Imaginarium how many people can play. How many more additions will there be? Tell about your company

You can't believe in the impossible!
“It’s just that you don’t have much experience,” said the Queen.
“When I was your age, I spent half an hour every day on this!”
Other days I had time to believe in a dozen impossibilities before breakfast!

Lewis Carroll "Alice in Wonderland"

The board game "Imaginarium" is for those who want to blow their brains out, but don't know how. Unexpected associations and the strangest fantasies of your own and other players are waiting for you during an exciting game.

About the game

Imaginarium is a Russian analogue of the famous French game Dixit, which has been produced since 2008 and has won many prestigious awards. This is a card-word game, which is based on the need to come up with associations to the images on the cards and understand the flight of someone else's fantasy, and the pictures, in turn, can be very difficult.

The game will appeal to everyone who wants to put into practice their indefatigable imagination or develop their imagination to unprecedented heights. The ability to think outside the box is the way to victory in the Imaginarium! For those whose creative (smartly - divergent) thinking is not highly developed, it will be a little more difficult to play, but there will be an opportunity to "pump". From the point of view of psychologists, the game allows you to learn a lot about the personality of other players and improve their interpersonal relationships.

The Imaginarium game is a board game, so in addition to the cards themselves, you will need a horizontal surface where they can be laid out. Ideally, of course, a table - at least, it is very convenient to crawl under it from laughter, and the game and the players will provide plenty of reasons for fun.

Basically, perhaps, the Imaginarium game is intended for adults, the age limit on the box is 12+, but it is still designed for an older audience. Firstly, it will be more interesting if all participants have a certain level of erudition and some cultural baggage, which allow making associations more complex and intricate. Secondly, the very content of the pictures may turn out to be too gloomy for the fragile child's psyche.

In addition, children have less developed associative thinking, the ability to abstract from specifics.

But if you want to play with the whole family or offer a game to the kids, then the board game "Imaginarium Childhood" was created especially for this occasion. The game “Imaginarium Childhood” will help children, starting from primary school age, develop the flexibility of thinking, forcing them to look for non-standard solutions in order to win. However, it is not so simple and boring, so as not to captivate adults.

In the Imaginarium, you can mix different sets to make the game even more fun.

The mechanics of the game is based on several principles. The main one is associations.

Not logic, not luck, but the ability to turn on the fantasy in the right direction and guess how the opponent's fantasy worked. Voting: Players must make their choice and confirm it with a voting token.

Simultaneous actions: participants lay out cards and vote in parallel with each other, and not in turn, the order is respected only in the change of leader.

How the game appeared in Russia

The Russian version of the game was created by Dixit fans Timur Kadyrov and Sergey Kuznetsov, which became crowded within the framework of the foreign version. They decided to start their own project and give it the name "Imaginarium", which can be translated as "Imaginarium". The first edition of the game was released in 2011, the publisher was Stupid Casual.

Being in fact the successor to the Dixit game, Imaginarium is not officially licensed by its copyright holders - apparently, the creators did not agree on the characters. However, only the mechanics of the desktop are directly borrowed, and according to the laws of the Russian Federation, it is not subject to patenting - take whoever you want, use it as you like. Therefore, according to the law, the authors cannot be accused of plagiarism, especially since the game came out completely new and in no way worse than the original.

There are actually a lot of differences between Imaginarium and Dixit. The design and the general mood vary greatly: Imaginarium rather goes into gloom, and Dixit into “cuteness”. However, these complex moods are compensated in the game "Imaginarium: Childhood", where the authors have focused on warmth and kindness. Therefore, the board game "Imaginarium: Childhood" is intended not only for children, but for everyone who wants to resurrect fond memories.

In addition, Imaginarium is more dynamic, it has different rules for scoring, and the gameplay itself. In fact, only the main idea remained from its predecessor.

While Dixit was drawn by an individual artist, the illustrations for Imaginarium and its additions, such as Imaginarium: Ariadne, Imaginarium: Odyssey and others, are, so to speak, a collective work. The authors of the game searched the Internet for ready-made pictures that fit their idea, and bought them from artists - and there were more than a hundred of them. In 2014, the Imaginarium art exhibition was even held, where their “crazy” works were presented.

