To win Secret Hitler players have to be able to play logically and figure out, using logic and the information they have, how the other players are playing. At the same time, there's a good amount of lying and deception going on, and that social aspect of figuring out who's not being honest meshes well with the logic reasoning. There's also an element of randomness coming from the Laws cards that takes the difficulty of the game up a notch.
This is an historical themed game, and one that took a very smart and creative approach to the historical events it portrays: Hitler's rise to power. Even if, admittedly, the setting is simplistic when compared to true history, most will still learn something from the game or at least feel compelled to do some reading on the subject.
The way the game is built, while the Liberals have lots of information to figure out and deduce, the Fascists have access to almost all of it. It is true that, in the "hidden identity" family of games, the general setting is an informed minority VS an uninformed majority, but other games usually integrate something that's hidden from the informed minority, like a one-player team that wins alone or a vigilante that kills bad guys. Something like this is strangely missing from the game.
While The Resistance is able to be played with 5-10 players, it turns out best when played with 6 or more players. It engages the players and forces them to work together to see who the spies are.
While there is little variation game-to-game (there's always going to be 2 spies when 5 or 6 people play the game, the mission sizes are always the same for the same group size...), it's the circumstances that change each time which allow it to be played over and over and over again without losing any excitement.
The spy doesn't try to kill everyone, but to find out where he or she is and to blend with others. This unleashes the player's creativity in asking and answering in that way that only villains will understand it
Whether they're selling Story Pajamas to the Teacher, a Pocket Toilet to a Couch Potato, or the ever-handy Baby Shield to some Aliens, it is the sales pitches of the players that elevate Snake Oil above similar games like Cards Against Humanity or Apples to Apples. Being able to sell their products gives players ownership of what cards they play and it rewards those who commit to trying to actually match the product to the customer.
With 56 possible customer roles and 336 product cards, there's already a large amount of variety built into the game, but the 30 second pitches allow everyone's creativity to keep each game fresh and new.
If players aren't willing to really try and sell their products the game can quickly grow stale as people simply play cards and hope to get picked. Now use that silver tongue to get out there and sell some Snake Oil!
Perhaps the mission failed because that one minion got too drunk on dwarven ale, or maybe it was that the other minion fell under the sway of a mysterious siren, no, it was definitely because all the other minions are working for the other dark overlord! Whatever the case, the shifting blame and pointing fingers leads to a frantic and fun game full of laughs.
Players need to be willing and able to make up stories on the spot and roll with the game as it evolves over the course of play, which isn't for everyone and as a result this game can fall flat for some players.