Taking the RUT Out of 9/11 TRUTH - A Fun Way to Hone One's Truthing Skills

Last night I played a game with friends and family at our weekly game night. The name of the game is Saboteur, and I was amazed at how well it mirrored the dynamics of the truth movement. Here is the description:

Players take on the role of dwarves. As miners, they are in a mine, hunting for gold. Suddenly, a pick axe swings down and shatters the mine lamp. The saboteur has struck. But which of the players are saboteurs? Will you find the gold, or will the fiendish actions of the saboteurs lead them to it first? After three rounds, the player with the most gold is the winner.

With the help of Dwarf Cards, the players are assigned their role: either miner or saboteur. The roles are kept secret- they are only revealed at the end of the game.

The Start Card and the three Goal Cards are placed onto the table, each seven card widths apart from each other. The Goal Cards are placed face-down. The gold is on one of the Goal Cards, but nobody knows which.

Players have cards in hand. On a player's turn, he must do one of three things: place a Path Card into the mine, play an Action Card in front of a player, or pass.

The Path Cards form paths leading to the Goal Cards. Path Cards must be played next to a already-played Path Card. All paths on the Path Card must match those on the already-played cards, and Path Cards may not be played sideways.

The miners are trying to build an uninterrupted path from the Start Card to a Goal Card, while the saboteurs are trying to prevent this. They shouldn't try and be too obvious about it, however, lest they be immediately discovered.

Action Cards can be placed in front of any player, including oneself. Action Cards let the players help or hinder one another, as well as obtain information about the Goal Cards.

Once a player places a Path Card that reaches the gold, the round is over. The miners have won and receive cards with gold pieces as their reward.

The round is also over if the gold could not be reached. In that case, the saboteurs have won and receive the gold pieces.

Once the Gold Cards have been distributed, the next round begins. The game is over at the end of the third round, with the player with the most gold pieces being the winner.

Original description of the game came from Adam Spielt.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/9220

Each of the three rounds we played devolved quickly into accusations and counteraccusations of sabotage, with players at a loss (or not, depending on the situation and the point in the game) to decide who was honestly trying to help the other find the gold, and who was trying to prevent this from happening. It was the first time in hundreds of gamenight sessions spanning several years that I was able to use Nietzsche's "Most perfidious way to harm a cause is to defend it deliberately with faulty arguments" quote, and everyone at once grasped what it meant. This game is a great way to surreptitiously get people thinking about lying, and with strategic commentary from yourself, you can even steer the discussion from dwarves and gold mining to the "movement-undermining" Jon Gold!

Two enthusiastic thumbs up!