Chronicle Books Donner Dinner Party: A Rowdy Game of Frontier Cannibalism! (Weird Games for Parties, Wild West Frontier Game)

I got this after playing it with some people during the summer. It was a hit with my friends at home and didn't get boring despite playing multiple times. Would definitely buy.

This game is some of the most fun I’ve ever had with a board/card game despite the weird looks you’ll get when you first suggest it. Takes a second to understand how each round works but you’ll be attempting to survive the journey west in no time.

Initial game setup was a bit confusing, but once you get used to the "camp leader" idea, that person is in charge of making sure the character cards each have a token around the camp fire so that other players don't identify themselves by grabbing the token that matches their card. I read another comment about targeting the players with red backgrounds on their tokens: don't worry about this because first of all, not all the characters with red backgrounds on their tokens are cannibals, and secondly, if you know whose character is whose token before the game starts you've done something wrong.We played a few games (6 players) and tried a couple variations; once where the cannibals did not identify themselves to one another, which was actually a LOT more interesting because cannibals were absolutely dominating everything when they worked together.We also tried a version where instead of shuffling all the hunting cards together after each round, we set aside the "dinner" cards from each round and considered them "in the toilet". This meant that each round had dwindling resources, making the game play quick because most rounds ended in a vote. Cannibals were motivated to contribute food in the beginning to get it out of play, and after running out of food players could pretty much only play poison or empty hands so you had no idea who to trust based on the cards they played.Everything felt sturdy and high quality. Lots of fun accusing your friends of eating human flesh and poisoning your food. 10/10 will play again. and again. and again...

Lots of fun and easy to learn, even for those who are new to social deduction games

This is another of those games similar to "Werewolf" or "Mafia".Basic gameplay:The pioneers want to eat the secret cannibals, and the cannibals want to eat the pioneers. If the pioneers last until rescue, they win; if enough pioneers die to equal the number of cannibals before that, they win.Each round, players go foraging for food by receiving 3 cards of the possible things they've found (such as 'nothing,' fish, poisonous berries, etc). They choose one to add, face down, to the communal pot for dinner, and discard the others. A camp leader (who changes each round) is permitted to check one person's card before shuffling them all and revealing what's for dinner. If there are sufficient food cards to feed the number of players, the round ends and everyone is safe. You must last 6 rounds before rescue. If there aren't enough food cards, you must vote on which person to eat. This is decided by arguing, loudly, and protesting your innocence, also loudly. Someone is eaten, and the next round starts.Pros:A great gag or white elephant gift. It's also fun to say you're having a "Donner Dinner Party" and invite your friends for food and to play this. The quality of the cards and game materials is high. The game is quick and easy to learn and play. It's fun and pretty casual. There are some 'advanced play' options you can add to increase re-playability.Cons:Gameplay is unbalanced. An entire game with 6 players took about 10 minutes, because most rounds, sufficient food was found. Players are also allowed to talk, meaning if they say their face-down foraging card is a fish, it's fairly easy to know if they were lying if there are no fish in the pot after the shuffled cards are revealed. There's not a lot of strategy, since they only action you take is contributing food, which you can't lie about for the previous reasons. There is little to nothing to use as "evidence" for deciding who is a cannibal or not. Because of this, it usually devolves into who is able to protest their innocence the loudest and longest as married couples get mad at each other for accusing the other of lying.Verdict:A fun novelty for an evening, but it won't be part of your regular rotation of favorites.

Donner Dinner Party is similar in style to well-known games like Mafia, Werewolf, and Bang! You are given secret roles at the start: most of the party are pioneers and some of them are cannibals. The goal is to survive 7 nights by hunting for enough food to appease the party. If not enough food is found, or if someone poisons all the food, your party will have to vote to eat someone for that night. The pioneers will need to eliminate all of the cannibals in the vote, or continue to hunt for enough food in the next round to prevent all the pioneers from being eaten.We like playing Donner Dinner Party more than Mafia now because it allows the entire group to continue playing, even after they are voted off. That is one gripe I have always had with games life Mafia, Werewolf, and Bang!: if you die you have to sit out, and that's no fun. With Donner Dinner Party, you can continue playing the game as a ghost which can lead to some really fun times. We highly recommend trying the game out.

Everyone absolutely LOVES playing this game. From the 70 year old grandparents to the 11 year old grandkids. When we have a game night, it's the first game everyone calls out as their choice to play. Belly busting laughs and suspicious glances are always part of the fun. We're all SO glad we bought this game!