April 30, 2016 is International TableTop Day (ITTD), a day to gather with your friends and family at home, your local game store or wherever you like to play, and play. Popularized by Geek & Sundry, tying into Wil Wheaton's TableTop YouTube series , ITTD has gotten bigger and bigger since its inception in 2013 by founder Boyan Radakovich. ITTD events were held in 64 countries in its first year, and the count jumped past 80 in its second. For more information, be sure to check out Geek & Sundry's Twitter and Facebook pages.
You've fought for, or against, The Resistance, and now it is time for a change in the bureaucracy. It's time for the noble elite to fight their tricky, backstabbing game of thrones and lies. It is time to stage a Coup.
Coup is a turn-based card game that pits you against your political rivals for complete control by any means necessary.
Like othergames featured on Board of Dice, Coup begins with players being dealt cards in secret. Each will be assigned two character cards, each with their own effect and ability.
However, unlike some other games, you aren't committed to playing the hand you are dealt. Since the cards are played face down, and remain face down, the real fun and skill in Coup comes from bluffing your opponents.
Want to take out one of the rival's cards, but don't have the Assassin to do so? Just act as though you do. Want to gain a little extra coin? Bluff having the Captain or the Duke.
Each turn, the player chooses an effect from the list. They must pick one of them, but as said before it doesn't have to be one from the cards you possess.
The downside to the bluff is getting caught in a lie. Players can challenge any action taken by a player that involves a character skill. If you try to assassinate an opponent, collect tax or steal from another player, any player can challenge the action. At this time, you must present, to the table, the card whose action you're performing.
If you have the card, the one who issued the challenge must discard one of their characters. If you do not, you must discard one of yours. This is important, as the goal of the game is to be the only remaining player with character cards in play.
Eliminate all opponents through challenges, assassinations and coups and soon you'll be the only one with the influence needed to dominate the political world.
With the set up out of the way...
Coup, which was published after a successful Kickstarter campaign, is a quick-to-play game that can be played over and over again with the same group of people. Each player is given a list of the abilities of each character for quick reference, and soon it becomes more about out smarting each other on the path to victory.
There is an expansion to the game that adds another playable character type, and introduces alliances. Each player is given a card which puts them on what is effectively the red team and the blue team. You can pay to switch your own alliance or someone else's. This is beneficial as players are unable to harm players they are allied with.
With that said, Coup gets a Board of Dice rating of 4/5: When you play a game of coup, you win or you die.
Coup can be found on Amazon and at your local game store.
Are you a good guy? Or a dirty, dirty spy? Learn who your real friends are as you fight the oppressive government, or take down the resistance from within.
Much like the previously reviewed Bang!, The Resistance pits you against your friends with hidden identities to achieve your goal: have more operations go in your favour than the opposing side. It is played similar to the improv party game, Mafia, though with no eliminations.
The game changes slightly based on how many players are playing, but ultimately you are divided up into one of three roles:
Before each game, cards representing these roles are randomly dealt to each player, depending on the number of players. In a typical 5-person game, there is 1 leader, 2 resistance members and 2 spies.
After the roles are dealt secretly, each player closes their eyes. Then the spies open theirs, look to see who is their spy partner, then they close their eyes. Then the leader opens theirs, the resistance members raise their hands (while keeping their eyes closed) and then everyone goes back to neutral with eyes closed. After these steps are done, everyone opens their eyes and the game truly begins. Players must not reveal their roles during the game.
This pre-game is an important part of the strategy involved. The bulk of the game comes down to one player each round choosing which players to send on the mission. Then the table votes on the team. If a majority approve the team composition, the mission continues. If it fails, it falls on the person next to the previous chooser to decide the next team.
Spies want a spy on the mission, the resistance wants to avoid this. However, if three missions in a row are vetoed before they can commence, the spies get a victory point on the best-of-five.
It is during this time that you have to decide who is a good guy, and who is a spy. You can also trick other players, or try to persuade them one way or another. A trick I like to use when I am a resistance grunt is to pretend to be the leader, or act like I know who the spies are, with the hopes of throwing the spies off. If the resistance wins the best of five, the spies still have a last ditch, one-shot chance to guess the leader. If they are correct, they win.
Once a mission team is decided, each are dealt two cards, a success and a fail.
