Welcome to my review of Faces, the board game that claims to turn your poker face into a Picasso. I played this with my bunch of slightly unhinged friends (shout out to Steve for his world-class ‘confused grandma’ impression). Faces promises laughs and easy rules, but it has its own quirks and some wobbly bits—like a bowl of jelly on a trampoline. Get ready for honesty, some giggles, and maybe a dash of grumpiness about luck running the show.
How It Plays
Setting Up
Lay out the Face cards in the middle of the table. Each player gets a voting paddle. Shuffle the prompt cards and keep them in a pile. Make sure everyone can see the faces. That’s it! Unless you want to argue about who sits where. (You probably will.)
Gameplay
One person reads a zany prompt card. Everyone else secretly picks the face card they think matches the prompt best. Will you pick the lady who looks like she borrowed my haircut from 1997? Or the guy who definitely ate the last piece of cake? Once everyone’s picked, reveal your answers. Prepare for disagreements, snorts, and a lot of “Really? THAT face?”
Winning the Game
You score a point when your pick matches the majority. The player who collects the most points after a set number of rounds wins. There’s not much strategy, but bragging rights are on the line. Watch out for your sneaky cousin—she always tries to sway the vote.
Want to know more? Read our extensive strategy guide for Faces.
Learning Faces: Quick to Pick Up or Brain Melter?
Board games usually come with at least fifteen pages of rules. Sometimes, I feel like I need a law degree just to start playing. Not so with Faces. This little beauty is one of the easiest games to learn that I’ve ever tried. If you can pick out a face in a crowd, congratulations – you already know how to play about 90% of the game.
The instructions fit on a small pamphlet, and my friend Dave – who once got stuck on the rules for UNO – picked it up in under five minutes. The hardest part of learning was convincing everyone that yes, these are real faces on the cards and not just rejects from a bad dating website.
Set up takes less than a minute. You lay out six face cards, pick a secret card, and then try to match prompts like “Who would most likely be a secret agent?” using just the faces. Everyone else tries to guess which face you chose. No one reached for the rulebook. Even my grandma got it right away, and she still calls Netflix “the YouTube.” Honestly, Faces could teach itself if it had arms and a mouth.
If you’re looking for a game with ultra-smooth onboarding and zero rule headaches, this is it. But is it actually funny with friends, or does it fall flat like my uncle’s karaoke night? Let’s find out next!
Does Faces Really Bring the Laughs With Friends?
Alright, picture this: It’s Friday night, snacks are flowing, and your usually boring cousin Dave is trying to act like he’s mysterious. You break out Faces, and suddenly, people are snort-laughing so hard, even the dog looks concerned. I’ve played this with my buddies (and yes, my aforementioned cousin), and let me tell you, it turned a normal game night into a festival of wild guesses and weird facial expressions.
The main idea is simple: Everyone gets to make hilarious, sometimes outrageous connections between faces and random descriptions. One round, my friend Tina insisted a grumpy old man’s photo looked like someone who “eats cold pizza in the shower.” We still talk about it. The game sparks those gold moments when people reveal just how goofy and creative they can be.
But here’s the twist: Faces works best when your group is ready to let loose and get silly. If you’re playing with people who take things too serious, the fun fizzles like week-old soda. It also helps to play with folks who know each other well. The real magic comes when inside jokes and shared stories creep into the descriptions. If you invite that quiet coworker from accounting, you might need to give them a couple rounds to warm up.
So, yes, Faces is actually funny—sometimes it’s a laugh riot, sometimes just a gentle chuckle, but I’ve yet to play a totally dull round. Of course, even the best jokes can get old… but does Faces stay fresh after a few rounds? Stick with me and let’s find out next!
Replay Value: Does Faces Keep Bringing the Laughs?
I’ll be real: after the first few rounds of Faces, my group was split faster than you can say “awkward mugshot.” Some of us cackled every time we matched a face with a weird story or embarrassing situation. My buddy Mark even managed to find a face that looked exactly like our college gym teacher — and suddenly, everything was funnier. But then, after game three, a couple of us started to feel like the jokes circled the drain a bit. The cards? Still funny, but you’ll start running into repeats unless you space out your sessions or add your own silly prompts.
Faces shines brightest with a new crew or when someone who can barely hold in their giggles joins in. But with the same group, the magic can fade. There’s only so many times you can match the guy with the wild eyebrows to “Who secretly collects garden gnomes?” before you’re basically repeating inside jokes. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still a bunch of cards and faces to choose from, so it won’t get old right away. But if you go on a Faces binge night, you might burn through the surprises a little fast — like binge-watching your favorite sitcom and then realizing you now have to wait for new episodes.
So, is Faces a forever classic? Maybe, if you play it with new folks or mix in house rules. For my crew, it’s a great icebreaker, but not the star of every game night. Next up: let’s talk about whether luck wrecks this party — or if your face-judging skills can really earn you the win!
Does Luck Ruin the Outcome in Faces?
I have a love-hate relationship with luck in board games. Roll some dice? Sure, I get the thrill. But in Faces, it hit me after a few rounds with my friends: luck runs wild here, and it messes things up more often than not.
In Faces, players guess which face best matches a weird word or scenario. The catch? The real fun comes from how your friends think, not skill. That means Grandma Ethel could pick the face that looks most like ‘panicked tax accountant’ just because it has glasses, and you lose because you thought the panicked eyes sold it. Luck decides who “wins” most rounds, and the guessing feels pretty random if you aren’t psychic or best friends with everyone at the table.
There’s almost no chance to outsmart anyone with clever logic or strategy. I tried—I really did! I studied my pals’ faces like we were in an old cop movie, and still lost to wild card picks. Everyone just throws out guesses and laughs, but it can get a bit old if you want a game where skills matter. And if you’re the competitive type (guilty!), you might find yourself frustrated at how often winning just comes down to a lucky shot in the dark.
Would I recommend Faces? If you want pure silly, random fun, sure. But if you’re after a game where brains beat luck, you might want to skip this one.
Conclusion
Faces is a party game that works best if you play with goofy friends who like to joke around. It’s easy to learn and quick to set up, so you can get started even before your snacks are done. The game shines in the first few rounds, but if you play a lot with the same group, jokes might get old fast. Luck can decide the winner, which annoyed my serious board game pals, but for a good laugh on game night, it’s worth a try. If you’re after deep thinking or fair wins, look elsewhere. And with this, my review comes to a close—now go judge some faces!
