Don’t Talk to Strangers

About this board game

Don’t Talk to Strangers is a 2021 board game for 1–4 players that takes about 20 minutes to play. School is out, but otherworldly strangers are appearing throughout the neighborhood, and the kids must find their way to safety before the area is completely overrun.

Each player begins with a hand of three cards and places one kid in the School space. Your goal is to guide that kid to a valuable scoring space. Once a kid scores, place a new one at School and begin the journey again, aiming to collect as many points as possible before the game ends.

• Play one card and draw a replacement card on every turn.
• Use different forms of movement, including walking, running, skateboarding, and the school and city buses.
• Reach scoring spaces that may offer points or special benefits, such as increasing your hand size for each kid in the Library.

The neighborhood can change suddenly when a player draws a Stranger card. That player may abduct any kid on a Stranger Space, and the space becomes impassable for all future movement. Plans may need to change as routes disappear and new obstacles emerge.

Saucer cards create an even bigger threat: they can abduct any kid, including one who has already scored. However, the abduction depends on an opponent successfully flipping the Saucer Coin, giving the targeted player a chance to escape.

With its compact play time, card-driven movement, shifting routes, and escalating danger, Don’t Talk to Strangers challenges players to balance efficient travel with the risk of leaving their kids exposed.