COUP: Liar Liar, Pants On Fire

 

GAME OVERVIEW

You are a powerful state official within a government full of discord, intrigue and chaos. The government is on the brink of collapsing and you seize the opportunity to amass power by bribing and manipulating your way to the top. To be successful, you have to eliminate all your opponents and cut off their ties and influence.

In Coup, the goal is to be the last player standing. One would want to be the last player in the game with influence which is represented by face-down character cards in the playing area.  Coup is a relatively simple game. It’s a fast-paced, action-packed, bluffing game that is sure to test your friendships and ties.

THEME

You are the head of the family/government official of an old Italian state which is ran by a corrupt and weak government – sounds pretty familiar don’t you think? The theme of the game itself is pretty common as most games revolve around concepts like fighting for power.

However, what makes this game fun is that it’s sort of like Poker in a way. It’s set almost exactly like it – you have to hide cards and you have to bluff your way to winning.

RULEBOOK

The rules of the game are pretty straightforward. Plus there are handy cheat sheets which states all the actions a player can do every turn plus its conditions. It’s pretty easy to understand and even beginners would be able to get the flow of the game right away.

COMPONENTS

 

When you open the box, you’ll see 15 cards (3 copies of each character) and several “coins” to represent currency. These are basically the only components in the game along with six cheat sheets for every player.

MECHANICS

The only winning condition of the game is to be the last one standing. Meaning that you have to eliminate all of your foes. If you can’t eliminate them by force; bluffing and manipulation are the keys to the kingdom.

A player only gets to do one action per turn. Either that player can save up on resources (coins), exchange cards or steal from other players, or simply launch an all-out Coup. In order to do any of these actions, you have to have the appropriate character cards.

Here’s a quick rundown of the characters:

• Duke – Can automatically take three coins from the pile; blocks foreign aid. Because of his greed, he’ll be able to help speed up the process.
• Ambassador – Exchange cards with the stack; blocks stealing. Because of his diplomatic abilities, the ambassador can help get rid of unwanted cards while also checking what cards are left on the stack.
• Captain – steal two coins from another player; blocks stealing. He can slow down another player’s progress by taking his resources.
• Assassin – pay three coins to make another player lose influence. For a cheap price, she can catch unwary players off their guard.
• Contessa – blocks assassination. By with her mere presence, she can protect a player’s influence.

Apart from these, a player can also perform several actions without the use of cards.

• Income – Take one coin from the pile. Sometimes, honesty is the best policy.
• Foreign Aid – Take two coins from the pile. Can be blocked by someone with a Duke.
• Coup – pay 7 coins to make a player lose influence (unblockable). Unfortunately, in a tale surrounded by lust for power, money makes the world go round.

However, the aspect that makes this game worthwhile, nobody knows what your cards are. You can lie, cheat, and steal all you want – just don’t get caught. When you take one of the character actions – whether actively on your turn, or defensively in response to someone else’s action – that character’s action automatically succeeds unless an opponent challenges you. In this case, if you can’t (or don’t) reveal the appropriate character, you lose an influence, turning one of your characters face-up. Face-up characters cannot be used, and if both of your characters are face-up, you’re out of the game. So be wary of your surroundings.

The game is all about probability. Since a character card is flipped up once a player loses influence, you can start counting cards to check which ones are left and who among the other players are bluffing their way to winning.

OVERALL

                All in all, I think that Coup is a party game that everyone would enjoy. It could be played again and again because each time, the players are able to use different strategies and moves against different opponents. If you bluff the same way every game, you’re bound to lose. Someone will always try to mix things up and make the game more exciting. Hence, it does not grow stale and it will always be un-shelved when you have visitors.

SCORE

 

 

Don’t forget to head on over to Gaming Library ( www.gaminglib.com ) to get your very own copy of Resistance Coup!

 

 

 

 

COUP: Liar Liar, Pants On Fire