Mind the Rugs and Enjoy a Milky Beverage: Be the Best Dude

How do you say "Dude"? Is it like "dooode" or more like "dewd"? Maybe it just depends on the context. This new icebreaker party game series from North Star Games explores the many bodacious ways to express this word.

Gameplay

Dude is a 3-6 player party game that is as simple as saying “Dude.” Each player will have a handful of cards, each presenting a different manner in which to say the titular word. Players will begin by saying “Dude” as they believe their card would have them pronounce it. If they believe they match the same tone and style as another player, both players will say “Sweet.” If their cards match, they place them in front of them face-up to score at the end of the game, and if there is not a match, they will place it face down and continue to the next card. Play ends when the first player to run out of cards says “Chill.” Then scoring occurs. The player with the most face-up cards is the winner.

More Dude works similarly but puts a different spin on the game’s verbal tricks. Rather than just leave the pronunciation of “Dude” up to a particular spelling or punctuation, More Dude presents icons of a robot, pirate, surfer, ghost, and cowboy.

Review

Much like its predecessor, Happy Salmon, Dude and More Dude are quick, energetic icebreakers for game nights. As expected, the more participants you have gathered around the table to play, the more fun the experience. And just as Happy Salmon gleefully explored how humans can communicate with body language and physical contact, Dude and More Dude playfully mine verbal communication and preconceptions in a simple, yet fun manner.

This is why Dude is a standout, even against Happy Salmon. It’s a little less frantic, but a lot more nuanced. It’s likely you’ll discover friends who say “doooode” and “dewd” too similarly, causing a lot of happy headaches and miscommunications as you try to chase victory. But that’s just it, the victory in Dude and More Dude is camaraderie, not having the most face-up cards by the end.

More Dude is not as potent, considering people’s perceptions of how a surfer says “dude” versus a ghost is not up for much interpretation. And though it is the funnier of the two games at first, its charm wears thin quickly. Where Dude withstands the longevity test (at least by party game standards), is that it will always provide a fresh take on linguistics and dialect differences so long as the group playing it has a few new participants each time.

Pros: Great icebreaker game, Fun take on human communication

Cons: More Dude is too constrictive in its prompts