I have to be truthful in saying that I’m not big on social deduction games. I’m big into euro games, dexterity games, & well, I like to play a lot of games. But social deduction games to me aren’t terribly hard to play & some can get really boring. Unless something exciting is going on.
So a few weeks ago I was contacted by Caper Games on their card game of Get Adler!. I received a copy of Get Adler! & read the rules. The rules are very easy to understand. The cards are made with really nice card stock & the art is well done.
Let me introduce to you Get Adler! from Caper Games. Get Adler! plays four to six players, ages ten years to adult, & may take around thirty minutes to play.
In Get Adler! one player will always end up playing the roll of Agent Adler. Agent Adler is on the run from British Intelligence. Players will work together to try to find out which of the other player’s is Agent Adler. They have seven rounds to figure out who Agent Adler is.
In a four player game of Get Adler! the four main characters will be used for play. The two additional characters will be added to the game per additional player. Players will receive one character card each & a reference card. After receiving their character cards, players will receive a hand of seven cards.
These cards will range from top-secret documents, question cards, escape cards, & cards that will help in identifying who might be Agent Adler.
Get Adler! is a two part game. In part one players will try their best to identify who Agent Adler is. Part two of the game will consist of player’s trying to apprehend Agent Adler as he tries to escape.
In each round players will draw one card & play one card for an action. In the first three rounds players will not be allowed to use the “Arrest” card. Starting in round four players will be allowed to attempt to arrest Agent Adler.
As the game continues players will commit to playing actions during their turn to help try to identify who Agent Adler is. If a player plays a Question Mark card they will be allowed to ask one question. If a Magnifying Glass is played then a player may look at another player’s entire hand. The Binoculars card allows a player to exchange one card in one player’s hand with one card from their hand. And then there is the all important Arrest action.
When attempting an arrest a player will place their Arrest card in front of the player they believe is Agent Adler. If that player correctly identifies who Agent Adler is then all identity cards are revealed. If the guess is incorrect both the player guessing & the player that was falsely accused lose their next turn.
However, if Agent Adler is revealed during an arrest, that player will have a chance to respond with an Escape card. Escape cards will consist of a boat, bicycle, car, bus, or underground, bomb, disguise, & pistol.
Once Agent Adler responds with a card one of the other players must respond with the same exact card. Agent Adler must then respond with another card. This will continue until either the player as Agent Adler or the other players can not match a response card.
If Agent Adler escapes from a confrontation players that are remaining will draw up to their hand limit of seven cards & the next round starts. If Agent Adler can not respond then he is arrested & the game ends with all other players winning.
The player who will identify as Agent Adler will need to obtain & hold on to one of the Top-Secret document cards. After round seven if Agent Adler is still alive & holding the Top-Secret documents card that player will win the game.
The unique part of Get Adler! is that there are weapon cards that can be used against the other Intelligence agents. At some point during a confrontation Adler could use a bomb to basically end the round. This could be very important in the later rounds. Adler could use a disguise to immediately end a confrontation. Adler can also use the pistol card.
Using the pistol will start a shootout with the player entered into the confrontation. Adler & the other player in the confrontation will continue playing pistol cards until one player can not. If an equal amount of cards were played then Adler escapes from the confrontation. If Adler fires plays more pistol cards then the other player is eliminated from the game & Adler goes free. If the other player out plays Agent Adler then Agent Adler dies & all remaining players win.
There are also variations to playing the game that allow certain characters to come into the game with bonuses. These bonuses will definitely effect how confrontations are played.
Now I was told that there is an unwritten rule after characters are revealed. The Question card can be used as a “free draw” action. So if a player is holding a few Question cards after the reveal then they don’t have to feel as if they are stuck with nothing to play.
So what do I think of Get Adler!? Well, it is a quick social deduction game. It is easy to learn & very portable. No game of Get Adler! will be the same as the one before it. It is great for a group that loves to play games like One Night Werewolf, Resistance, Avalon, & Coup. I also think game groups that enjoy playing card games like Love Letter would also like this game.
Get Adler! is also a family friendly game. It teaches memorization & hand management.
If you are interested in purchasing a copy of Get Adler! you can click here: Caper Games: Get Adler!.
Get ready to figure out who Agent Adler is & game on!
-Christopher Richter
Twitter: @Boardgaming_FTW
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