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Social Deduction games are normally two teams battling it out until either the right person gets eliminated or one team survives the night! I always enjoy them but often wondered what if a social deduction game was different, what if there were 3 different teams all with an equal chance of victory, what if you didn’t know who you could trust the whole game, what if you were coerced to change teams halfway through the game? Feed The Kraken answers all of those questions and so many more, so read on to find out why you need this game in your collection.
Feed Me Now
In Feed The Kraken there are three factions all stuck on a ship together and trying to steer it to their desired destinations. The sailors want to reach the safety of the port, the pirates want to get to the cove whilst the cult leader wants to be sacrificed to the Kraken.
Each turn the captain will decide who he wants to become his first lieutenant and navigator. Then all players (except the captain) will either try to mutiny (by using their limited supply of guns) or agree with the ‘top team’. If a mutiny is successful then the new captain will get a chance to pick their preferred first lieutenant and navigator.
If a mutiny doesn’t occur or is unsuccessful then the captain will take two destination cards and so will the lieutenant. They place their chosen one in the captains log book (discarding the other) and shake it so that the navigator doesn’t know who put which one in there. The navigator chooses one destination and places it in the log book discarding the other. The captain then has the honour of opening the log book and moving the ship in the direction on the card. The arguing then commences about who put what option in the log book and why they did it (hint they are lying and are obviously a pirate).
A Captains Dilemma
At several points on the map there are special spaces. These either let the captain look (in secret) at another players role, or ‘cut the tongue off’ another player (they can no longer talk until the end of the game), or ‘flog’ a player (they will have to reveal a faction they are not tied to). There are also Kraken spaces which require the captain to throw someone overboard. Careful decision making is needed for all of these spaces, especially the Kraken as the wrong person thrown overboard could end the game.
After the ship has been moved and any special spaces activated the captain must then follow the extra instruction on the card. This could be that the captain gets drunk and wakes up in the morning no longer the captain (the next player clockwise becomes the captain), the navigator gets more or less guns, another player gets to look at the previously discarded cards or the top card of the deck, or the dreaded cult special cards are activated.
The cult cards give lots of power to the cult leader such as placing more guns (in secret) in the hands of the players they choose, or giving them the ability to look at all of the navigation teams roles (captain, first lieutenant, navigator) and finally the best one of all, recruiting a new follower. To do this all players close their eyes and place their closed fists over the table, the cult leader then opens their eyes and gently touches another players hand (like a tentacle), this player opens their eyes and has now flipped teams and will try to make the cult leader win the game.
Navigator Overboard
As the game draws towards the finale in the last few spaces the navigator may have only a choice of 2 destinations that they do not want to take (as they would lose the game). If this occurs they can jump overboard. This means that a new navigator must be chosen and new destination options given to them. This has happened several times during our games and it is always hilarious when it does, especially if it happens 2 or 3 times in a row.
The game ends when either the ship arrives at one of the final spaces (port means sailors wins, cove means pirates win, Kraken means cult wins) or when the cult leader is thrown overboard on a Kraken space.
There Be Treasure Here
Some of the components in this game are amazing and I only have the standard retail edition. The 2 sided board looks stunning, the card quality is very high and a special mention to the captains log book, the ship and the guns all of which look so good on the table and actually serve a purpose in the game.
I haven’t mentioned the players character powers and that is because they are not that significant. The are normally one time use cards and give you a special ability. However we found that they barely effected the game and quite often were forgotten about by some players.
Final Thoughts
For me all social deduction games will now be measured against Feed The Kraken and they are going to have to come up with something amazing to surpass it. The fact that all three teams have equal chance to win and the stakes remain high right up to the last turn show what a clever and unique system this is.
I have always wanted a social deduction game where there are more than 2 teams competing against each other, but not really knowing who you can trust makes it feel like there could be 4 or more teams.
Another massive plus is the artwork and component quality, which are of such high quality, and the rule book is clear and easy to understand.
There is something very exciting about being the cult leader especially if you get to recruit new followers throughout the game. Changing someone’s allegiance half way through the game really throws the game on its head as alliances would have already been built.
As with all games of this type (werewolf, secret Hitler, blood on the clocktower) player count is king. This games shines from 7 onwards and I would always be most happy at 8 or 9 players. If you hit the limit of 11 you might struggle during some of the phases where everyone has to hold their hands over the middle of the table.
One other small complaint is the character powers. Mostly they are okay, but some feel very weak and I would like to have seen more powers that could have tipped the balance of the game more dramatically.
Once again I will say, if you like social deduction games this needs to be in your collection.
Now throw me overboard I wish to be fed to the Kraken.
