Coup review

Indie Boards and Cards | Card game | 2-6 players | 15 minutes | www.indieboardsandcards.com 

Set in a world where CEOs are now in charge of governments, imagine Richard Branson as Prime Minister, Coup sees players trying to bluff their way to the top and be the last CEO standing. Like Sheriff of Nottingham, this is a game about smiling sweetly while jabbing a knife into your opponent’s back.

At the start of the game you’re dealt two cards from a deck and each will show a CEO. There are five different types of CEO – Duke, Assassin, Contessa, Captain and Ambassaor – and there are three cards for each CEO in the deck. After being dealt the cards, you hide them from the other players (keep it secret, keep it safe). Each of the CEOs has a different ability, e.g. the Captain can claim coins from other players or block players from taking coins from them, while the Ambassador can draw two CEO cards from the pile.

However, and this is where Coup gets interesting, it doesn’t actually matter what CEO you’ve got in your hand because when it comes to your turn you can still do any of the CEO actions or do any of the CEO actions in response to another player’s actions. Say for example you’ve got a Contessa card and a Captain card, you could tell everyone you have the Duke card to allow you to take three coins from the treasury. 

If everyone believes you, great! You’ve got away with it. However, if someone challenges you and you’re lying, you have to turn one of your cards over. As soon as you’ve turned both cards over, you’re out of the game. Of course, if you’re playing it straight and someone wrongly accuses you, then they’ve got to turn one of their cards over instead, while you get to shuffle that CEO back into the deck and draw a new card. You can play the game without lying at all… but where’s the fun in that? A super quick card game of bluffing and big business.

Buy a copy here

Sometimes we may include links to online retailers, from which we might receive a commission if you make a purchase. Affiliate links do not influence editorial coverage and will only be used when covering relevant products.