Tabletop Game Review: Polemic

Polemic

Garden Path Games

3-6 Players

Playtime: 10 Minutes

It’s rare to find an entertaining party game that doesn’t rely on being dirty to succeed. We have found a few recent gems like The Game of Wolf and Chicken Heist, but most games in the genre flop due to being inconsistent in quality. Still, every now and again a fun party game comes around. Polemic 2^nd Edition is one of those games.

Party Games are typically played by people who aren’t interested in spending a long time to learn rules. Polemic claims to take only a minute to learn, and that is correct. Polemic thrives off of how simple the gameplay is, allowing for players to learn and play games quickly. The result is a game that players will quickly grasp on to then want to play repeatedly.

In Polemic, three to six players will gather around a table and receive a set of Opinion and Guess cards. The two Opinion Cards simply say “Like” or “Dislike”. The turn player will pick up a Topic Card from the middle of the table and choose from one of the five topics. The topics are often simple, one-word things like “Ikea” “Anime” and “7-11.” The turn player will read the topic out loud, and each player will place an Opinion Card face down. Do you like or dislike the topic?

After that, players will use their Guess Cards. Each Guess card has a number on it, and players will guess how many people at the table like the topic. After each player plays both of their cards, everyone will reveal their opinion and guesses. Whoever guesses the correct number of likes will get a point. The first player to four points wins.

As said before Polemic is ridiculously simple. It’s so simple that you would think that it isn’t fun. Despite this, Polemic is an enjoyable game regardless of how well the players know each other. If everyone is close, it’s a great opportunity to see how well you know each other. If the group isn’t too acquainted with each other, players will learn about each other. We tried the game with multiple group dynamics and found that the game is more enjoyable with friends. Still, Polemic can be enjoyed by just about anyone.

Some of the topics aren’t as simple as others, and most wouldn’t usually have black and white answers. For example, one topic might be “The President” or “Socialism” that needs a little more thought. Polemic forcing players to give a simple “Like” or “Dislike” is entertaining and doesn’t leave any room for murky answers. Forcing players to come up with a stance immediately usually yields entertaining results.

Polemic’s aesthetics are as simple as its rules. The Topic Cards are just white cards with text in all lowercase letters. The Opinion and Guess cards are just as simple, with colors assigned to them so players can easily identify their own cards. The simple cards won’t astound anyone, but it fits the rest of the game quite well.

Those are looking for a light party game that is easy to teach won’t find much better than Polemic. It’s short and simple, allowing for multiple games to be played, or serve as an appetizer for a game night.

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