When it comes to game nights there is plenty of choice. When you have 4 or more players, then quirky party games must be at the top of the list. They are the type of fun games that don’t just break the ice – they smash it to pieces, scatter it across the table and dare everyone to dive straight into the chaos. These are the games that don’t take themselves seriously, that thrive on silliness and the kind of unpredictable energy that turns a normal evening into a story people retell for years. And games from Exploding Kittens must be at the summit. We have played lots of Exploding Kittens games and have always enjoyed them and now we have been playing No Loyalty, a party game that has doubled down on the delightful absurdity that made their brand famous in the first place.
No Loyalty is a chaotic party game for 4-20+ players, built entirely around disloyalty – not the dramatic, friendship‑ending kind, but the fun kind that get everybody laughing. It takes 5 minutes to learn (the rules are extremely simple) and 15 minutes to play (although it may take slightly longer if you have a large number of players).
In the box:
- 20 Team Cards
- 100 Challenge Cards
- 80 Tokens
It’s a team party game with a difference – you don’t get to pick your team members and they change every round at random! The game is played in rounds and the first player to reach 5 points is the winner – and there is no loyalty whatsoever to your teammates!
To set up the game, take a an equal number of blue and yellow team cards from the deck (if playing with 4 players, take 2 yellow and 2 blue, if playing with 6 players, take 3 yellow and 3 blue etc. If playing with an odd number (5 for example) add in an extra yellow card so you have 3 yellow and 2 blue. Put the unused cards to one side. Shuffle the cards and place a card face down in front of each player. Nobody is to look at their card yet. If you and playing with 4-5 players, use only the challenge cards with a star symbol on the top right corner of the card. If playing with 6 or more players, use all the cards in the deck. Shuffle the cards that you are using and place them in a pile on the table. Place your points tokens on the table. You may need a phone handy as some challenges require a camera or timer.
Now the fun can really begin. To play, flip over the top challenge card and read it out loud so that all players can hear it. Make sure everybody understands what the challenge is before continuing – for example the card may read:
“The floor is suddenly lava! Stand on something other than the floor while holding hands with at least one teammate” or “Record a 15-second video of your entire team breakdancing”.
When all players understand the challenge and are ready to start, countdown “3, 2, 1, GO!” on “GO” everybody flips their Team Card face up to reveal if they are Yellow Team or Blue Team. Now players race to find their teammates and complete the challenge together. The first to find each other, complete the challenge and shout “DONE” wins the round with each person on that team winning a token – but if they have made a mistake the other team players get the tokens instead.
Now here is where is gets more interesting and loyalty to your team goes out the window. The team cards are then shuffled again and place in front of the players where they could then find themselves on a different team with different players – this enables the disloyalty as it is not the team that wins but an individual player – the first to collect 5 tokens (if other players get 5 at the same time they tie for first place).
Overall, we found No Loyalty to be a fun party game. It’s quick to play and the challenges are varied from high-fiving all your teammates, placing tokens on a teammates head but without bending your elbows to doing handstands or bouncing tokens off the table into the box. It’s a game that has everybody laughing and getting involved.
It’s easy to play and randomly switching teams works brilliantly, especially when there are quite a few players (there are less first place winners and more second place winners – although you could argue that everybody is winner as everyone has fun).
With 100 challenge cards there is plenty to do and get engaged with, some more difficult than others. Plus it can be played time and time again, partly because then are enough challenges picked at random, but more importantly because you play in teams the outcome is always going to be different as you need to reply on your teammates to win tokens.
No Loyalty is a fun, high-energy (and sometimes very loud) party game that everyone can join in with. Players can expect shouting at each other, taking wacky photos/videos and even some physical activity, while laughter is guaranteed.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £19
For more information, visit www.explodingkittens.com. Available to buy from Amazon here.