Purpose of the game

If you follow the rules, the goal of the game is simple: score as many points as possible and get ahead of the rest before the game runs out of cards. It's formal.

In fact, the game is aimed at helping participants develop their inner Imaginarium / Imaginarium, learn to work with associations, and not only with your own, but also with the associations of the people around you. A study was conducted on the impact of board games on teenage schoolchildren, and Imaginarium was noted as improving creative thinking. Therefore, they can safely offer both the classic version and the "Imaginarium Childhood", with kinder pictures - this edition is allowed for use by children from 6 years old.

Packaging, design and localization

The box for the game "Imaginarium" is quite impressive, 30 by 30 centimeters, and it weighs almost a kilogram with filling. The picture on the box is quite surreal, but what else to expect, because the artists clearly turned on their "Imaginarium" to the fullest.

The flight of imagination of artists is clearly seen in the drawings themselves, to which associations will have to be made. They are different in style, but this is rather the highlight of the game.

Inside the box is divided into three sections. The main one is occupied by a field in the form of a night sky with clouds floating across it. The field does not need to be laid out on the table - it is built into the "podium" and is part of the box. If you lift it up, you will find a place to store additional sets. The clouds are numbered - this is, in fact, the score counter, along which the players' chips move. The remaining cells are occupied by cards, voting tokens and chips.

The game is made entirely in Russian. However, apart from instructions and inscriptions on shirts, words are nowhere to be found - the game is based on immersion in visual performance. The instruction, by the way, is printed against the background of the Milky Way.

The game "Imaginarium Childhood" is implemented in brighter and more joyful colors, the pictures are not so sophisticated - it is more reminiscent of Chukovsky's "Confusion" than the gloomy "Imaginarium" for adults.

Now the Imaginarium line of games is produced by Cosmodrome games.

Equipment

In the Imaginarium box you will find: a playing field, it is also a score counter, cards with pictures, voting tokens, player chips and instructions.

The basic set contains 98 cards of large size - 8 by 12 centimeters (by the way, the size is exactly the same as in Dixit cards). On each - a picture to which you have to come up with an association. The back of the cards is decorated with the image of a whale flying on balloons against the background of the moon, and the inscription "Iimaginarium".

Players' chips are made in the form of seven winged elephants of different colors - yellow, pink, green, blue, red, white and black. In the first editions they were wooden, now they are made of plastic, because the game is too popular and the manufacturer does not have enough time to paint the figures. Plastic, of course, does not look so presentable, but what can you do.

The instruction is written in a living language, and for children it is also illustrated with specific examples with pictures.

Everything is loose, so there is enough space to put cards from additional sets into the same box, and not to produce essences.

The complete set of the game "Imaginarium Childhood" is exactly the same. In addition, both sets are fully compatible.

Number of players

The minimum number of players for the "Imaginarium" is four people. Less just uninteresting. Optimal - seven people, one set is designed just for them. However, given that all kits are compatible, you can bring up to two dozen players - the main thing is that there is enough space at the table. Naturally, the more players, the more fun, but the duration of the party begins to tend from half an hour to infinity.

The difficulty of the game "Imaginarium" is normal, even rather easy if you do not have problems with associative thinking. It does not require any special skills, the rules are simple. Enough of the game itself and a good imagination.

Categories of players

Perhaps the main criterion for dividing players into categories is age. The board game "Imaginarium" is not intended for children under 5 years old. They will not understand it simply because of the weak skill of operating with abstract concepts. For the baby, it is better to choose other educational toys.

With particularly smart preschoolers, you can start with the games "Imaginarium Childhood" or "Imaginarium Soyuzmultfilm". There are quite understandable pictures, according to which it will not be very difficult to guess the intended association.

The “adult” version should be mastered no earlier than in adolescence, but it is better to wait for adulthood (for some players, it occurs only at the age of 30, but usually still earlier). This is due to the fact that sometimes there are pictures that are completely unsuitable for a child or just a vulnerable psyche.

If you prefer to operate with specific concepts, rather than work with your imagination, then skip the logic games forward to your shelf, because in the Imaginarium the logic is quite alternative.

Rules and course of the game

Rules of the game in the Imaginarium take up four pages, but are quite simple. In fact, they can be reduced to one line: you need to come up with associations with pictures and guess what others had in mind.

