Could a strong knowledge of game design help you win The Traitors?
The author of The Floor is Lava and Bored?
Of course, things didn’t entirely go to plan.
‘, obviously - if I was ever going to apply for a reality show it would be this.
So that was my utility.
“But that’s fine.”
Because here’s the thing - The Traitors isn’t evenly balanced, far from it.
Globally, with the format produced in numerous countries, Traitor series wins far outnumber those of the Faithful.
More on that moment later.
“In well-balanced social deduction games, win rates are about 50-50.
Brett does some quick maths in his head.
“Like a three percent chance of winning?
And initially I was going with the idea it would be an equal chance.”
So why isn’t it fairer?
So the meta right now is to be quite outward and to be quite forward about your theories.”
“From a game design perspective, the only relevance to the challenges are the shields.
“I feel this is a shame,” he continues.
So why is it interesting?
Jasmine gets a shield.
No one talks about Jasmine for the rest of the day.
“One of them is the game being good and being exciting.
“It’s far easier to add twists for the Traitors.”
This creates great TV, obviously, and also ensures Faithful themselves never gain too much of an advantage.
“As a GM in D&D, it’s very similar,” he continues.
- then you will see players at their worst.
“I believe it was against the rules,” Brett says.
But I’m pretty sure it will never happen again.
It’s too powerful a move.
It would be a really interesting game to watch but it wouldn’t be The Traitors.”
Judging by the reception to this year’s series, a third UK run seems guaranteed.
So what advice for gaming the show would he pass on now, to next year’s players?
“I think they need to understand the prevailing view is about survival,” Brett says.
Don’t sit under the radar because then you’re a murder target.
Don’t bother defending yourself - it doesn’t work.
Always have a really good visible ‘biscuit’ to throw at the Round Table.
Try and survive being accused a couple of times and that should get you quite a long way.
If you could risk having one Traitor in Episode 11 you could have an Episode 12 with no Traitors.
I’ve heard people crying out for it - ‘let’s have an atheist game!
let’s have a game with no Traitors!’
“But I want to see the show go on and on and on.”
