4 essential tips for the new jubensha player
So, you’ve found a jubensha game from the few options out there for English-language games. Congrats! It’s an experience I hope more people get to try.
Through my experience hosting numerous jubensha games, players often ask me questions about the best strategies or what to do in commonly encountered scenarios. Here are some of the questions with my answers.
Can I lie?
Yes! It’s a social deduction game and everyone is expected to have something to hide. One way to hide your secrets is to lie. You should especially lie at the beginning when there is no pressure or reason for you to fess up your shameful or guilty actions, whether it be the murder or another crime. Some lies will likely not last until the end of the game, but at least make the other players work for your confession…
What kind of lies should I tell?
Now that you know you should lie, the next question is, how far can you go? There is a limit to lying, but the boundary is more of an art than a science. The main thing to ask yourself is: would your character come up with such a lie? Here are some other tips on lying:
Avoid lies that are immersion breaking. If it’s a modern story, magic is likely not going to explain why the murder weapon is in your room.
A lie that’s close to the truth can be very effective. Did you lure the victim to the woods to try to kill them? Say that they lured you there instead!
Confess some secrets to gain credibility - no one’s squeaky clean, so if you have some kind of dirt to share, even if it’s made up, the others might think that’s all you’re hiding and move on.
Re-interpret clues that incriminate you to their next plausible conclusion. Jubensha games will have a number of people who could have done the crime, so use this to your advantage and push on others who are suspicious.
When should I make a clue public?
Most jubensha games have a system where you can obtain clues which are by default private (meaning, only you may look at it), and you decide when to make it public (when you share with everyone). It’s not obvious when you should do what, which is part of the fun! Here’s what I would do, based on the situation:
If the clue helps with worldbuilding and doesn’t directly incriminate me (to my knowledge), I would share relatively early on. These cards usually add critical context to other clues that help move forward everyone’s investigation. For example, if I get a clue that explains what a fictional drug does or how the magic system works, I would want to share that since it’s likely going to come up sooner or later.
If the clue reveals something private about another character (which are the majority of clue cards), then I would confront that player privately and ask them what they make of it. This is a perfect opportunity for them to lie to me, so I wouldn’t believe the first thing they say. Or, if it’s a lesser secret, they might confide in me and it’s up to me to trust them or not.
If I’m fishing for information that other people have, I might privately trade information and clues or exchange secrets. This is especially prominent if characters are linked by backstory (e.g. the other character is your sibling, your partner, the person you’re hired to protect, etc.) and you might have an objective to protect them from accusations or vice versa.
When public discussions take place and players are actively discussing a character’s actions, timeline, or backstory, and if my clue adds to that accusation, then I’ll reveal it when it can add maximum intrigue. I’d smack that clue down on the table and exclaim: “Well how do you explain this?”
How much role play should I do?
Jubensha has two main components: the emotional role play, where you immerse yourself into the character and try to feel what they feel, and the logical deduction, where you’re solving a puzzle and putting the pieces together. Every jubensha game has different proportions of these components.
If you’re playing a more emotional script, role play is encouraged to feel the full impact of the story. If it’s a more logical script, then role play can be relegated to the bare minimum of referring to your character in the first person (e.g. I did X or I saw Y) and, importantly, not reading directly from your booklet.
The game should advertise itself one way or the other, and if you have a GM who knows the game, they can advise you. But at the end of the day, you should role play as much or as little as you feel comfortable with and keeps up the energy of the game for everyone.
My last point is that the most important thing is that jubensha isn’t about saying all the “right” things or getting to the finish line in the most efficient way – it’s about having fun and getting the most out of the game. I’m hoping these tips will help you do that and discard any worry you have about messing it up. (You won’t!)
If you’re a new jubensha player, let me know if this helps. If you’re a seasoned veteran, tell me if this resonates with you, and if not, what your thoughts are!
