I’ve stayed well clear of Funskool-IIT titles for a while. My experience with a couple of their initiatives left me with mixed feelings. Clever ideas. Sloppy execution. Gotcha! (at Rs 399), is an interesting game idea that’s presented well by the usual standards of the Indian Institute of Technology.
The two-to-four player game requires you to uncover the professions of other players while trying to keep yours a secret till the end. A less dramatic path to victory is to be the first to collect four of the six possible attribute cards related to your profession.
However, unlike Cluedo, where note taking is encouraged, Gotcha! expressly forbids it. Based on the attribute cards your opponents discard, you get a fix on what their professions are not. With five professions in play, you need to eliminate photographer, chef, illustrator, astronaut or farmer. Watch the cards and choose your discards with care.
What’s left me puzzled though are the “mischief cards” that don’t seem to show up enough. Is five of them too few? These cards have the capacity to force the pace, and add a wicked twist. What are the odds? To close each game on the luck of the draw, with four cards to complete your suite, is anti-climatic! A harder fought win would have been more worthy.