Summary
Explosm, the minds behind Cyanide & Happiness are back with another hot card game and we are here to review it. Master Dater is not just any dating game, it’s a messed up one where you are bound to create awkward moments or even hilarious memories.
This tabletop game is meant to be played with 3-6 people where there is 1 Sexy Single and the rest are Daters. In order to become the Master Dater you must collect five total interest cards including at least one from each category: Love, Flame and Spark.
Your job as the one trying to hook up with the Sexy Single is to cater to the three interests they lay out by creating a perfect match for what it describes. Then you have to explain why your creation makes sense and its up to the Single to decide who had the better matchups, etc.
When I first played this game with three people I thought it was quite interesting as it almost reminded me of Cards Against Humanity.
Of course we read the rules and all, but there was a time we scored differently. The Sexy Single would just pick one that they thought made the most sense or liked and chose that giving that person the point making the other one sweat a little bit to try harder.
We steered away from doing 1 of each category and just did 5 total interest cards and it is safe to say it worked for us.
The art style of the cards did catch my eye because they are high quality and the style matches Explosm perfectly of course. It’s not every day you find a tabletop game with some quality looks all around. The folks over at Explosm get an A+ for design.
The gameplay is self explanatory and it’s very understandable as to why it’s for 13 years or older and it was smart of them to have the NSFW Expansion as a separate purchase because it does contain mature cards. The experience I had was an enjoyable time and there were a lot of laughs involved based on the matchups we’ve had.
When I talk about content in a tabletop game I usually mean the amount of cards it may give you. Master Dater feels unlimited with the amount of interest and body cards it comes with and the expansion just piles right on top of that.
One complaint I had about Master Dater is the box it comes in. When you first get the game everything looks perfect and organized. After you start opening and using everything that’s where the problem starts. I wish the box it came in was slightly bigger and it would have sections in it for the specific cards it comes in.
Of course, everyone has their own way of organizing, but I would say for rookies in the tabletop space it’d be nice to have a better designed box inside. For storage reasons it’s easy to fit anywhere and doesn’t take up too much space the way it is.
Explosm created a fun party game with Master Dater and it’s perfect for a family occasion, party with friends or if you’re headed to a convention. Master Dater is almost like a visualized Cards Against Humanity in some ways. You’ll probably find yourself playing this game for a short amount of time compared to other tabletop games.
Is Master Dater worth $30.00? That can be debatable.
