By: Jim Shi and Josh Aronson
The game Town of Salem is a fun engaging strategy-based game rated PG 13. The game is free and can be found on https://www.blankmediagames.com/ .The basic premise of the game is to beat the mafia if you’re a townsmen by lynching them or taking over the town by killing everyone who is not part of the mafia. There are also neutral roles, which can influence the game in either direction, and you can win with either of the aforementioned parties.
The game features several different classes that can be randomly selected for the player before the start of the game and each class has their own special skill. Personally my favorite class is the doctor because it has the ability to heal other people or myself, preventing them from getting killed. What makes for such a fun and immersive experience within the game is the sheer number of roles that can be picked for the player within the classes. This feature makes it almost impossible to get the same role twice in a row, ensuring a new and exciting experience each time you play. You might just lose your sense of time while playing.
You can create a party of friends and let the hijinks ensue. An integral part of the game is keeping your role as innocent as possible, so as to not get lynched by the town. However, you can also deceive your friends who are in the same party for even more fun. This gets even more fun when the role of the jester comes into play, as the sole objective of the jester is to get lynched. Therefore, if you act suspicious enough for your friends to lynch you, they can unknowingly help you accomplish your goal!
As townsmen your only way to eliminate the evil forces of your town is to vote for those you deem suspicious. When more than half of the remaining players vote on another player, that player will walk to the center platform and voice their innocence. You can judge whether or not if they’re telling the truth; and if the majority of the players vote innocent, that player will walk back to his original spot. However, if the majority of the players vote guilty then that player will be lynched. Killing a player will reveal their role which can further aid in the quest to propel your side to victory.
We spent countless hours hooked onto the game, only taking breaks occasionally, but besides the break we couldn’t get off. It was so fun and felt so immersive; it was as though we were actually in the game experiencing it all. It was super tense during the night because we hoped we weren’t the target of someone’s attack. It was especially stressful during the trials, if you were in the mafia then all you could do was pray you wouldn’t be questioned. Many times we were wrongly accused and sent to the podium to be hanged. All in all, with friends or by yourself, this game is a blast to play for anyone who enjoys a mix of mystery, problem solving and critical thinking.
Overall, we rate this game 8 out of 10 stars.
