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Feb 16th, 2016 at 19:03:01 - Coup (Other) |
Coup is a board game with an interesting touch, lying is an integral part of playing. Before I can explain that completely I first need to explain the game. During each player's turn they may take one action, some of these actions are directed towards other players and those players are granted a reaction in most cases. The actions and reactions that a player may perform are based on the two character cards that they currently have in their possession, which at the start of the game are randomly handed out. This is the good part, where the lying comes in. Any player can claim to be a character that they in fact are not, but if they are caught lying by another player then they must forfeit one of their character cards. If a player is accused of lying when they are not, then the accuser must forfeit one of their cards and the accused must discard the character card they used as proof and draw a new one. It is important to note at this point that for however many players there are there is one less of each of the character cards. For example if four people are playing then there will only be three of each of the character cards.
So what are these character cards? I'm glad you (I) asked that. There are five character cards and one that gets replaced in the expansion, Reformation, that I was playing. The five base cards are Duke, Assassin, Contessa, Captain, and Ambassador, and in the expansion the Ambassador is replaced with the Inquisitor. Everybody can do a few things regardless of their characters, "Income" allows the player to take one token from the pot, "Foreign Aid" allows the player to take two tokens from the pot, and "Coup" the player spends seven tokens to force a player to discard one of their character cards. The Duke has the action of taking three tokens from the pot, and has the reaction of blocking another player from "Foreign Aid". The Assassin has an action to spend three tokens to force another player to discard a character card, and no reaction. The Contessa has no action, but has a reaction to block an assassination (but not a "Coup"). The Captain has an action to steal two coins from another player, and a reaction to block another player stealing from him. The Ambassador has the action to draw two new character cards and then pick two cards from their original two and the new two, and the reaction to block another player stealing from him. The Inquisitor, which replaces the Ambassador and has the same reaction, actually has two action options. The first is similar to the Ambassador, but with only one card, and the second action is to look at another player's card, of their choice, and then choose if they replace it or not.
The goal of the game is to be the last man standing by removing opposing player’s character cards, through assassination, a coup, or catching them lying.
Pretty much every game starts the same way, everyone claims to be the Duke and collects three tokens, and everyone starts off with two tokens. It’s not often that you will get called out for lying on the first turn, because everyone still has no clue about who is what characters. Occasionally someone will get called out in the first round, but it’s a big risk for the accuser in most cases. Probably the most dangerous thing to do is to lie about being the Contessa when someone assassinates you, because if you’re found out not only do you lose your card for lying, you also lose one in the assassination. That means an instant loss, this is a strategy that works best in the case of having just one card left and no other options.
There are times when the Inquisitor can be slightly overpowered, like in my first game. It was down to me and one other, I had two character cards left and he only had one. Using my Inquisitor I looked to see what his one card was, the Captain. Knowing that my other card was the Assassin, and that I had thoroughly convinced everyone that it was the Duke, I figured I had already won. So I continued to take three tokens each turn and he continued to take two from me, until I had three tokens and revealed myself to be the Assassin and won the game. It should be noted that, although the Inquisitor did give me a distinct advantage at the end, one person with a single card against a person with two cards is pretty much over anyway.
Also I have discovered in previous play throughs that if one player doesn’t care about the game at all and just does whatever they feel like doing, it does slightly break the game. Somehow or another the person who doesn’t care about what’s going on seems to always win. I guess it’s kind of like having a strategy of having no strategy thus wrecking everyone else’s strategies. But even that is fun to watch play out, and it doesn’t really matter cause most play throughs only last two to five minutes.
This entry has been edited 2 times. It was last edited on Feb 16th, 2016 at 19:04:42.
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