The Red Stare

The Red Stare sounds like a game built around watching, hiding, or reading who is dangerous before the room tips over. By our assessment, that kind of idea can make for good tension when the rules are clear and the player has real information to work with, but it can also collapse into mood with little substance behind it. The title suggests a spy, suspicion, or paranoia angle, yet without more to go on it stays a fairly thin promise. In practice, this sort of game succeeds when every move carries a little risk and fails when the atmosphere is doing all the work. It sits closer to a small tension game than to a big, broad systems piece.