When you open the Imaginarium box and pick up the rules of the game, you see a complete description of the game, even with pictures. The principles of scoring are outlined, how many cards it is more convenient to take for playing with different compositions, various subtleties of the game that can be observed or ignored.

In "Imaginarium Childhood" the rules are somewhat different, mainly in the principle of scoring. However, no one prevents each specific company from adopting certain rules at home on its own. The main thing is that it is interesting to play.

Preparing for the game

Although the Imaginarium board game has simple rules, they should still be studied before starting the entertainment. After the rules are read and memorized, and the essence of the game is understood, each player chooses an elephant he likes. Seven players - seven elephants, six players - well, then it's clear.

They form the basis of the game in the "Imaginarium" cards. The game does not necessarily involve all the cards from the set. If there are seven players, then the entire deck is used. If less, then some of the cards will have to be set aside so that everyone is equally divided. For 6 people we take 72 cards, for 5 - 75 cards, for 4 - 96 cards. If there are more than seven people who want to play, then the creators recommend splitting into teams (from 4 to 7 teams), and then play as usual. If you are playing with add-ons, then make sure that the total number of cards in the game is a multiple of the number of players. According to the number of players, reduce the number of voting tokens by removing the extra color and extra numbers.

It is determined who will be the leader first. You can find out with the help of voting tokens, dice or counting.

"Imaginarium" for children begins in exactly the same way, only the youngest player goes first, and then the role of the leader passes clockwise.

Game progress

The Imaginarium board games from Cosmodrome games, for children or adults, have similar rules, differing in minor details.

At the beginning of the game, the elephants are placed on the cloud with number 1. At this stage, you can look at the playing field and notice that not all clouds are the same. Some of them have additional pictures. These are instructions and at the same time restrictions on the associations you make. If a player stands on one of these clouds at the moment when it was his turn to be the leader, then he is obliged to comply with them.

The field of the crossword in the form of the number "4" means that the association must be formulated in exactly four words. Question mark - ask an association-question. abibas badge - figure out how to connect what is drawn on the map with some well-known brand, slogan, advertising that is on everyone's lips. TV - the association is tied to a movie, cartoon or TV series. The book - you have to come up with a whole story-association. However, if desired, this moment of the rules can be completely ignored or you can introduce your own restrictions.

The game "Imaginarium Childhood" has different icons, and instead of clouds, stones are drawn with numbers from 1 to 30. If there is a lifeline on the stone, then the loss will not throw the leader back. Puss in the boot - associate with the heroes of fairy tales. A book of fairy tales - the association must begin with the words "Once upon a time."

Before the first move, each player receives 6 cards from the shuffled deck. Of course, they do not need to be shown to other participants.

The player who happened to be the first to lead chooses one of his cards, voices his association with it and puts it face down on the game table. The association can be in any form. One word, for example, "synthesizer" or "bike". Or a phrase, an excerpt from a poem or song, even a set of sounds.

All other players look thoughtfully at their cards, choose from them the one that, in their opinion, is most suitable for this association, and put it face down on the table. Without showing or voicing it.

When everyone has laid out the cards, the leader collects them, shuffles them and puts them face up in a row and puts a number from the voting tokens on each card, starting from the leftmost one. And then the fun begins, because the meaning of the game "Imaginarium" is to guess which card gave rise to the association.

Being a leader is not easy. You can not earn points, and even lose already scored, if the association is too simple or too difficult.

If he looks, for example, at a flower in a pot and says “flower” or “pot”, then, of course, everyone will guess his association, and the leader will be forced to take three steps back.

Or he will see a trampoline and call, for example, not “flying on a falcon” (flying can still be tied to jumps), but “parking” (it’s somewhat problematic to guess that the trampoline has a flat black area and the parking lot too). Then, most likely, no one will simply understand what he wanted to tell them, his card will not be chosen, and the presenter will again have to step back, because fantasy is fantasy, but you need to see the coast.

This rule does not apply only to Imaginarium Childhood and only to players under the age of six - the children's world should be without sadness, even if something failed.

The complexity of associations should also correspond to the average intellectual and creative level in the company of participants. For someone, the most obvious ones are available, someone easily guesses the most unexpected ones, because they play on the same wavelength with you.

