Floodgate Games Decorum (Deluxe Edition)

Weve played this several times with different groups: as a couple, with our children ages 8-11, and with another couple. It is fun since it is unique and different from other games we have played. But it is not exciting, funny, and a little anti-climactic when done. I love coop games, and we have enjoyed this one but havent been itching to play it again. The deluxe version comes with acrylic pieces instead of cardboard ones. However, it took us a very long time to peel the plastic films off the acrylic pieces. Also, all the green parts were missing from the deluxe set, so we had to use the included original cardboard ones, which was disappointing. Weve decided that we like this best as a two-player game. With more players, it just adds too many variables, and you are just guessing what will work for everyone. With two players, you can try and figure out what the other persons needs are. The scenarios get harder since each person will have more requirements to fulfill, but they do not add any depth, new ideas/rules, or complexity. They make the game longer. The artwork is not my favorite, and some rules about the house meetings were a little unclear. I love that the game moves quickly and you arent sitting around forever waiting for others to take their turn. You can also play this with younger children teamed up with an adult, and it is fun for them to help try and figure out other peoples desires. It is a fun game to add to your collection but not a must-have.

I was sent the game in a damaged box. Company didn’t send the game in a any sort of box, just wrapped in a thin layer of plastic wrap. Game is fine, but not happy with how it was shipped and delivered.

The game was used.

This review has no reflection on the game play itself. Unfortunately, the game received had already been used or opened. It was missing the card dividers & the envelopes were roughed up. I noticed another review with the same issue, wonder if we got the same box! Can’t wait to get a new one to play the game!

My partner and I play a lot of two-player games. Some games state that theyre for two or more players, but really, you need more than two for them to be fun. Decorum isnt like that. Weve been able to constantly play and replay this game, just the two of us, and its fun each and every time. Were stoked to have this game, and excited to play it for months, if not years, to come.

My extremely competitive family didnt think theyd enjoy a cooperative game, but it quickly became our favorite of the year. Its extremely easy to learn, but theres a unique and fun layer of strategy to it.

If youve ever lived with anyone in your life youve likely faced a confrontation at some point where your aesthetic tastes are under fire and before you know it your prized singing bass wall hanging is on its way to the trash bin. Beauty is after all in the eye of the beholder and if youve ever tried decorating a home with your significant other, let your kids pick out paint colors for their rooms as they got older, or just shared an apartment with friends you know sometimes finding a harmonious blend of everyones styles that everyone can tolerate is hard. Décorum allows us to tackle the hidden frustration of a velvet painting of dogs playing poker being considered retro art and an antique lamp with a hideous tasseled lampshade being a cherished family heirloom that just cannot be parted with. The perfect blend of everyones style and preferences does exist but it is a puzzle that can only be solved by passive aggression and limited communication by players. Décorum is playable at 2-4 players but does set up slightly different scenarios and play styles according to player count. Out of the box two players will go through a set of twenty numbered story games that start slowly and build in both difficulty and intensity as you play. With 3-4 players the layout of the house changes ever so slightly and there minor rule changes to the separate game packets included for those player counts. So far weve played exclusively at two players and are into the last five of our twenty contained scenarios to play through. An initial question of replayability comes up with this game and I could say that even with the best of memories you could replay the original twenty scenarios just by switching character cards. Floodgate is working on an App though in the future that will later randomly generate plenty of randomly setup scenarios and combinations to continue playing well beyond what is included in the box. The game itself is one of limited communication and a simple set of actions. In decorating the perfect home each member of the home has conditions for what must or must not be present in the home for them to be fulfilled, other players have similar wants and dislikes, the combined conditions may overlap slightly or be in direct opposition at times, but within the opposition there is still room to negotiate. All of the homes different items, lamps, curios, and wall hangings exist in four different categories; antique, modern, retro, and unusual, so while Susan may want an antique wall hanging in the bedroom, Jill might find a compromise because they only needed the wall hanging to be a specific color. Décorum is a puzzle, in the end all the pieces fit together and form a solution, each player must work backwards from what they require fulfill their conditions and each turn you will make one change somewhere in the home. You will either add and object remove and object swap an object or paint a room and by combing this simple set of limited combinations each player makes a slight change each round, once a certain number of rounds has passed, 15, 20, or 25 with two players or every 5 rounds with 3-4 players the house occupants break their usual silent participation in the game and are allowed to read aloud one of the set conditions that is required for their card. If the person Im playing with has been adding green items to the home for several rounds and Ive been removing them each time remarking that I dislike or hate that move, then I might choose to share my condition that the home have zero green objects in it. In reaction that player may wish to tell me that they require at least two green objects or wall colors to be met on their card. Right there we collectively have solved that part of the puzzle set before us; we know have shared some hidden information and know that green walls are okay, green objects are not. Deciding what to share with the other player(s) on these meeting times is vital to finding a solution. What Im most loving about this is the silent playing; you make simple moves and then get either a positive, negative, or neutral reaction from that player. Examples are I like that I hate that or I dont mind that, as you play more and more and especially with the same player those affirmations sometimes devolve into simpler grunts of annoyance or whoops of joy when things go a certain way. I find this limited communication both funny and frustrating, you arent given much to go on but thinking out of the box and playing with all the options available can turn up interesting results. The rulebook is really good and has a great quick start setup page that lets you jump easily into your first games with only a minute or two of reading. Lastly, I found the flavor text on the character cards to be quite interesting, there are some ongoing story elements that you can follow along with and it chains together a loose narrative as you go along with some branching stories and couplings. I know some may skip over flavor text as unnecessary to read but in this case please dont pass it up, there are occasionally very subtle hints hidden in the text that can help with games. They are not huge hints but gentle nods to incorporate some immersion between story and gameplay that I enjoy. Whats not great are just a few smaller things, unlike most Floodgate games Im not really drawn into this one at all as a cohesive colorful world that I want to explore. The art and colors are simple and static, there isnt much to draw the eye in and keep you visually entertained which I miss while playing, you are pretty focused on the tasks at hand though so a simple and clean board with limited distractions is probably to your advantage but I found it lacking nonetheless. Beyond that, the complexity level isnt particularly challenging, after getting the hang of the flow we found the conditions easy to achieve with so few possibilities and repeated plays with the same person really clues you into which condition(s) you should reveal during heart to heart sessions. Our games fall well below the suggested playing time and have seemed a bit too easy to achieve, perhaps some of the future app generated ones can increase the difficulty or hopefully as we dive into the 3-4 player modes well find more challenge there. Weve had a good time with this one, Décorum set up a campaign type of feel with its numbered scenarios to complete so instead of just playing a few games of it and adding it back to the shelf we kept it nearby on the table and brought it our often to progress through the remaining scenarios pretty regularly, and we are still excited to finish up the last ones, even the simplicity and initial dislike for that is easily brushed away when we found we could play several games in a row and get an enjoyable game night out of them. For now were excited to finish up, explore other player counts, and see what the app has to offer. Décorum has been a puzzle weve enjoyed solving together, and being able to say fiercely and determinedly that I really hate that you just did that on your turn is a pleasing part of the game that just feels good.