The selected members play their card face down, and place the remainder back in the card pile. When all have played their cards, the choices are shuffled a bit, and then revealed to everyone.
Resistance members must, and want to, play success cards. Spies have a choice, to pass or fail. If even one fail card is played, the mission fails. However, doing this allows the other players to know that a spy was sent on that mission, so it is unlikely that those players will be selected again. Doubt is cast on the whole team.
With the set up out of the way...
I love this game. It is one of those games that has a lot up front, but you get the hang of really quickly. Most of the time spent on the game doesn't have to deal with the components of the game box, but rather the discussion that occurs between rounds as players accuse one another of being a spy. Or defend themselves as being "a good guy" who you can trust.
The roles change between games, but the stigma sticks. Someone who was a dirty spy in the last game may be on your team this game, but still carries the weight of being a dirty spy.
There are expansions for the game, but I can't offer any insight into them as I've never played them. The base game alone is wonderful enough for my friends and I.
The Resistance gets a Board of Dice rating of: 4/5 - I'm a good guy, I swear!
It may require more players than some games, but it is a blast to play when you have the right set up. Each game tends to only last 15-20 minutes, but you'll want to play over and over again.
If The Resistance is the ground level forces in this game's universe, what is happening at the top level government? Find out next week on Board of Dice as we stage a Coup.
If you'd like to see The Resistance in action, be sure to check out Geek & Sundry's TableTop show with Wil Wheaton:
What happens when a team of deadly ninja assassins partners up with a ravenous hoard of dinosaurs? Or a mindless pack of zombies with calculating, mystical wizards? World domination.
In Smash Up, players are given two factions at random from a selection that includes things like ninjas, werewolves, robots, dinosaurs and ghosts, to extreme, out-there factions like the bear cavalry or eldritch abominations.
By combining the two decks, players form their team and set to smash, or break apart, bases and take over the world.
The factions are shuffled together, and placed face down in a pile. Each player draws five cards (and two more at the end of each turn). After joining the two factions together to make a team, base cards are played in the middle of the table. Usually the number of bases is number of players+1. Like the factions, the bases tend to have a type of card they are most tied to the playstyle of, and are often based on movies, books, games or other pop culture. The zombie's base, Rhodes Plaza Mall, is based off the movie, Dawn of the Dead, while the wizard's School of Wizarding is a nod to Harry Potter. (If you are also interested in movies and movie trivia, be sure to check out Flictionary.)
Each turn, a player can play up to ONE minion and ONE action card (though various card effect allow players to do more!). The goal is to have the power of the minions surpass the number in the top left of the base card. When that point is reached, a based is SMASHED and victory points are awarded. Each base has different SMASH conditions, and award different victory point amounts. Once a player has collected 15 Victory Points, they are the world conqueror! The initial version of Smash Up allows for 2-4 players, but with many different expansions added to the original game, the number of factions added has allowed for even more players the smash up the world. A more comprehensive book of rules can be found here!
With the set up out of the way...
Smash Up is a game that is light on rules. It has a basic premise, and most of the situational rules are printed directly on the cards themselves. This makes it accessible to a wide range of players while still allowing for strategy to flow. But is it fun? Hell yeah! Each game takes around an hour to play (with 4 players) so it is good for short-game sessions but can also be played multiple times in a game-filled afternoon or evening. Since its release in September 2012, Smash Up has followed up with five expansions, each adding new factions and new bases. Figuring out the best combinations and coming up with strategies on the fly with your assigned factions is a blast enough on its own, but combine that with the hilarity the game brings out and you're in for a smashing time. The game isn't without its flaws, however. The base game, while totally playable on its own, does get stale without expansions after a few plays. So the cost of entry can be anywhere from $30 for the base alone to base plus however many $25 expansions you wish to add. That alone isn't enough to bring the game down. The variety of play, and multiple factions leads to a lot of replay value. Smash Up gets a Board of Dice rating of: 4/5 - Smashing! Not a perfect game, but a wonderful addition to any tabletop collection. Smash Up can be found at your local game store (like The Toy Trove on St. Paul St. in St. Catharines, and on Amazon. If you would like to see a game of Smash Up in action, check out Wil Wheaton's TableTop channel, where he plays the game in season 2.
Join Board of Dice next Tabletop Thursday where I will be reviewing Bang!
