Dubious is a fascinating mash up of light improvisational roleplaying, deception, and deduction, that has been a big hit for us.
In this competitive board game, you get a role and a secret and then answer a series of questions. You want to hint at your role and secret but not be too obvious. The best score comes from having all but one player guess correctly.
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- Learn about Dubious (Theme & Components Overview)
- Playing Dubious (Rules & Gameplay Overview)
- Dubious has been a big hit for us (Review & Overall Thoughts)
Learn about Dubious
Dubious comes from Dave Neale and features striking artwork from Marta Ivanova, Anton Kvasovarov, Svetlana Pikul, Uildrim, and Oleg Yurkov. It was originally published in Russian by Hobby World International and was localized by Arcane Wonders.
It plays three to six players and is better the more people you have. While the box says you can play Dubious in about half an hour we find people often need more time than that to think when we play, with most of our games going over an hour.
While listed as for ages thirteen-plus we can see younger folk enjoying it. The trick we learned with our kids is to go through all of the occupations and secrets with everyone before you start to make sure everyone knows what each word means.
In Dubious each player gets a random occupation and a secret, which they then use to come up with a character. A question is asked each round, and everyone answers it in character. After five questions, players then try to deduce what occupation and secret each other player has. Players get points for correct guesses, and also get points for anyone that guesses theirs. However, you don’t want to be too obvious. If everyone correctly guesses your occupation and/or secret you score no points!
There’s a lot more in the Dubious box than you would expect from a roleplaying deduction game. Get a look at all of it in our Dubious Unboxing Video.
The game comes with components to play in three different settings; Victorian London, Fantasy, and Modern. For each genre, you get player screens, two decks of cards (one set of occupations and one set of secrets), and a few question cards. The game also has some generic question cards that are used in all games, plus it comes with a thick pad of player sheets and a set of rather black pencils.
All of this comes in a solid plastic box insert that is good at keeping everything sorted by genre.
One thing that really stuck out to me is the artwork on the screens and cards. Like the art on the game box, it’s very striking even if not really necessary. This game would function just as well with a set of cards with only words on them.
The rulebook is solid with lots of examples and even includes a mock round of play. The pencils have been lasting well and we haven’t even come close to using up the large player sheet pad, which is, thankfully, two-sided.
Playing Dubious
To play Dubious you first pick which genre you want to play in. As mentioned earlier these are either Fantasy, Victorian London (which we like to play as Steampunk), and Modern. Everyone has to play the same genre and there’s a special sheet that you attach to your player screen for each genre.
This is invaluable, and is used often as you play, as it lists all of the possible occupations and secrets for each genre.
Next the three genre specific cards are added to the question deck, which then gets shuffled. The deck for each game always includes two physical description cards, three standard question cards, and the non-genre question cards that are used each game.
Each player is dealt two occupation cards and two secret cards. You look at these and choose one of each, noting down on your worksheet both the ones you chose and also the ones you didn’t take. Knowing which cards you didn’t chose can be as important as knowing the ones that you did, since you know that the other players can’t possibly have those professions or secrets.
Once everyone has taken a minute or two to come up with a character concept, the first question card is revealed. Everyone then uses their worksheet to write down their answer which should be in character. Then players, in turn read off their answer.
Writing down your answers, at least in point form, is important to make sure you don’t change your answers. Plus you will be reading through all of them at the end of the round as a final reminder to the other players.
While one player is answering a question out loud, everyone else should be making notes. The goal here is to try to figure out what occupation and secret each other player has.
This continues for five rounds, each featuring a different question. Then each player summarises all of their answers, reading them off one by one. Then everyone has to make final decisions and note down what occupation and secret they think each player has.
Players then reveal their guesses, followed by everyone revealing their chosen cards. Players get one point per correct guess they made. In addition you get points for every player that guessed your occupation and/or secret as long as it wasn’t everyone. If everyone guessed correctly you get no points.
Of course, the player with the most points wins.
Dubious has been a big hit both for our family and our local game groups.
The key thing that makes Dubious work is the scoring system. Because you score nothing if all of the other players guess your occupation and/or secret, the game becomes about not being too obvious.
You also score nothing if no one guesses either of your cards correctly, so you can’t be too obscure either. The sweet spot, scoring wise, is to have all but one player guess correctly for each of your cards while also getting everyone else’s right. The game is aptly named as you do indeed have to act with just the right level of dubiousness. Which isn’t easy!
The big potential problem with Dubious is that it puts players on the spot and requires some quick thinking and what boils down to light improv role playing. In this game you are forced to come up with a character concept based solely on an occupation and a secret. Then you have to answer questions, in character, based on that concept. This makes it a fantastic game for RPG players and drama kids, but also means the game may not be as appealing to people without that kind of experience.
If the idea of answering questions off the cuff terrifies you though, don’t run away just yet. The fact that you are playing a role and not answering questions as yourself can help with some of this anxiety. Plus, there’s no timer.
