Platypus is a mixture of Codenames and Decrypto from the creator of Sushi Go!
Top billing.
Guess the connecting word as a team in Platypus, the upcoming board game from the designer behind Sushi Go!, Phil Walker-Harding.
A party game for two to eight players, Platypus sees players working together to identify the right word card over the space of seven rounds. At the very beginning of the game, the players are split into two different roles - guides and explorers - who must help each other to identify the correct ‘platypus’ card. Eight words are placed in a row in front of the players, with the guides knowing which card the explorers need to guess in order to win the game.
The guides must then take turns to provide the explorers with a clue card from their hand, meaning that - similar to the word game Decrypto - the players will receive a gradual trickle of information. Clue cards are adjectives that should have some connection to the correct platypus card, whilst avoiding making potential connections with the wrong platypus cards - in a similar fashion to party game Codenames. The explorers will then need to eliminate a platypus card from the row that they think does not fit with the clues.
Should the explorers remove the correct platypus card, everyone loses the co-op board game. However, if the last remaining card is the right platypus card, everyone wins and roles can be swapped around for the next playthrough.
Besides designing Platypus and Sushi Go!, Walker-Harding is known for creating historical city-building title Imhotep, tile-placement board game Bärenpark and card-drafting marbles game Gizmos.
Matagot is the studio responsible for publishing Platypus, with the company’s previous releases including co-op board game Captain Sonar and epic Greek mythology game Cyclades and its Egyptian spiritual successor, Kemet.
Last year, Walker-Harding told Dicebreaker that they were in the midst of creating an upcoming game called Monolyth. Inspired by the premise “What if Bärenpark had 3D pieces?”, Monolyth sees players attempting to construct monuments by placing 3D blocks in arrangements matching certain prophecies - with each completed pattern granting the player points. The game is being produced by Eric Lang, the creator of Blood Rage and last year’s Ankh: Gods of Egypt, with a release date yet to be confirmed.
According to BoardGameGeek, Platypus is set to be released sometime this year - with a retail price yet to be revealed.