Guessing the leader's card

Guessing the leader's card is the main goal in the game. When a player believes that the word “rocket” meant, say, a baby gurney in the form of a raccoon, then he looks at what number the card of interest lies under, takes his voting token with the corresponding number and puts it face down in front of him. Keep in mind that voting for your own card is pointless - it's definitely not a guess.

Examples of Bad Associations

As already mentioned, those associations that are easily clicked by all participants, or those who cannot be unraveled by anyone, are unsuccessful. The "doctor's set" is easier to link with Aibolit, the "watch" with a walker or an alarm clock, and the "runner" with a running athlete or with a zipper.

Scoring

An important stage of the move is the scoring, which is based on the number of correct answers.

If the presenter did not flash his imagination and all the participants guessed his drawing, then he retreats 3 clouds back (but no further than number 1). If the association, on the contrary, turned out to be tricky and no one guessed, then the leader is thrown back by 2 steps.

If several people guessed the picture, then each guesser and the host get 3 points for this, and the host also gets one point for each player who guessed correctly. Ideally, you should strive to ensure that everyone but one guesses it.

Those whose cards were indicated by mistake are not offended either - for each token with their number they receive a point. If a player has scored so many points that 39 clouds are not enough for him, then he goes to the second round. The main thing is not to forget how many laps you have already completed.

In Imaginarium Childhood, points are calculated a little differently to make it easier for children. The presenter and the players receive 2 points for a correctly guessed picture, and the presenter one more for each guesser. The host loses 2 points instead of 3 if the association riddle turned out to be too easy or too difficult. Players under 6 years old do not go back - sorry for the little ones.

End of action

When all the points have been distributed and all the elephants have flown into the sky, the players draw one card from the deck so that there are 6 of them again, and everything repeats. When the deck is empty, play out what is left.

If all the cards are over, then it's time to sum up. Whoever flew farthest on his imaginary, he won.

More fun - main additions

Many add-ons have been released for the Imaginarium game, all of them are fully compatible with the main deck or can still replace. According to established tradition, they bear names from ancient Greek mythology.

Imaginarium Ariadna

The first additional set, which was released in 2012. There are 98 cards in a deck. In general, it is more positive than the basic set, although there are cards with rather complex, and even black humor. There are many references to various brands in the pictures. On the cover is a thinker trying to find a way out of a strange maze. The set is designed mainly for an adult audience, although it can already be shown to a teenager without much fear. You can try playing with a set without the main deck, if the lack of a playing field and chips does not bother you.

Imaginarium Pandora

The most abstract set of extras. “Strange” can be said about all 98 cards from it, although many are bright and joyful in appearance. Players will have to rack their brains, first coming up with associations for them, and then guessing them. On the cover of a box with interesting guests. The authors propose to open this box and unleash the demons of your imagination.

Imaginarium Persephone

The most philosophical extra set. 98 illustrations on abstract topics, including, judging by the title, questions of life and death. The instructions briefly describe the authors of the pictures. On the cover is a "miracle tree" and a cheerful company.

There are artists who simply do not need brushes and paints for drawing, and in their experiments with materials they step further. I have compiled a selection of interesting authors who paint with unusual materials and methods. I hope it inspires you to new ideas!

Elisabetta Rogai

In her work, Elisabeth uses exclusively white, red and rosé wines, without attaching much importance to their bouquet or strength. The only other tool Elisabetta uses to create her paintings is charcoal, which she uses to sketch. The peculiarity of her works is that the color of the paints on the canvas changes over time, as the wine ages and acquires new shades. The result is canvases, each of which is completely unique.

Tarinan von Anhalt (Jet Art)
The American artist creates her abstract paintings using air currents from an aircraft jet engine. Tarinan's clients pay a lot of money for the opportunity to see how the artist creates, because this process in itself is a small show with a risk to life. For the creation of one abstract painting, a creative connoisseur will have to pay at least 50 thousand dollars. Jet Art also uses his technique to decorate clothes that he demonstrates at various fashion shows.