When playing with players who aren’t used to this kind of quick thinking, just give everyone a bit more time to come up with their answers. The fact that you get to think it out and write down your answer before you have to speak can also help a lot with nerves.
While the improv elements are fun what I really like in Dubious is the deduction parts of the game. The doubt sowed by the way people answer the questions in Dubious is fascinating to me, and it gets even more interesting with experienced players. With a full list of each card in the game right in front of you, and knowing the status of four cards right from the start (ak.k. the cards you chose and the ones you didn’t choose), you can start making semi-informed guesses, and bluffs, right from the start.
The player sheet is designed to help you with this deduction as well, though the rulebook does’t really give you any idea of how to best use the sheets. I know some people I’ve played with don’t like the way it is laid out and I know people who like to use a scrap piece of paper to take more notes than would fit on the pad.
Amusingly, people seem to default to using numbers written under each player and then using a system of Xs, circles and check marks to keep track of their thoughts. This is how it’s shown in the book, but I’ve found people who haven’t even touched the rulebook end up doing this as well.
Another aspect of Dubious that I appreciate is that it comes with three genres. This adds a lot of replayability to the game, that is enhanced by the fact that you are adding in only a few genre specific questions each game. The settings you get are also generic enough you can build on them. For example, we like to play the Victorian London setting as being a Steampunk one, and I know a group who played the Modern setting as part of a Zombie apocalypse which really changed up the answers to some of the questions.
Long time readers and fans of The Tabletop Bellhop Gaming Podcast know that I’m not a fan of most social deduction games, so I was leery of trying Dubious. One of the things that won me over is the role playing element. I’m much more comfortable playing a character who is trying to mislead my friends than I am with playing a game where I’m forced to lie to them directly.
Even better, in Dubious there’s no really reason to lie at all. This game is more about trying not to be too obvious and using some misdirection, than is is about outright deception. Another thing I like is that there are no teams and really no way to play favourites. You aren’t voting for who played the best character or who gave the best answer to each question, you are just using the information presented to try to guess their cards.
In the end I found that Dubious has so little in common with other social deduction games, that I don’t even want to group it in with other games with that moniker. To me, this is an improv, light roleplaying, deduction game that sits in a category all its own.
Dubious wasn’t what I expected, in a good way. It ended up being perfect for my family. Everyone has enjoyed this game from my youngest daughter (who has declared it her favourite board game of all time) to my seventy-something year old mother-in-law.
Dubious has also gone over very well at our public play gaming events. The interesting thing here is that it’s been a hit with the local roleplayers (as I thought it would) but also with the casual players who show up expecting to play Monopoly. This has shown me that Dubious has a lot more universal appeal than I expected.
Now I noted that I don’t like social deduction games, but I have a feeling that players who do enjoy those kinds of games will enjoy Dubious in a way that I don’t. Fans of Werewolf, The Resistance, or Deception Murder in Hong Kong may get even more out of Dubious than I did. I strongly recommend that fans of that genre check this game out.
I also recommend it for people who like TTRPGs and RPG elements in games. I’m talking about actually taking on a role and not hit points, levels and armour class. There’s none of that here, instead, you will be coming up with a character and then answering questions as that character. Which is the essence of roleplaying. Similarly, drama and improv fans should also dig Dubious.
As for everyone else, give Dubious a shot. Just don’t expect it to be a rapid fire, quick, party game. Coming up with a character, answering questions, note taking and deduction takes some time.
Since initially reviewing Dubious on The Tabletop Bellhop Gaming Podcast Ep 241 Ask Deanna Anything we’ve continued to enjoy the game quite a bit. My youngest daughter still considers it her favourite game, and her older sister has had great success bringing it out to her highschool board game club. The game also continues to be a big hit at our public play events.
Personally what I was super excited to learn about since then, is that Hobby World has put out a follow up to Dubious called Dubious: New Realms.
This stand alone game presents three new genres; Science Fiction, Antiquity and the Cthulhu Mythos. I don’t know if there have been any other changes but I’m hyped just to have more themes to explore.
As of right now there’s no word on when or whether Arcane Wonders will bring it to North America, but I sure do hope so.
I love seeing the RPG and board game worlds collide. What’s your favourite board game that includes role playing elements, or the other ways around? What’s a TTRPG you’ve played that features some cool stuff from the world of board gaming?
- Immersive Role-playing: Create characters through card choices, answer intriguing questions to weave your story, and use subtle hints to confuse other players.
- Accessible & Quick to Play: Easy-to-understand rules for gamers of all types; perfect for 3-6 players aged 14+, with each game lasting just 30 minutes.
- Engaging Deduction Mechanics: Put on your detective hat to guess identities based on answers, occupations, and secrets.
- High Replayability: With 3 game settings, 14 Occupations, 14 Secrets, and 27 questions, every play-through offers a unique experience.
