HIDDEN MOVEMENT GAMES
This uniquely fiendish genre might just be what you need to put a bit of unseen danger back into your gaming nights
And why your collection needs one
Hidden movement games are a curious category of board game. Beginning in 1983 with Scotland Yard, the genre is absolutely ancient by modern board game standards, yet, nearly 40 years later, BoardGameGeek lists less than 200. For comparison, worker placement games (e.g. Viticulture / Agricola) didn’t emerge until the nineties but now number in the thousands.
If you’re not familiar with the genre, essentially they’re games of one vs all, in which the one must evade detection and achieve their objective while the all of the table is trying to hunt them down. The player being chased does not track their movement on the board but instead will record their progress in secret and it’s up to the hunters to deduce the location of their quarry.
It’s interesting how little the genre has changed since its conception in the 1980s. Notable modern entries like
Letters from Whitechapel can draw a clear lineage back to Scotland Yard. What’s more, Scotland Yard has hung around, even if that mostly means showing up behind copies of scrabble in bookshops or popping up in game collections in pubs. Another early hidden movement game, Fury of Dracula, originally published by Games Workshop in 1987 is still undead and kicking with a fourth edition published in 2019.
TILTING THE TABLE
Asymmetry is great for creating interesting table dynamics and hidden movement games are a great example. Nearly every hidden movement game enforces public communication between the hunting players. It’s the same thrill as playing hide and seek as a kid, trying not to move a muscle as the seeker searches right around your hiding spot. If it’s possible for board games to get your adrenaline going, then the taught moments of this genre are the most likely culprit.
While most hidden movement games can be played one vs one, the lack of
table discussion makes being the hunter a rather lonely experience as the only response to your theories is a smug smile or a wry “maybe…” from the hidden player. As the hidden player, sitting across from your friends and listening to their plans to snare you is one of the most exciting experiences you can get from board games. As a result a lot of the classic hidden movement games have a sweet spot of three to four players.
Hidden movement games can be challenging. Scotland Yard and its descendants are mechanically very simple but contain a daunting amount of scope for deduction and evasion strategy. As a result, opinions on who has the harder role can vary from group to group and when games are too one-sided it can drag. If the game is not afoot, the game is not a-fun.
At their best, hidden movement games are like great thrillers with moments of confidence giving way to uncertainty. The screws will start to tighten and you’ll almost be able to hear the screech of horror violins. As the hidden player it can feel like one long bluff on a hand of poker. You’ll become aware of every aspect of your demeanour
as you try to stay composed, not letting your eyes linger on your hiding place. For the hunters, excitement builds as you get the sense you’re closing in. You’ll think you’ve sussed their pattern, they can only have gone one way... you’ve got them surrounded... Oh, they’ve gone…
It’s not just the moments of tension that make hidden movement games special, but the release at the end of the game. Cleverly escaping is tasty, but getting to explain how you did it is delicious. For the hunters, it’s just as satisfying to confirm your theories, re-examining the conspiracy board you’ve slowly been assembling in your brain and finding out just how they slipped the net that one time when you almost had them.
Having a great hidden movement game in your collection can be a wonderful way to introduce people to the tabletop hobby. Throwing them into the role of the hidden player and making them sweat can subvert common expectations of what board games are like. The intensity and focus that these games can generate, can keep them from being a game you’d play night after night but having one in the collection to bring out at just the right moment can lead to some truly memorable experiences.