New Game Release – Devious
Smirk & Dagger Games has released Devious, a strategic anti-set collection card game, into retail.
Devious is a strategic anti-set collection card game where restraint, timing, and cunning manipulation are the keys to victory. Across five rounds, players compete to build the strongest faerie alliance and claim the crown.
The goal sounds simple: hold exactly one faerie from each tribe in your tableau, and ensure each is the highest Rank possible. But in Devious, more is not always better. A second faerie from the same tribe reduces your score to zero, and collecting too many can even plunge you into negative points.
Before each game begins, players choose six faerie tribes from the 13 unique suits included in the box. Each tribe features its own special power, ensuring no two games feel the same. Mixing and matching tribes creates fresh strategic puzzles and dynamic interactions every time you play. The drafting system adds a delicious layer of tension. Each round, players receive three cards—but they belong to an opponent. You secretly arrange them in a stack, deciding the order your opponent will encounter them before passing the pile along.
When it returns to you, you must choose whether to keep the top card for your tableau or discard it in hopes of something better below. If you reject the first two cards, you must play the third. Did your opponent hide a powerful faerie on top, or bury a trap at the bottom? Once chosen, faeries resolve in Rank order, activating abilities that can manipulate alliances across the table. Some powers affect scoring, while others disrupt opponents or alter cards in play.
After five rounds, players score based on how carefully they balanced their tribes. With shifting tribe combinations and interactive powers, Devious delivers high replay value, sharp decision-making, and delightfully chaotic strategy in every session.
Devious is for two to six players, ages ten and up, and plays in around thirty minutes. It retails for $24.99!
Smirk & Dagger Games also previously released boop. Shuffle. (see “boop. Shuffle card game“).
