How playing Dixit can help you better understand your team members.

[#1]

After the feedback I got on my previous game related post about Pandemic I wanted to share another awesome team building game with you.

Today I want to talk about Dixit (and it's expansions).

"A picture is worth a thousand words!"

The idea behind Dixit is simple: each player has a set of cards (each of them little masterpieces) and when it's your turn you take one of your cards (don't show it!) and describe it to everyone with a single word. Everyone else now has to pull a card out of their hand that could be described by the word you used.
Once you have all the cards you shuffle them and then turn them face up on the table next to each other. It's now up to the others to figure out which card was yours. You'll score points if they figure it out...

But, there is a catch: if nobody selects your card you don't score any points, and if everyone selects your card you also don't score any points. But if some people select your card, and some select other cards both you and the owner of the other selected card will receive points.

For me this game is all about understanding how the other players think. You need to learn about their thinking patterns to correctly guess who will be able to pick your card and who won't.

I believe this to be a great (and beautiful) card game that is a great and fun way as team members to better understand how each of you think. Especially if you explain why you selected a certain word to describe a certain card, and your team members explain their thought process.



What do you think?

[Peter Van de Voorde]

Btw: at Umano we're thinking about giving this game as a raffle prize at Agile '23 in Orlando this July.

I feel it nicely connects with TeamX, our team performance product.

Do you think this would be a cool give away?

[Teodora V _Fun Inc_]

It would be the coolest, @Peter Van de Voorde!

That's one of the few board games I like playing, primarily because of the reasons you mentioned. It is beautiful, creative, and the perfect puzzle for the mind. 
I played Dixit only a couple of times but have such lovely and funny memories from it. :) 

[Amanda Barber]

Wow, definitely ordering this - thank you for sharing. I definitely think this should be a continuing series. 

[Amanda Barber]

Wondering if the online version would work for our next Lunch and Learn activity. Have you tried it, @Peter Van de Voorde

https://play-tixid.online/en/ 

[Natalie]

I love this game! So fun and relaxing too

[Jimmy Seddon]

Thanks for sharing @Peter Van de Voorde!  This is a really cool idea.  I've seen things that are similar, but not with pictures.

[Nikki Zavadska [Appfire]]

Dixit for team building is such a cool idea!

It pushes us to get creative 🎨 and really get into our teammates' heads to guess their cards. Had an awesome time playing it with my friends and it really forces you to connect on a deeper level.

[Peter Van de Voorde]

Thanks for all the comments everyone, I super appreciate them.

@Amanda Barber : I have not yet tried the online version, please let us know how it goes.

[Sanjog Sigdel]

@Peter Van de Voorde This looks interesting. Definitely gonna get this and play around with my teams.

[Matthias Gaiser _K15t_]

Interesting choice, @Peter Van de Voorde

The first time I played Dixit somewhere at a Game Fair - either at the Spiel in Essen or in Stuttgart. My first comment was

How can this game win the Spiel des Jahres award? I've never seen a worse game like that..

I think that time, we had really bad combinations of cards - and all players were not so much in the mood for playing such a game where you need to adapt more your thinking how other players think about it.

I gave it another chance and revised my opinion. It's great to get insights why people choose cards and therefore to uncover some hidden thoughts/cultural topics.

[Sayed Bares _ServiceRocket_]

Thanks for sharing, will definitely give this a try!

[Sam Thing]

Thanks for sharing - I believe it's a wonderful activity when a distributed team gathers!

[Aaron Geister]

I am posting this to my team in slack saying we should try this together. Thanks for the post.

[Txus]

I have never seen this game in that way, but it is very interesting for the team buildings, and to know how the people around you think, even at home, in the end our family is our main team.

Thank you very much for sharing this idea @Peter Van de Voorde .

And thank you @Amanda Barber for the online version, I am going to test it.

[Mathew Hudson]

Seems it's like a game of psychological peekaboo! I've always found games that involve understanding others' perspectives to be super intriguing. I'm all about that team bonding, and Dixit seems like a cool way to strengthen those connections. Plus, with its beautiful artwork, it's a feast for the eyes too! If anyone's still looking for ways to connect with their team, Dixit might just be the ticket. As for me, when I'm looking for a bit of mental downtime, I usually turn to a round of online solitaire. It's my trusty go-to for unwinding.