Year: 2024 | Players: 2-5 | Min: 5+ | Ages: 8+
This Expressions review was made after playing the game over 10 times. The publisher sent us a copy of this game in exchange for an honest review.
What is Expressions?
Expressions is a cooperative deduction card game in which you give clues about your hand by rotating cards to different expressions.
Expressions was designed by Isaac Meyer and is published by Barn Made Games.
Rules Overview
In Expressions, you and your team work together to earn Harmony points while trying to avoid Agony. You do this by giving clues and guessing the cards in each other’s hands—without directly talking about the cards in your hands.
The game has a set number of rounds determined by the Timer Stack, with each round ending when a card is revealed and added to the Agony pile. The goal is to have more cards in Harmony than Agony when the game ends.
You have two options on your turn:
Play a Card
When you play a card, you place it so the expression facing the center of the table gives a clue about the cards in your hand. This is called a “Suggestion,” which can tell your team that the card is the highest, lowest, or last number of its color, or that there are more cards with that number in your hand. Once a Suggestion no longer applies to your hand, you move the card to Agony.
Guess a Card
Alternatively, you can guess the exact card (color and number) in any other player’s hand. If your guess is correct, the card is added to Harmony, and you can also place one of your own cards in Harmony. If you’re wrong, whoever has the guessed card places it in Agony, and you must also add a card from your hand to Agony.
The game ends once all cards in the Timer Stack are revealed. Any remaining cards in players’ hands are added to Agony. You win if Harmony has more cards than Agony.
In a two-player game and in Hard Mode, two cards are revealed from the Timer Stack each round instead of one. The other big difference in the two-player game is the cards remaining in your hand at the end of the game are added to Harmoney instead of Agony.
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Pros and Cons
Pros
- There are some similar limited communication games out there, but the deduction in Expressions feels unique. Figuring out what others have in their hands based on the current Suggestions, the cards in Harmony and Agony, and your own cards creates a fun puzzle to solve.
- A cool part of this game is how you gain more information after making a guess, even if you’re wrong. Since you get to discard a card after guessing, you can strategically help yourself and your teammates by discarding a card that reveals more about what’s left in everyone’s hands. Once you learn to use that to your advantage, the game gets that much more fun to play.
- Similar to The Mind and The Game, Expressions can give you that great “in-sync” feeling when you’re able to read your teammates and make correct guesses. I think that’s one of the most satisfying feelings in tabletop gaming.
- I like how the cards are designed. The numbers are nice and big, and they fit those four icons on them without making the cards look too busy.
- I have to give the publisher credit for including a tuck box inside the main box. It might seem like a small thing, but being able to put the game in your pocket and go is a nice convenience. Plenty of other small-box card games are just a bit too big to fit in a pocket or purse, which can be frustrating.
- This is a very simple card game, but it’s still great that they included player aids. They definitely helped us in our first couple of games.
Cons
- I’ve enjoyed playing Expressions at all player counts, but Normal difficulty seems a bit too easy with 3-5 players. We won our last three four-player games in that mode pretty easily. Maybe my groups are just really good at this game, but I wish Normal Mode was a little more challenging, especially since Hard Mode is a pretty big step up.
- This is minor, but I’m not a fan of the name “Expressions” for this game. I think some people will see it on the shelf or online and expect it to be more of a wacky party game.
Final Thoughts
I’ve had a lot of fun playing Expressions. It reminds me of several other smaller limited communication games, but it also has plenty of unique elements that make it feel like a fresh gaming experience. Picking the perfect card to play, which then opens up more possibilities for your teammates, is just a great feeling, and there are plenty of opportunities for that in this game.
I enjoy the challenge of two-player Expressions more than 3+ players on Normal difficulty, but I still prefer playing with more people. I just think that syncing up with more players in a game like this is always more satisfying.
If you’ve liked other small limited communication card games and/or deduction games in the past, chances are you’re also going to get a kick out of Expressions.
I don’t know if Expressions is going to replace anything in my collection at this point, but I’m definitely going to be keeping it.
Expressions Links
BGG | Amazon | Barn Made Games
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