Deceit is back with the up-and-coming Deceit 2, and everyone is getting ready to deceive their friends. Gear up with up to 8 other players, and either try to survive or kill the people you’re trapped with. Can you get through the Game Master’s games and live to tell the tale?

We’re thrown directly into the game with a fantastic video introduction to our role; we’re either a basic Innocent, the team’s Healer, or the sneaky Infected. As an Innocent, the goal of the game is to complete tasks within the play area. Once the innocents get 45 tasks done, the escape door will open and the innocents can escape and win. Or, as an Infected, your goal is to eliminate all the innocent members. You can either do this by blaming another player, or during the hunt phase, the infected can eliminate one person from the round. After this phase has ended, everyone still alive returns to where they were before the phase began and continues completing their tasks.

The Healer is a member of the Innocents, and they can cast a protection spell on themselves or another player, and if that player is killed during the hunting phase, they are then saved. During the playing phase, the Infected look like normal people and can complete tasks, and the main way the Infected can eliminate a player is during the Hunting phase.

They can stay as normal players during this, but they can randomly transform into the Terror, and if they come across a player, they can choose to kill them. During the playtest, I had a round as the Infected and I accidentally killed my own Infected teammate. It was a shock when I noticed who I killed, so make sure to be weary of who you kill during the Hunting phase, especially if your teammate isn’t transformed yet!

To combat the Infected or any other suspicious players, there is a shop where all players can purchase something. During early gameplay, you only have access to a certain amount of the items in the shop, and you unlock more by just playing the game, and eventually, you’ll be given tokens to spend and you will eventually be given items for the shop during the game. During the playtest, the majority of players seemed to go directly for the pistol, deciding to protect themselves and others in case of any Infected or players throwing suspicion around.

There are other items in the shop, however, like the clipboard, which allows players to attempt to figure out who the Infected players are during the round. It will take multiple players buying the clipboard to be able to narrow down who the infected are, however, this would be a good time for a member of the Infected team to try and deceive the Innocents.

Another item was the camera, and during the hunting phase, if an Innocent player is found by the Terror, they can activate their camera and stun them, allowing the player to get away, but be warned, if you are found by the Terror and cannot get away from them, your sanity will start to drain, and just like health, it doesn’t regenerate, so if you are seen, run for your life.

I really enjoy the idea of having a proximity chat in a social deduction game, as most games that I’ve played were always primarily text-based, and it’s good to see a fresh addition to a social deduction title. The proximity chat is one of the main aspects of Deceit 2, as it allows all players to communicate in real-time, unlike some other titles, but don’t worry if you don’t have a microphone – there are multiple whiteboards located around the map, and players can use these to communicate.

I’m someone who normally doesn’t play social deduction titles, and I hadn’t played the original Deceit game, so I had an open mind when first giving it a go, and I can say that I enjoyed the rounds that I played in Deceit 2. I enjoyed playing as a member of the Innocent team, as I was able to mind my own business and get the tasks done. When something happened, I was able to interject and help my team to victory, and I got a great feeling from doing so. For someone who doesn’t play these titles, I would be more than happy to jump back into Deceit 2 once it’s fully released, deceiving the Innocents and also surviving the Terrors.

Written by: Mitchell Batchelor