“Tell me what you see, I’ll tell you who scores points!” »

Dixit , by designer Jean-Louis Roubira, has been part of the gaming landscape for a good fifteen years (2008). It is one of the best known, most accessible and most recommended atmosphere (or party ) games. Its inexhaustible success has encouraged the publisher Libellud to add, over the years, around ten extensions which increase its replayability (which, let's say, was already considerable from the base box).

In Dixit , players hold six cards with magnificent illustrations, full of small details and possibilities for interpretation. The active player, nicknamed "the Storyteller", secretly chooses one of his cards and communicates to the other players a sentence inspired by it . The other players then choose from their own cards the one which, in their opinion, best corresponds to the sentence which was communicated. The Storyteller collects the chosen cards and shuffles his own. These cards are then revealed in the center of the table, and a vote is taken.

The players' objective is to try to identify THE Storyteller's card, the one that inspired the mystery sentence. If all players identify the correct card (because the sentence was far too obvious or descriptive), then everyone scores two points EXCEPT the Storyteller (this is the punishment for giving too easy clues)! Same thing if no one finds the right card: it was too difficult, and everyone scores points, except the Storyteller. Finally, if only some of the players identify the correct card, then the Storyteller and the players who provided the correct answer score three points. In addition, all players (except the Storyteller) whose card has received at least one vote (you cannot vote for your own card!) score one point per vote collected. The used cards are discarded, all players draw a new card to complete their hand, and a new round begins with a new Storyteller. The first player to reach the thirty point mark wins the game!

Of course, the difficulty with Dixit lies in the right mix of clues given by the Storyteller: they must be just clear enough to allow a few people to identify the correct card, but also vague enough to mislead others. And it’s really not always easy: you have to be creative! Players (especially younger ones) who have difficulty with inferences and associations of ideas will often have difficulty finding a good sentence when they are Storytellers (but isn't a picture worth a thousand pains? ?) However, the superb illustrations of the cards make our task easier by giving us plenty of possibilities.

And Stella , in all this?

Rejoice, you who read this blog attentively: you have just had, as a bonus, an express test bench on Dixit (okay, fifteen years late, but still)! You can also get it here: https://www.asdesjeux.com/en/products/stella-dixit-universe-multi

However, it is not about this cult game that I wanted to talk to you about today, but about its little sister, Stella .

Published in 2021, Stella is not an extension of Dixit , but a game in its own right which is part of the imaginative and dreamlike universe of its big brother. By changing the way of playing with the cards, the designers Gérald Cattiaux and Jean-Louis Roubira perhaps wanted to make the game more accessible, especially to those who have a less fertile imagination! So, if you liked the premise of Dixit but didn't like your gaming experience (for example, because your sister-in-law thought for a good twenty minutes and finally asked out loud: "I did you the right to say that there is a big green frog face on my card?"), then Stella is for you. And if you liked Dixit , and you played it a lot, Stella is also for you, it will change your routine. And if you've never played Dixit and this is the first time you've heard about it, Stella is for you! It's not complicated, eh: Stella , it's really for everyone!

How it works ?

A game of Stella takes place over four rounds. In the center of the table is a grid made up of three rows of five Dixit cards (always beautifully illustrated). Each player receives an erasable marker and a small board representing the card grid. Here we go !

Unlike Dixit where you have to invent a phrase or a mystery word, in Stella , you pick a keyword at random and reveal it to all the players. Then, each player must secretly mark with an X on their personal board all the illustrations for which they can establish a link with the revealed word. When everyone has finished, each player declares, using a token of their color, how many associations they have managed to make based on the keyword. If a player announces more associations than the others, he is considered “in the dark”: he risks losing points during this round!

We then move on to the countdown for the round. The first player (nicknamed “the Pathfinder”) announces, by pointing to it, a card that he has identified in his table as having a link with the keyword. Several scenarios can arise:

• If several other players have made the same association as him, then they all blacken two stars (points) on their personal table for this card;
• If only one other player has made the same association, then the scout and the player in question score an additional point and blacken the three stars on their board;
• If no other player has chosen the same image, the scout falls! Ouch! Not only does he not score any points for this picture, but he cannot earn any more points for this round (even though his associations can still help other players score). He nevertheless retains all the points accumulated during the round before his fall.
• Finally, if a player falls (no other player has chosen the same image) AND he was also "in the dark" (he had announced more associations than the others), then not only can he not no longer earn points for this round, but he also loses a star for each of the associations which earned him points during this round. It hurts !

