Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking? A Review of Telepaths

Are you and your teammate on the same wavelength? Telepaths is here to find out!

Gameplay

At the start of the game, everyone pairs off into teams of two players. On your team’s turn, you roll the die to determine whether you will be working with a picture or a word. You then draw a card and use either the picture side or the word side.

The timer is then started and players must secretly write down words which they associate with the card. The space your team occupies on the board has a number on it. That number is how many words you can write down. After the timer runs out, players compare what they’ve written and move forward one space for each answer that matches.

If a team lands on an ‘All Play’ space, all teams participate. As with a regular turn, team members compare results and move forward the number of spaces equal to the matching words.

The goal of the game is to reach the final space on the board to win. You must land on this space by an exact count. So if your team is two spaces away from it, but comes up with three matching responses, you cannot move forward.

Review

The basic gameplay of Telepaths is fun. It’s enjoyable to try to guess what your partner is likely to write down and slowly get better at predicting each other’s choices as the game progresses and you have several rounds under your belt.

There is a nice variety in both the pictures and words on the cards. This gives the game a lot of replay value, as does the fact that you have to change the way you think based on what teammate you have.

On the downside, the game can last a shade too long — the requirement to reach the final space by an exact count can become quite frustrating.

For an odd number of players, the rules stipulate that a team of three must be formed in which players take turns sitting out. This format is not ideal — it’s a shame there’s just not a better way to play the game with an odd number of people. But despite that, Telepaths is a solid and fun party game. With the right number of people both teammates are active and involved and take equal part in the game without any risk of one overshadowing the other. The 'All Play' spaces add a nice touch and lessen the downtime, and even when it's not your turn, it's fun to see what words the other teams come up with.

Telepaths is easy to learn and easy to play. If you're looking for a new party game that's a little different, you should definitely check it out.

Pros: Enjoyable gameplay, nice balanced team play

Cons: Playing with an odd number of players is clunky, can run a shade too long

Disclosure: we received a complimentary review copy of this game.