SNAP Review – Similo: Are You Clued In?

In Similo, one player gives clues to a character hidden in the grid of cards, while the other players work together to eliminate character cards to get to the right answer. Similo: Fables and Similo: History are cooperative card games, suitable for a wide range of ages and player counts.

How to Play

Lay out a grid of twelve cards. The clue-giver secretly picks one. Then, they start giving clues.

The clue-giver has five cards in their hand. They pick one and lay it on the table: oriented the same as the other cards (ie. vertically) if it has something SIMILAR to the secret character, or turned 90 degrees (ie. horizontally) if it has something DIFFERENT from the selected character.

In the first round, the guessers discuss their options, then choose a single card to remove from the grid. Then the clue-giver draws a new card and gives a second clue, and the guessers eliminate TWO cards.

The guessers eliminate three cards in the third round, and four with the fourth clue. If the players have gotten this far, there are only two face-up cards remaining. One of these is the secret character! The clue-giver gives a fifth clue, and the guessers do their best to make the correct choice, eliminating the last incorrect card.

Impressions

We find Similo incredibly easy to explain, and quick to play (about ten minutes). Its compact size was immediately endearing – we love games that can fit into a purse or a pocket.

Similo feels like a mix between Codenames and Twenty Questions (AKA “The Yes-No Game”), but simpler, and fully cooperative. Similo has the simplicity of a party game, including the ability for players to drop in or drop out, but plays just as well at 2 players (one clue giver, one guesser). Since the guessers operate as a committee, it can get a little unwieldy at high player counts, however.

The clue-giver shouldn’t be talking! The card they play is all the information they can communicate. However, the rest of the team can freely talk among themselves, and this may help the clue-giver to tailor their clues.

We’ve found the Fables deck works best for our kids; they’re familiar with most of the characters. The History deck is quite a bit harder; and if you want a real challenge, you can combine the two decks together.

No matter which game you’re using, every card has identifying information in small print on the right side. These can be helpful in giving (or interpreting) clues, but also function in an educational way – you’ll be learning some basic information as you play. The History deck encouraged us to learn more about some of the historical figures it contained.

The Similo games are published by Horrible Guild, and distributed in the U.S. by Luma Imports. You can find Similo: Fables and Similo: History on Amazon for just $10 each. You can’t beat it for interesting art and a game you can play anywhere with pretty much any group.

We can’t find much to criticize about these beautiful and simple games. We rate the Similo games 5 clues out of 5.

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The Family Gamers received copies of Similo: Fables and Similo: History from Luma Imports for this review.

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SNAP review music is Avalanche, provided courtesy of You Bred Raptors?