This very unusual direction of painting was invented by the Austrian prince Jürgen von Anhalt back in 1982. He called it "jet art" ("jet painting"). After his death, his business was continued by his wife Tarinan (real princess). She became the first woman to create her artistic canvases using such a physically demanding painting technique. Before watching the video, I advise you to mute the sound, otherwise there are jet engines)

Underwater paintings by Ukrainian artists

Ukrainian divers create their works at depths from 2 to 20 meters in the waters of the Black and Red Seas. The artists are so inspired by the beauty of the underwater world that they have come up with an unusual way to capture it using ordinary paint and canvas with waterproof glue. Under each picture, in addition to the title, the sea is indicated, the salt of which a certain work absorbed and the depth to which the artist had to plunge. The pictures look really unusual.

Natalie Irish


The artist paints with kisses, and uses ordinary lipstick as a material. On average, one picture takes about five tubes of lipstick. The first work of the artist was a portrait of Marilyn Monroe - it is with this actress that Natalie associates red lipstick. The artist admitted that creating her paintings is not an easy job, because she needs to methodically leave kisses on the canvas according to a certain pattern, constantly changing the focus of her eyes. One painting takes at least 3 hours.

Otman Tom


The Baghdad artist uses ice cream instead of the usual colors to create his works. His works are similar to watercolors and have a wide range. The artist always photographs his work with leftover ice cream and brushes on canvas, thus showing a small part of the process. Looks really like watercolor!

Sheremetyeva

Definitely, if the Mad Hatter decided to diversify his endless tea drinking with some kind of board game (what if!) he would certainly choose it. Dixit.

Of course, he could have chosen any other, but it is unlikely that his richest imagination could unfold anywhere like this. And if it would have turned around, it would rather be to the detriment of the rules and the gameplay.
Here the rules are extremely simple. For those who do not know, let us recall: the players are given a set of cards, the players take turns appointing the leader, the leader names the association and lays out his card, everyone else lays out theirs, the cards get in the way, laid out, everyone guesses the leader's card. It is beneficial for the leader that his card is guessed, but not all, because in any other case, all players, except for the leader, go forward. The remaining players receive points for correctly guessing the leader's card and for cheating their colleagues. That is, it is beneficial for them to have their card mistaken for the leader's card, because for each deceived partner they get a point. So, as you can see, only a couple of lines were occupied by the rules, otherwise the game is entirely a flight of your imagination and imagination. Our Hatter would have chosen her for that!

So what is this game about, anyway? - you ask. - For whom to play? What is her plot?

You, dear reader, are playing for multi-colored hares who have arranged a hare race in a clearing with fly agarics. And during the race, not hare thoughts come into their heads.


They think about complex family relationships, about the sadness of gods forgotten by people, about the secrets of their native forest and non-native city, about infinity, space flights, freedom, the struggle between good and evil, about war and peace, and even racial intolerance. They just think not in words and sentences, like people, but in images, pictures. That is why they cannot really explain themselves to each other - after all, everyone has their own visual associations with different things, and even more so with abstract concepts.

The player can decide for himself what he associates with the image that pops up in the hare brain. As you understand from all of the above, this game will help you learn a lot of personal information about your partners. For example, the players laid out several cards for the leader's association "work".

They don't look alike, do they? Of course, everyone's job is different! The first was posted by the waiter, the second by the administrator, the third by the mathematician, and the fourth by the guard. But someone laid out the last card in vain, and it’s good if his superiors are not at the table. Which of these cards belongs to the presenter, you will understand only if you know what of all of the above he does. If not all players know this, then, most likely, he will score his points. Although, to be honest, the presenter did not do the right thing, because everyone should be given a chance. Suppose he is at the table for the first time, and is not very familiar with the game. Let's forgive him and move on.

To be fair, the Hatter would have had to choose between Dixit and his twin sisters, the Associations and the Imaginarium. Both were released in Russia at different times by different developers.
What is the difference, and which one is better in the end?



Associations (2009), produced by Ranok Creative.

Here, everything happens not in a meadow with fly agarics, but in a crazy exhibition of paintings. Due to the lack of a guide, unlucky visitors are forced to come up with names for the exhibits themselves. Each turn they choose a new guide from their number, he comes up with a name for the picture, which he does not point his finger at, says it, the players choose their picture ... in a word, everything is about like in a meadow with fly agarics. Difference in scoring.

