Introduction
Inkognito is a light deduction game for 3 - 4 players.
It's carnival time in Venice, and the streets are awash with masked characters running here and there. The players are each international super-spies who have taken advantage of this time to come to Venice and accomplish their secret mission.
But they don't know what their mission is. They only know HALF of their mission. They have to meet up with their partner (who has the other half of the mission) to find out exactly what their mission is.
The twist is that you don't know which player is your partner.
You must ask questions of the other players to deduce their identities, figure out who your partner is, share your halves of the mission information with each other, and accomplish the mission - all before the opposing team accomplishes their mission.


Rules in Brief
At the beginning of the game, each player is dealt an identity (which of the four super-spies they are), a body-type (whether they are fat, skinny, tall, or fat), and a mission half (A, B, C, or D). Each card is unique, so if I'm "Lord Fiddlebottom" and I'm the "short" body type, I know that no one else is.
To determine their move, players roll the "Phantom of Prophecy." The Phantom is a strange, masked head containing various colored balls. Shake it around and flip it upright - whatever three balls come to the front tell you what your move options are (land, sea, anything, etc.)
Players move their pawns onto other players' pawns, having an "encounter" with that player. During an encounter, you will learn a little bit of information about the player. The player will slip you cards representing statements about their identity and body type. You will be told several bits of information, one of which has to be true. For instance: you may be told that the player is Lord Fittlebottom, that the player is Mr. X, and that the player is tall. This is done through the giving of cards, so only you and the encountered player will know the information exchanged.
As you continue to ask questions, players must not tell you the exact same bits of information. Repeated questions help you winnow down the possibilities until you are able to deduce the information you need.
You then encounter your partner and slip them your mission half like you normally would any other card during an encounter. Once you know the two halves of your mission, you must accomplish it.
A mission would be something like "Get any one of your pawns onto Mr. X" or "Move Col. Bubble to location #5).

Components
The components are gorgeous. There are 16 player pawns, representing the fat, skinny, tall, and short body type for each of the four colors. The "Phantom of Prophecy" is intriguing, definitely unusual. The Phantom is generally well-made. However, you have to hold it tight as you shake it or parts will pop off and you have to shake it well to randomize the balls. Not shaking vigorously enough will not change the outcome, so you'll just get the same "roll" again and again.
The board is a quite large map of Venice with surprising detail. One of my friends has actually visited Venice and pointed out to me the various landmarks which were accurately depicted on the map.

So what's it like?
I'd say that Inkognito is about as complex as Settlers of Catan. It's appropriate for lighter-type gaming groups, and it also makes a pretty fun game for two couples.
The experience of playing the game is loads of fun. There's tension to find your partner, and the aspect of racing against the other team adds a nice element.
Other reviews I've read and opinions I've heard from players say that this game is no fun when one person plays poorly and ruins the whole experience for everyone. Well, Inkogntio is a partnership game. If your partner stinks, you'll probably lose - even if you did everything perfectly. Some people hate the aspect of this game. I, however, grew up with and still love 4-player card games like spades or Rook - so the partnership thing doesn't irk me as much.
The deduction aspect of the game, at least for me, is not that difficult. You probably won't be racking your brain trying to figure out all the possibilities. I think this help keeps the game fun and somewhat-accessible, instead of just being a puzzle.
After a lot of plays, the game takes on a different feel to it. It gets less fun in a way because the best strategies become more obvious.
Everyone is trying to get to the ambassador (the best way to get good information), and there's not a lot of strategy to that. Everyone's trying to get there - everyone knows that everyone is trying to get there. It's simply a matter of getting a good roll. Not exactly enthralling.
But, with repeated plays, there's a psychological aspect to the game. It's as much about reading the other players as it is deduction. You want to move your pieces to accomplish your mission - but if you're too obvious, you'll tip off your opponents. I've figured out who my partner was on many occasions just due to the way the other players looked at each other and the board. Then you can get into the realm of false signals and all those mind games.

Final Thoughts
All in all, Inkognito is fun for lighter-to-middle weight gamers. The partnership aspect is fun, while at the same time it can be frustrating (if your partner stinks). The game has limited replayability, but it's loads of fun to take out every now and then.
It's worthy of being included in a game collection (especially if you regularly play lighter-type games), but it wouldn't be one of my "desert island" games.