The Chameleon
Review

The Chameleon (2017) is a communication game where you must decide who is lying and who isn’t. You play by making word associations, cross-examining the words given, and trying to weed out the liar. It is a social deduction game where saying too much is as bad as saying too little.

You play as one of two roles. The Hunters know a secret word and must share an associated word with the group. The Chameleon must pretend that they also know the secret word and act like everyone else to avoid detection. What's interesting is that the Chameleon gets two chances at victory. They can win by not being found out or by guessing the secret word at the end of the game. This forces the Hunters to walk the line between being vague enough to avoid accidentally helping the Chameleon and being specific enough to trip them up as the liar.

The heart of this game is discussion and cross-examination. You ask questions, probe people’s associations, and try to decide who the Chameleon is. Once you think you know, then you vote. If the Chameleon stays hidden, they win. Even if they are detected, they still get the chance to snatch victory away from the others by using what they know to guess the secret word.

The result is a game of bluff, deduction, and careful use of words. If you say too much you may give away your identity, but if you defend too vigorously then you risk the whole group losing.

Our examiner, Rob Prior, first checked The Chameleon 15 months ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 5 months ago.