First, the players, choosing one or another picture, make bets on it, and then move back or forward depending on the result. The player who was guessed moves by the number of chips with his color, bets on them are not taken into account. As you can see, the system is tougher, and if your flair is completely undeveloped, you run the risk of trampling at the entrance to the exhibition until the end of the tour. In addition, there are halls at exhibitions in which time, space and the rules of the game are relative concepts. For example, there is a room where you can’t talk, you can only gesticulate, there is a room where there is already one name for the picture, and all players, including the host, simply lay out a card suitable for it, there is a room where you need to guess people.

It is interesting that sets of decks for different age groups appear in associations - there are cards that children under sixteen cannot play with.

The game was not highly rated. In fact, the creators just gave the players cheap Dixit. In addition to low cost, it has no obvious advantages over its European counterpart. It seems that the authors did not plan to create a serious competitor to Dixita. What is there! One has only to open the rules to understand that they do not want to take the matter seriously for anything in the world. The text is replete with neologisms, borrowings and colloquial expressions like "do not care", "what for". Only one beginning: “Welcome to the crazy exhibition!”, and everything is already becoming clear.

Language is not the only dubious merit of rules. For example, there are zones where everyone among the cards chooses himself. And the guide must guess, if he guesses, he will immediately be one floor higher. What is the point for players to choose at least something more or less similar to them? It turns out that the game is purely guessing. Why introduce this, if the rest of the game is completely different? The ill-conceived rules turned out to be not such a big problem - many still play by Dixit's rules.

It is also worth noting that this game was the first twin of Dixit, was published just a year after its creation, therefore, it took on all the shame and blame for plagiarism. In addition, there are two more games, a board game and a word game, with the same name, both of which are better known.





Imaginarium (2010), Stupid Casual.

Its creators before the release of this game were engaged in the release of funny, but not very practical souvenirs. That is, not at all practical, even taking into account the fact that souvenirs, in principle, are rarely useful. For example, a diary with already filled pages; pebble player; paper masks. The future creators of the Imaginarium considered the Dixit game to be unfinished in terms of rules, and decided to release their own version.

“Own version” of the rules differs, firstly, in that if the leader’s association is too transparent or too opaque, then he steps back (in Dixit, on the contrary, everyone except him moves).

Secondly, in the Imaginarium, as in the Associations, special rules apply to some cells. For example, somewhere you need to name an association from some movie, show; somewhere in your explanations you need to keep within four words; somewhere - ask the association with a rhetorical question. Hidden advertising lives on some cells - the presenter must mention the name of a brand in the association. And finally, somewhere you need to tell a story that the presenter associates with the picture.

The layout is also different. The glade with fly agarics and hares gave way to the sky and winged elephants flying from cloud to cloud.

Despite the fact that Imaginirium and Dixit, to put it mildly, have much more in common, no one had any particular questions about this. At least, if she was criticized, then not for that. And for the content of the cards. Clearly, the pictures are a matter of taste, but many of them are clearly gloomy for children and the faint of heart.

For such people, "Imaginarium: Childhood" was specially released, and the artists used their entire supply of hitherto unused tenderness, positiveness and fabulousness for this set.

The "adult" set, however, had quite a few fans who claimed that Dixit was too "childish", simple, and the cards of the Imaginarium evoke much more associations. To be honest, I understand them.
Imaginarium for Dixit is a more serious competitor than the Association, however, only in Russia. Firstly, it is unlikely that its "novelty" will be appreciated by the creators of the original source. Secondly, many pictures of the Imaginarium are designed specifically for a Russian person brought up by Russian fairy tales and cartoons. Maybe that's why the Imaginarium seems more understandable and closer to some players?

Conclusion: although the rules of the three games differ (to be honest, at a minimum), the arguments for or against any of them are only price and personal aesthetic preferences. Associations take with their cheapness, Imaginarium and Dixit - with the execution and thoughtfulness of the rules. True, the pictures of the Imaginarium can cause rejection, but in this case he has a set of cards for children. Compare, choose, this is a matter of your taste.

Imaginarium is a card game for guessing associations. An essential game for any party.

Easy rules, bright, chaotic, mind-blowing pictures - all this will leave few people indifferent. Suitable for all ages, but if someone suddenly finds the illustrations too "adult", then a children's supplement has been released specifically for children.

What do we see when we first look at the game?

