When comparing Secret Hitler vs Aye, Dark Overlord!, the Slant community recommends Secret Hitler for most people. In the question“What are the best board games that have acting in them?” Secret Hitler is ranked 1st while Aye, Dark Overlord! is ranked 5th. The most important reason people chose Secret Hitler is:
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.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Good combination of logic and social deduction, with a pinch of randomness
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.
Pro Clever and interesting take on historical events
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.
Pro Blaming other players for failure leads to hilarious storylines
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.
Cons
Con The information distribution between the two teams could be more balanced
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.
Con The heavy dependence on storytelling isn't for all players
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.