I love all kinds of games. Intense, multi-hour worker placement Euros at board game conventions. Engine builders, trick-takers and area majority games with my mid-week groups.
But I particularly love introducing my young family to the joys of gaming. It’s not only screen-free bonding time, but it is a chance to sneak in some skill building through play.
One of the first games I ever introduced to my now 7-year-old and 4-year-old kids was the co-op Outfoxed!
If you haven’t played it, it’s a joy. A fox has stolen Mrs. Plumpert’s prized pot pie and you have to work together to figure out which fox is the guilty party before they have a chance to escape.
Now, Outfoxed! is far from a hidden gem - it’s got over 5k ratings on BGG. But what makes it so good is that it effortlessly lets the kid explore and develop logic, reasoning and deduction skills.
So, with that in mind, here are two much lesser known deduction games that we have also really enjoyed. As we tiptoe towards the holiday season, they also happen to be small and relatively cheap.
💎 BGG rated 7.3/10 w. just 370 ratings 💎
💡 Designer: Robert Kerr
🖨️ Publisher: Gamewright
📅 Released: 2023
🧑🏻🤝🧑🏿 Players: 2-4
🎂 Age: 8+ (although I’d say younger)
⚖️ Weight: 1.29
⏱️ Time: 15 minutes
This quick, clever card game comes from the same publishers as Outfoxed!
Players are each dealt a card that they aren’t allowed to look at, but all other players can see*.
The card shows a “Secret Suspect” - an animal wearing a disguise in front of a particular background. Kind of like Clue(do), it’s your job to figure out those three bits of information.
You do this by playing one of the five other cards in your hand (that you are allowed to look at). The other players simply answer “Yes” or “No” if your played card shares an attribute with your Secret Suspect.
Over the course of several rounds, you build up a “Yes” pile and a “No” pile and the net narrows.
One of my favourite parts of the game is that you have three guesses to get it right, but you’re punished a little for getting it wrong.
Guess incorrectly and you have to turn either your Yes or No pile face down. Get it wrong again and the other pile must be flipped. Fail a third time and you’re out.
Our kids love the silly animals and their ludicrous disguises, but the game also has real educational punch. It teaches conditional logic in a brilliant way.
* the rulebook suggests keeping it in your hand facing away from you, but this can be tricky for small kids even with a card holder. If they drop the card and accidentally see it, the game is ruined.
We’ve found the best way to do it is to place the two halves of the game box inside each other in the centre of the table and insert the edge of hidden cards into the gap between them.
Buy a copy:
🇺🇸 GameNerdz (North America)
🇬🇧 Zatu (UK, affiliate link)
💎 BGG rated 6.9/10 w. just 70 ratings 💎
💡 Designer: Luc Rémond
🖨️ Publisher: LOKI
📅 Released: 2022
🧑🏻🤝🧑🏿 Players: 2-5
🎂 Age: 7+ (again I’d say younger)
⚖️ Weight: 1.00/5
⏱️ Time: 10 minutes
Farm & Furious is a great family filler. It comes in a tiny box, with lightning fast setup time and minimal table presence, meaning you could easily take it to a restaurant or other outing and play a quick game.
At its heart it’s a race game, but to give yourself the best chance of winning you have to lean heavily on logic, deduction and reasoning.
Every player has the same set of cards - animals that will help their farmyard team move closer to the finish line. But those animals are highly conditional.
For example, the rabbit allows you to move a whopping four spaces, but only if it’s the only rabbit played that turn. Dogs cancel out rabbits (as well as chickens) and move one space for each animal they scared away. Chicks move one space for every other chick played that turn.
All played cards remain face up in front of their owners, meaning you know exactly what everyone has left in their hand. It’s so rewarding to watch the kids joining the dots and working out when it’s safe and/or advantageous to play certain cards.
The artwork and components are also super-endearing. We love this game and it definitely deserves a bit more love than it’s getting at the moment!
Buy a copy:
🇬🇧 Zatu (UK, affiliate link)
🇫🇷 Philibert (Europe, affiliate link)
Help others find our reviews of under-the-radar games
Found a gem here? Help us unearth the next one.
Even a small Ko-fi donation helps us buy, play and review under-the-radar games worth your time.
We're always on the lookout for off-the-beaten-track board and card games that aren't getting the attention they deserve.
To be considered for Hidden Gem Board Games, titles must meet two simple criteria:
⭐ An average rating of 7.0 or higher on BoardGameGeek
👥 Fewer than 1,000 total ratings
Know a great game that’s flown under the radar?
Or maybe you're a designer or publisher interested in sending a review copy in exchange for an honest write-up? (We're based in the UK.)
We’d love to hear from you:
📧 hiddengemboardgames@gmail.com
Note: We only cover board and card games — no RPGs, miniatures, or TTRPGs.
Please make sure to read our review policy before reaching out.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.