreal with stunning. Whether you have other expansions or not this is one that can help bump that replayability up an extra notch, something incredibly impressive for a super replayable game!
[Editor’s Note: Dixit: 10th Anniversary Expansion was provided to us by Asmodee for review purposes. The game is currently available on 365 Games for £16.99. It is also available from local UK board game stores, find your local store here]
