The Chameleon Board Game: Rules, Review and How To Play

The Chameleon board game is an award-winning party game that has gotten a lot of attention lately. And it touts a Seal of Excellence from game reviewers.

Plus, it comes with the extra challenge of seeing who in your group is color blind.

Anyway, I was excited to give it a try.

What kind of game is Chameleon?

The Chameleon is a bluffing social deduction board game. In short, players are handed either a card with a grid of words or a card that tells them they are the Chameleon. So, everyone but the Chameleon can find out the secret word.

The object of the game is to figure out who the Chameleon is without giving away the secret word.

Players take turns saying a related word out loud. The Chameleon player tries to offer the best clue possible, without knowing what the secret word is.

The key is to be vague so that the Chameleon can’t figure it out for themselves, without making your fellow player suspicious that you are the Chameleon.

After everyone has given their one-word clue, players discuss who they think the Chameleon is.

In the end, the guilty player has a chance to guess the correct word for redemption.

Read Also: How many types of board games are there? 20 types, explained

How do you play the Chameleon board game?

To play, shuffle the Chameleon card into the set of code cards and deal one to each player, face down.

The dealer will turn over a new topic card and place it in the middle of the table. Then, they will roll the blue and yellow dice.

All players will follow the chart coordinates to find the secret word.

The Chameleon should try to play along and stare at their card for just the right amount of time without being suspicious. Too much or too little time can be a giveaway!

Starting with the dealer, players then take turns saying one word that relates to the secret word. You want to be vague and not give away too much information so that the Chameleon doesn’t figure it out. But if it’s too cryptic, people may think you are the Chameleon.

Once everyone has given a clue, the debate begins about the Chameleon’s identity. After a few minutes, players vote by pointing to the person they think is the Chameleon.

The player with the most votes turns over their card. If it’s a code card, the Chameleon has successfully “escaped”. But if it is the Chameleon, they can guess the secret word and still escape.

If the vote ends in a tie, the dealer for the round can be the deciding vote.

The Chameleon becomes the dealer for the next round.

The number of rounds is determined by whether or not you’re keeping score. If you’re not keeping score, you can basically keep playing until you are tired of it. If you are keeping score, play until someone wins five points.

Chameleon board game rules

The game does not go into specifics about valid or invalid single word clues. However, you can always go with house rules if you prefer. I would say try to keep your word at only one word, but you can do a proper noun if the other players agree.

If the voting takes too long, you may want to find a timer to limit the amount of finger-pointing.

Finally, the game doesn’t really keep score. But there is a scoring element if you prefer.

How to keep score:

If the Chameleon escapes undetected, they score two points.

If they are caught but guess the secret word, they score one point.

Finally, if the Chameleon is caught and doesn’t get the word, everyone else gets 2 points.

The first player (or players) to get five points wins. I like to make a house rule to ten points instead.

How many players are in the Chameleon board game?

The game can accommodate 3-8 players. But the ideal number is 4-6 players.

If you have 3, 7 or 8 players, you have to alter the rules a bit.

For example, in a three-player game, the Chameleon gets two guesses at the secret word if they are caught.

For seven or eight players, once everyone has said their word, the dealer turns the topic card face-down to make it harder for the Chameleon to guess the secret word.

Read Also: 11 party games like Cards Against Humanity, but better

How good is the game Chameleon?

The game is overall pretty good and I think it’s a great game to bring along to your next game night.

It’s a silly and light game that is easy to learn and good if you frequently play with large groups of people.

My main complaint is that the words on the topic cards are a bit too different. It’s surprisingly easy to figure out the secret word as the Chameleon. For example, as the Chameleon, I once figured it out after only one clue. But, it could be argued that the first clue given wasn’t a good one.

And that’s the beauty of it if you play it well. It’s challenging to think of the perfect clue that is cryptic but not too vague. So the quality of game play may depend on who you play with and how good they are at clue giving.

I enjoyed playing the game, but I could see how it might become redundant after a few rounds.

But if you like a game that features a good argument and cryptic clues, it may be the perfect game for you.

And, it’s one of those games that is appropriate for the whole family if you want to bring one home for the holidays.

The Chameleon is made by Big Potato Games and is currently on Amazon for about $20, where it has a 4.7-star review.

Have you played The Chameleon board game? Let me know what you think of it in the comments below.