Dixit is Apples to Apples with pictures instead of words.

Well, that's the basic idea, but it's slightly more complicated than that. Each player gets a hand of illustrated cards, and the judge gives a target. Each player, including the judge, plays the card from their hand that they feel best matches the target. The cards are played face down, mixed, and then revealed. Each player other than the judge votes on which card they think the was the judge's.

The target can be anything - a word, a phrase, a song lyric, a movie quote, a pop culture reference. The challenge for the judge is to pick something that will inspire a lot of close matches, as the judge will points for having some but not all of the players correctly guessing their card. Other players also earn points when someone else mistakenly picks their card in place of the judge's.

As you might expect, the big hook of this game is the art. The cards are richly illustrated by Marie Cardouat with complex and fantastical illustrations, generally ranging from fairy tale scenes to magic realism, often with a heavy dose of surrealism.

This is a good game that is both social and creative, and that can be enjoyed by adults and children alike (it is recommended for 8 up; players under 12 may benefit from an adult player to act as coordinator). Its biggest downside is the scoring system, which is more complex than is perhaps strictly necessary, but if you have a dedicated scorekeeper things generally run smoothly.

Dixit has a number of expansions, all of which consist of additional sets of cards with unique art. Dixit Quest, Dixit Origins, Dixit: Daydreams, Dixit: Memories, and Dixit: Revelations are simply sets of 84 cards each, all with unique art. Additionally, the cards from Mysterium can be interchanged with Dixit cards.

Dixit Odyssey is an alternate version of the game, identical to the original but with all new art and with accommodations for up to 12 players (the original maxed out at six players) and alternate rules for team play; it is also available as an expansion with no board or player pieces, just the art cards.

Dixit: Journey is a reboot with simplified gameplay; I have not played it, so I do not know how successful it is in this; in Europe the art from Dixit Quest is sold as the expansion Dixit 3, which does not include the modified gameboard.


Dixit is French for '(s)he said'. However, there seems to be general agreement that it should be pronounced with the final 't', as it comes originally from Latin.