In Decorum, everyone gets a card telling them what items of home decor they need in order to make them happy. Maybe you need at least two blue lamps but no red rooms. Maybe someone else needs no green room and no antiques. Youll take turns adding or subtracting things from each of four rooms until everyone can live with the result. If it takes too long, youll have house meetings in which you tell the other house members one of your conditions. Its a puzzle in which players work together to figure out a solution -- and there is always at least one. The game is set up with different puzzles depending on how many players there are and the scenarios start out easy and then increase in difficulty. The only reason it gets 4 stars instead of 5 is that its not a particularly visually appealing game, though its basic color scheme and stripped down look does make it easy to keep track of what is going on in each room. Still I cant help wishing there had been at least something textural to break things up or maybe a more interesting color scheme than the unrealistic (for home decor) green blue red yellow.

My family has loved playing games for generations. Its part of our beloved family legacy to enjoy games from lawn games to cards to board games. Best of all: We love to find fresh ideas in the game world. And we value games that you can learn fairly easily, so were not spending the whole evening just learning a game, and that can be played in somewhere around 30 to 60 minutes. Finally, we love games with attractive materials for players to use. So, right away, Decorum wins a 5-star rating for satisfying all of those conditions. Weve also got a number of helpful tips, if youre considering this game: First and foremost, this is a bit of a role playing game in which youll have the most fun if everyone is following the rules as well as talking in an animated manner throughout the game. Thats a challenge with Decorum, because the whole game depends on not revealing certain individual information. However, while still following that rule, the game is better if people enjoy showing reactions and chatting a bit, or in other words playing a role. If your friends and family prefer stony-silent competitions or you dont think folks can walk the line of having fun with their roles while not revealing their secrets, then maybe shop further. If this description really intrigues you, then youll love Decorum. Learning the rules is fairly easy for folks who enjoy games. Its not a 1-minute learning curve like some games, but you can pick up the rules fairly quickly. Also, if you search around the internet youll find that this company actually has sponsored play through videos that can teach everyone the game just by watching a video. Then, we were confused by the fact that this game is sold, at two different prices, in a Retail and Deluxe version. We wish the company explained that difference more clearly. We only got the Deluxe version but, having now dug around a little bit to learn more, we think the big difference is that the colorful decorating icons are much nicer, made of acrylic, in the Deluxe version. So, our advice is: Ante up the slightly higher cost and get the nice icons. Another tip: We disagree with the instruction on this product that this is designed for 2 to 4 players. That might make you think that a family of six wouldnt want this game, lets say. Or, you might think that you couldnt pull out this game after a larger family gathering with more than 4 people. We can tell you as game veterans that there are very easy ways around those limitations. We actually like to form teams. For example, maybe Grandma doesnt want to play alone. So Grandma plays with a younger player. Maybe Uncle doesnt care to play alone, but he thinks it would be fun to form a team with his niece. There are lots of ways to play this game beyond simply 2, 3 or 4 players. Theres a lot more we could say, but if youve read this far and you like what youre reading, then buy the game and explore it yourself.

this is a greatly fun game to play with two people up to four people. it tests your cooperative, negotiation, communication, comprehension, and other general people skills. I highly recommend this game for teens or pre-teen children, just to teach them those important interpeople skills early on in life. Had a blast playing this with my adult friends and kids alike!