When comparing Secret Hitler vs Codenames: Pictures, the Slant community recommends Codenames: Pictures for most people. In the question“What are the best party board games?” Codenames: Pictures is ranked 3rd while Secret Hitler is ranked 6th. The most important reason people chose Codenames: Pictures is:
The large number of cards provides countless combinations meaning that you are unlikely to feel like you are ever repeating clues or links.
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 High replayability
The large number of cards provides countless combinations meaning that you are unlikely to feel like you are ever repeating clues or links.
Pro Unconventional art design leads to imaginative play
As each image depicts several things in numerous categories there is a sense of creativity when providing verbal clues which tie some together while excluding others.
Pro Team play allows any group size from 4 upward
Although it is best with 4-8 players, this could scale further if required.
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.