Floodgate Games

We Can Have Nice Things!

by Ian Birdsall, Marketing Manager, Floodgate

We’ve all had the experiences of moving in with someone and finding out that our styles don’t mesh. No blacklight posters in the living room? Been there. The figurine collection receiving death-stares? Daily! The notso-subtle “It would be a shame if this was lost in a fire.” aimed at your favorite chair? Yup. What if this all-too-familiar situation wasn’t stressful, but instead it was… fun?

Coming this spring from Floodgate Games, Décorum: a game of passive aggressive cohabitation! Décorum is a cooperative game where 2 to 4 players work together to decorate a house. The tricky part is figuring out how to achieve your own secret objectives while compromising with the other players who are each attempting to satisfy their own home décor goals.

Décorum is played in a series of scenarios. In each scenario, the players’ home will start with certain decorations, accouterments, and paint colors in each room of the house. Whether the scenario puts the players in the roles of new roommates, a couple with different aesthetics, or a family with many different points of view, the goal is the same: decorate the home so everyone is happy. Will you figure out how to compromise and still get what your personal objectives call for, or is it time to move out? There’s always a solution, even if it doesn’t feel that way.

On your turn, you’ll make a single change to the house: add, remove, or swap out an item in a room, and of course, repaint the walls. The items, wall hangings, lamps, and curios (which you might know better as knick-knacks, tchotchkes, or bric-a-brac), and each have a color and a style: modern, antique, retro, or unusual. The changes you make work toward meeting your secret conditions, such as “There must not be any retro objects in the living room” or “each side of the house must contain two lamps, while hopefully working out for your partners.

After making your change, the other players can make a comment. However, iit being a passive-aggressive game, they can never share exactly how they feel. Sticking to statements like “I love it!”, “I hate it!”, or “I’m fine with it.” (of course, never sharing why they feel that way), these hints are all you have to go on to find a compromise. By paying attention to each player’s actions and reactions to your decorating choices you’ll begin to get an idea of what your housemates’ objectives are, hopefully leading to a harmonious household.

Designed by Charlie Mackin, Harry Mackin, and Drew Tenenbaum, and featuring a bright, modern-classic art style by Michael Mateyko / Komboh Creative, Décorum plays 2 to 4 players over 30 unique scenarios, providing plenty of cooperative puzzles to solve together! Followed up with a mobile app for an infinite stream of new scenarios, Décorum is sure to outlast that hideous wallpaper in your kitchen.

Décorum moves into your favorite local game store in March 2022. Contact your distributor or Rich Gain (rich@ floodgategames.com) for any sales questions.