A bright square box with a castle and a wonderful tree painted on it. Inside, a stack of cards - 98 pieces, 7 game figures in the form of flying elephants, a playing field - the sky with clouds, 49 voting cards, rules.

In general, the whole package is only pleasing to the eye. Players take apart the elephants, place them on the first start cloud and start their fun journey.

Rules of the game.

Each of the color of the elephant is given cards for voting and 6 cards in a closed form. The first player - the leader chooses any of his cards and makes an association to it. Associations can be expressed in absolutely any way: a song, a word, a phrase, a gesture. What is enough of your imagination. Having guessed, the host puts this card face down on the table. The rest of the players select a suitable card for this association already from their hand. Also, without showing it to anyone, you need to put it on the table next to the leader's card. All cards are shuffled. Lay out. Here begins the most interesting. Players try to guess the leader's card. Having made a choice, mark the selected card with a voting card. Also face down. Then all the numbers are opened and look at the result of the vote.

What can happen?

There are several options.

1. All players can guess the hidden card.

This is very bad for the leader. If all players voted for the hidden card, then he goes back three points. The rest of the players stand still.

2. No player guesses the hidden card.

This is also not the best option. Because the leader goes back 2 points.

Other options are much more interesting:

3. The leader receives 3 points for each player who guessed his card. Those. the ideal option is to guess the association so that all players guess except one. Then the leader will receive the maximum number of points.

4. Those players who guessed the card also get 3 points. Plus 1 point for each player who guessed their card.

The played cards are thrown into the discard pile and the players take a new card from the deck. The association is made by the next player.

The game ends when all the cards in the players' hands and in the deck run out.

Here are some chaotic rules. At first sight. Sit down to play and already in the first game you will understand everything and remember the scoring system.

A huge plus in the game (deep merci to developers) is an interesting playing field. Clouds can be ordinary, or they can contain tasks.

If there is an image on the cloud:

Question mark- make an association in an interrogative form;

Number 4– the association should consist of four words;

Book- make an association in the form of a story;

Television- the conceived association should be something connected with a cartoon, TV program or film;

ABIBAS logo- the association must be connected in some way with a well-known brand.

Conclusion:

Despite the fact that Imaginarium is considered a Russian plagiarism of the world-famous Dixit / Dixit game, this game has gained even more popularity in our country than the original source. You can argue for a long time which option is better, where the maps are deeper and more interesting. But is it worth it? Each game is good in its own way and managed to acquire an army of fans.

Ratings:

  • Mastering the game - 95 POINTS
  • Game mechanics - 70 POINTS
  • The plot and atmosphere 60 POINTS
  • Ease of play 70 POINTS
  • Quality and design - 80 POINTS
  • Received fun - 95 POINTS

TOTAL - 79 POINTS

Dixit and Imaginarium are two popular association games with very similar game mechanics. They used to cost the same. After learning about the existence of both games, most are wondering: “Which game is better: Dixit or Imaginarium?”

We will open the boxes and tell you about the nuances so that you can make a choice.


Appearance

The box with the Dixit game is 2 centimeters smaller than the Imaginarium. Inside each of them is a playing field, which is located in the box itself, a compartment for cards and chips.



The Imaginarium also has room for additional decks. Only the base deck will fit into the Dixit box.


Illustrations

Dixit- the game that appeared first and blew up the world of board party games. The illustrator of all the cards in the base game is one - the French artist Marie Cardua. There are 98 cards in Dixit. All illustrations are kind and positive, so you can play not only with friends, but also with the whole family with children 6 years and older.

Imaginarium- a game released after Dixit. The Imaginarium also has 98 cards. 10 illustrators worked on illustrations for the Imaginarium at once, so in the game you will find cards made in 10 different styles. Notfor playing with children under 12 years old.

Number of players

Dixit: 3-6 players. Dixit has a version of Dixit. Odyssey: 3-12 players
Imaginarium: 4-7 players

Rules of the game

Dixit and Imaginarium have the same essence of the game: there are cards with unusual illustrations. Players take turns guessing their associations with the help of cards, and the rest try to successfully place their card. But there is a slight difference in nuances.

Game progress, number of steps

All player figures line up on the field at the number 0. In Dixit, these are rabbits, in the Imaginarium, elephants with wings. The Dixit field contains 30 steps, the Imaginarium field contains 39 steps.



