Sybarit from Fundex Games is hands-down the classiest game I have ever played. During our play-testing, it was necessary to host a cocktail party complete with semi-formal wear just so we did not feel like we were insulting it. To make reference to the Finer Things Club from NBC’s The Office, Sybarit is a game “in a very civilized way.”
The classy tin that serves as game box comes in a classy frosted plastic sleeve, reminiscent of classy vodka. It comes with great logos and fonts in an appropriate minimal, but not-too-minimal, style and suggests one play after “a delicious meal with soft lighting and good wine” and whilst “enjoying your coffee and cognac.” Without yet opening the box, there is a certain atmosphere established. Even the game’s name comes from the somewhat esoteric term “sybarite” as explained in the introduction to the rules, “a person devoted to pleasure and enjoyment” for whom “indulging in epicurean pleasures lend meaning to life itself.” The description also points out that a sybarite is not limited to specific ethics but rather “is free to choose his or her own objects of pleasure in areas such as food, drink and social life.”
Sybarit may seem initially confusing with its many stages, but that is a little bit of the fun of being upper class: knowing things that “other” people simply would not. Overall, the game is a question-and-answer trivia contest with some 2,400 questions. The questions come in four topics: food; drinks; etiquette, customs and table settings; and general topics related to food and drinks. Players decide whether they wish to play a regular game (about an hour) or a double game (two hours), because sybarite players may choose to do as they please. Specialized decks of playing cards are set in the middle, and a player draws one whose suit determines the category of the question.
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