Close & Personal plays exactly like Sotally Tober. Same deer, same six colour-coded card types, same one-sentence rule: draw a card, do what it says, or drink. What changed is the deck — 125 all-new cards that skip straight past small talk. If you have read our Sotally Tober guide, you already know how to play this. Here is what is actually different.
Do you need the original first?
No. This is a complete, standalone game with its own 125 cards and its own rules sheet. The only thing the two boxes share is the deer and the rules. Buy either first; buy both if your group works through decks quickly.
The six types, same as ever
- Activity (orange): actions you must perform.
- Secret (yellow): hidden tricks you keep face-down and spring at the worst moment.
- Curse (blue): conditions that stay on you until they leave your possession.
- Skill (green): powers you keep and use at your discretion.
- Decree (red): table-wide laws. Everyone abides, or everyone drinks.
- Bonus (purple): one card, blank by design — the table decides what it does before the first draw.
So what IS different?
The tone. The original asks you to perform; this one asks you to admit. Prompts lean into what your group already suspects about each other, which is why it plays best among friends with nothing left to hide and badly among colleagues you will see on Monday.
The out is the same
Every card carries the same escape hatch the original does: do what it says, or take the drink. Nobody is ever obliged to answer anything, and the rules are explicit that no card should be used to force anyone into anything. Playing sober? Swap drinks for points; lowest score wins.
Playing both
The two decks share a rule set, so you can shuffle them together for a longer night — you will simply draw a mix of the tame and the nosy. Most tables prefer starting the night with the original and switching once the room has warmed up.
