CDSK (2023)
Players - 2+
Ages - 6+
Family fun Trivia Game For All
CDSK is a game I have had my eye on for a while now, the game that has essentially replaced Trivial Pursuit in France. Mass stocks of the English versions have taken some time to arrive, but with the game going live on Amazon this week now is the best time to let you know what it is all about!
In essence, CDSK is not just a game that asks what you know....but it asks how you know it. The core play involves you making a decision, either as a team or solo, on how much you know about a given subject. You can chose between level 1-10 and the more points you go for, the more places you move on the board. (see below)
As you can see above the game is nice and compact with the board folding out from the side of the box. Your first task is to find something around you that can act as a playing piece and off you go! There are no dice in the game, and as mentioned above, your movements are decided by how many points you get from the question cards. Your first card will always be a 'C' card which stands for 'Curious' and covers a wide range of subjects on specific topics such as a country, a person or topics such as Famous Explorers.
Your 'D' cards cover entertainment topics including sport and your 'S' cards are aimed at what they call "school of life" subjects, typically what you find under lifestyle genres at a typical quiz. The 'K' stands for Knowledge and those cards are questions that zone in on Science, Nature and Geography. It is useful to get to know these topics as it may influence how many points you play for on a previous question so you can plan when to land.
In general, a trivia/quiz game lives or dies for me on the quality of questions. Does CDSK have the level of questions to make this game work? In essence yes, the harder end of the questions will stretch even the most ardent quizzer but I would add in a warning that the first three questions on each quad are pitched at a very low, and sometimes odd, level where everybody is going to know it. After one play or a quick peak at a card, you will soon know what the balance is.
The game moves along at a fast pace and before you know it someone has reached the 'Hurry Up and Win' card and must carry out a trivia task to win the game. You also have challenge squares across the board, which for me, are some of the highlights. These could be questions where you have to name ingredients in a cocktail or tell the reader how many of the statements they said are true. This adds some diversity to gameplay and these questions were where I thought the game comes alive.
In all, CDSK is a great family trivia game for the festive period and beyond. It will be a great gift for the Trivia fan in your life and feels unique enough to make it a worthy addition to your shelves. With 2500 questions and quick gameplay you will get a lot of longevity out this game but I will add a few warnings. A group of 2-3 good quiz players will win this game in a few turns, and the risk/gamble element doesn't really work if one player in your group is a trivia powerhouse and is hitting 9s and 10s every time. But the game can be adapted to provide negative moves, half points etc whichever way you like to even it out.
CDSK is one of the freshest and most original Trivia board games I have seen in some time and is well worth hunting down now it has arrived on the Amazon store here in the UK. (Link Below)
