Key Notes

I enjoyed the cooperative board game Mysterium well enough when I got to try it, but it hasn't quite had any real staying power in my group as other board games keep coming into the mix. Since playing it, I've heard the same criticisms from different places that fairly peg some shortcomings of Mysterium: that it's considerably more fun for one player (the "ghost") than the others, and that it takes too long to play (with a lot of down time as the ghost player thinks about the clues they want to give).

Addressing the second problem, at least, comes the new game One Key. It could almost be called "Mysterium Lite," and feels like the essence of that earlier game, distilled down into a slim 10-minute package. The game comes with a wide array of unusual picture cards (as you might find in Dixit, another game you could lump in this "family"). 11 of these are dealt face up in view of all players, and a clue giver is randomly assigned one as the answer they must guide the others to guessing.

Over four rounds, the clue giver draws additional picture cards and assigns to them a status of being a "good, neutral, or bad" clue toward the identity of the target picture. In round one, the rest of the players (acting on the clue they've been given) must eliminate one card from the possibilities. In round two, they eliminate two more, then three in round three, and finally four in round four -- leaving (if correct) only the actual answer.

This is, essentially, the gameplay at the heart of Mysterium -- one person guides while the others try to guess. But it's presented here in a much simpler form that takes a lot less time. There's also a timer used to prevent debate among the players from spiraling out of control. Consequently, the whole affair takes only 10-15 minutes. That means it's a game that can accommodate multiple consecutive plays, giving more people a chance at the role of clue giver in the same time an entire Mysterium game might still not fit into.

Of course, stripping away so many trappings removes the sense that there's any complexity here. It does make for a game that's easy to bring out at a large party and quickly explain to everyone. It's harder for cynical veteran gamers to imagine there's much depth there to be worth even the small amount of time. There's not really any strategy here, only a marginal opportunity to be "good" at the job of clue giver, and a lot of random luck of the cards determining whether you'll win or lose. (In observing or participating in half a dozen games by now, I actually have yet to see anyone win.)

If you're looking for a game that accommodates both children and adults reasonably well, One Key might be worth a look. But it feels possible parents would burn out on it faster than their kids. I'd give One Key a B-. It's breezy enough that I can't see myself declining to play it... but it's also not likely to ever be my suggestion.