When the first player has announced and resolved a card, it is the next player's turn to point to a new card. We continue like this until all the players have fallen, or there are no more associations left to announce. We then add up the stars for the round and enter the total on the scoreboard. Depending on the round, we replace one of the three rows of cards with new ones, to allow new associations, and we draw a new keyword for the next round. The player with the most points after four rounds wins the game!

So… what do we think?

Stella creates, just like Dixit , an interesting strategic tension in the choice of associations. Sometimes we see lots of possibilities that could earn us a lot of points... but the more associations we announce, the more risk we have of falling and ending up with our mouths in the water! We therefore have to ask ourselves to what extent the players around the table will be able to make the same associations as us.

Where Dixit struggled a bit (with some less creative players), Stella is doing much better. As we no longer need to invent a phrase and everyone plays with the same keyword and the same cards, we waste much less time thinking and the rounds proceed more quickly and fluidly.

On the material side, we stay warm in the old slippers from the Dixit universe , with its very original and colorful illustrations. Aesthetically, it is very successful: we immerse ourselves perfectly in the world of dreams and imagination that the game offers. Really, everything is pleasing to the eye, right down to the tokens allowing us to announce our quantity of associations ! The erasable boards are of good quality and are easy to clean. However, as with all other games with dry erase markers, you will need to plan to replace them in the medium term, especially if you play often.

Libellud offers us a well-designed box, where the equipment can be stored easily and neatly. Only criticism: the box could have been twice as small (did we really need an individual space for each token!?) even if, obviously, the idea was to offer a box of the same format as that of Dixit (also much too big!) so that it looks better once on your shelves!

Interesting fact to note: as the game is part of the same playful universe, all of Stella 's illustrated cards can be used to play Dixit , and vice versa. If you already own Dixit (and its extensions), then you will have in hand a game with infinite replayability. Literally.

Today's mathematical capsule: in the basic box, there are 84 illustrated Dixit cards . Since we play with only 15 cards at a time, this already gives around 14.8 million different card grid possibilities at the start of each game. However, we must not forget that we change a row of cards at the end of each round... which “only” adds around 20 million additional possibilities for different games.

If that's not enough for your taste, keep in mind that there are also 96 cards each containing two different keywords (so 192 keywords in total) and that each of the 14.8 million billion grids of probable cards can therefore be associated with 192 potential keywords... well, that gives far too considerable results for it to be worth the effort of transcribing them for you here. So, think about it: if you have Dixit and/or some of its expansions, each time, you add 84 more illustrated cards... Yes yes, take a break here, I'll give you time to get your little pieces of brains scattered around you after this calculation of probabilities... Replayability, you say?

As for the rules, as for Dixit , they are few in number and very easily assimilated by players of all ages and all levels.

In short, Stella is a well-thought-out and well-designed party game, which does not just ride on the well-established success of Dixit, but rather reinvents its operation and opens up its possibilities, while retaining its strong points. It’s a “safe bet” that will delight a wide range of players and will be a great addition to an evening with friends or a holiday party!

WE love…

-The simplicity of the rules and design;

-The fluidity of the sleeves and the games;

-The incredible aesthetic of the Dixit universe ;

-Infinite replayability;

We like less…

-The unnecessarily large size of the box (we could add the Dixit expansion cards, but that would require sacrificing the plastic storage system, which is a shame);

-3-player games (we fall more often and therefore have to take fewer risks, which is a little less pleasant. I recommend playing with 4 to 6 players);

Stella: Dixit Universe

3-6 players

8 years and over

30 minutes per game

-Mat

(Thanks to my friend and maths teacher Martin Labrecque who kindly helped me with the calculation of probabilities!)

To get Stella - Dixit Universe, click here: https://www.asdesjeux.com/products/stella-dixit-universe-multi

To get Dixit, click here: https://www.asdesjeux.com/products/dixit