Players receive 6 cards per hand and voting tokens equal to the number of participants at the table.

Leader's move and players' responses

The essence of guessing is the same in both games:
One player becomes the Leader. He chooses one of his cards, places it face down on the table and names his association.


An association in these games is any word, phrase, sentence, quote, poem, and even a fragment of a song. That is, whatever comes to mind.

The main rule for association is not too obvious and not too complicated. When scoring, this becomes clear.

Other players choose among their cards the one that best suits the intended association and also put it face down on the table.

The host shuffles all the cards and lays them out in a row face up. All cards are conventionally numbered the leftmost - 1, the next - 2 and so on.

Guessing the leader's card

Now everyone except the presenter participates in the voting. Goal: Guess the hidden card. Each player chooses a token with a number and hands it face down to the Leader. When all players have voted, the Host reveals the tokens and places them on the corresponding cards.

Scoring

The scoring in Dixit and the Imaginarium is slightly different. To make it convenient and understandable, I put it on the plate:

Situation Dixit Imaginarium
All players guessed the leader's card Leader 0 points Other players plus 2 points Leader minus 3 points (three steps back) Other players 0 points
No one guessed the leader's card Leader 0 points Other players + 2 points Leader minus 2 points Other players 0 points
The leader's card was guessed, but not all players Leader plus 3 points Players who guessed his card plus 3 points
Cards of other players voted for The player receives as many points as the number of tokens his card has received.

Process and end game

Dixit is played until the rabbit of one of the players jumps to the finish line. He will be considered the winner of the race.

The Imaginarium is played until the last card in the deck. The bishop that breaks the farthest wins. Although the rules of the Imaginarium offer to play according to the rules of Dixit, as an alternative version of the rules.

Special fields

Dixit does not have this, so we will only talk about the Imaginarium. On the field of the Imaginarium there are steps marked with special icons. If the figure of the Leader will stand on such an icon, then special conditions for its association will appear:

  • "4 in a cloud" - the association must contain 4 words;
  • "question mark" - an association in the form of a question;
  • "abibas" - the association is associated with any well-known brand;
  • "TV" - the association is based on a film, cartoon, series, program;
  • "book" is an association in the form of a story.

Additional decks for games

The peculiarity of Dixit and the Imaginarium is that at some point the cards become boring and you want something new. The developers foresaw this and released many additional decks.

For Dixit: 6 additional decks of 84 cards, cost (as of February 2017): 1350 rubles. The style of all decks is very similar to the original game, although the illustrations were drawn by different designers.


For the Imaginarium: 5 additional decks of 98 cards, cost (as of February 2017): 750 rubles. The style of the decks differs from the light version of the cards (Odyssey, Pandora, Ariadne, Persephone) to completely gloomy with the 18+ marking (Chimera). With children under 12, choose Persephone from all decks.

Protection for Dixit and Imaginarium cards

For Dixit and Imaginarium there are protectors - protection for cards from overwriting. I highly recommend using them. Games are so catchy that you want to drag them to different companies and play-play. The cards are overwritten. Protectors will live forever. In addition, it will be easier to interfere with them.

1 set of protectors (100 pieces) just for one deck of cards.

Summarizing

In general, when choosing Dixit or Imaginarium, it all depends on what goal you are pursuing.

  • If you want to save money: choose Imaginarium (it's cheaper than Dixit now) and its additional expansion decks are also cheaper;
  • If you play with children, we recommend Dixit - he is kinder and sunnier in himself and will be easier to expand with additional decks. The Imaginarium for Children has two basic games, Imaginarium Childhood and Imaginarium Soyuzmultfilm, and can only be expanded with an additional Persephone deck.
  • If you play with friends, then Imaginarium. More players, diverse illustrations, sometimes with black humor. And four compartments in the base box for additional decks - you will store everything in one place.
  • If you like positive pictures, then Dixit. It turned out kinder, brighter, in the same style. And it is suitable for both adult companies, and for companies where children have mixed in. But there are no compartments for storing additional decks. They will all be in large individual boxes.

In the article, I tried to convey to you the essence and appearance of two very similar games. I hope now you can answer your question "What is better Dixit or Imaginarium" and choose the perfect game for yourself.