That’s Not a Hat review ⏤ Outwit or outbluff your opponents by giving gifts

This tiny box card game is pretty nifty. I can’t say it’s a game I want to play all the time, but it’s a unique design that combines memory and bluffing. The combination of these two genres makes That’s Not a Hat an interesting game that I’m sure some people will fall in love with. Let me see if I can remember what is facedown in That’s Not a Hat.

Overview

In That’s Not a Hat each player will receive one card face up from the pile of item cards. These cards have simple, but charming artwork of all kinds of everyday objects. Hats, birds, pizza, or a muffin could be dealt out to you. Then players start giving these items away as gifts to other players following the arrow on each card. While players get to look at their card at the beginning, as soon as the gift giving begins the cards are turned face down. Now it’s up to each player to remember who has which cards as they start moving from player to player. When you give a gift to someone else you have to tell them what you are giving away. “This is a frog,” you’ll say with confidence, because you might not remember what gift you actually have at that moment.

The player receiving the gift has to decide if they believe you or not. If they take the card, they do NOT get to look at it and then it is their turn to give away a gift. That player can’t immediately regift what they just received (That would be rude, the rulebook says.) and they must give away the card they already have. Should the player receiving the gift not believe you in what you’re giving them, they can say, “That’s not a frog,” and the card will be turned faceup. If the player receiving the gift correctly calls out an incorrect gift the player giving the card will then have to take it as a penalty point in their discard pile. If it was the correct gift that the giver declared then the player receiving the gift takes it as a penalty point. When an incorrect gift is correctly called out a new card is drawn faceup and then gifted to replace it. When a player has three penalty point cards the game ends and the player with the fewest penalty points wins.

That’s Not a Hat is simple and easy to play. Games of it are lighting fast and you can play multiple rounds as a great little filler game. If the concept of trying to remember cards as they get passed around sounds fun I think you’ll enjoy this game. As a bonus if memory isn’t your strong suit you can turn on the charm and try to bluff your way to victory too. Though, a lot of the time you’ll need a combination of the two to win.

Due to the added memory element, it is possible for players to actually remember all the cards being passed around. While I can’t keep track of that many moving pieces, if you are able to, it means you cannot be bluffed. That could be a turnoff for some players. In that same vein, not everyone likes bluffing games either. If these two mechanics aren’t for you then I doubt this game is going to change your mind, but the games are super short so I consider trying out That’s Not a Hat.

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