Coup - An Introduction

 Coup - An Introduction

Game Specs

• Advertised Player Count: 2-6
• *Actual* Player Count: You definitely want at least 3 for this, but I generally don't enjoy it as much as when there are 4-6
• Playing Time: 15 minutes (That's on the long end or with new players; when players are familiar with the game, it moves.)
• Age: 13+
• Premise: This is a card game in which you will bluff (and call bluffs!) with no third chances.

I really love this game, is the long and short of it. Each player is dealt two cards (Influence) and 2 coins. Each turn, a player gets one action. The goal of the game is to eliminate all of the other players.

There are 3 general actions which any player can take during their turn: Income (Take 1 coin from the treasury), Foreign Aid (take 2 coins from the treasury), or Coup (pay 7 coins to the treasury and choose another player to lose an Influence [card] from their hand; there is no way to block a Coup). Besides the general actions, however, players may take character actions based on which characters are printed on the Influence (cards) in their hand. Some of those cards, additionally, have counteractions. For instance, you can see below (if your eyes are insanely better than mine....) that the Duke can take 3 coins from the Treasury as a character action (the 1 action you take during your turn) as well as being able to "Block Foreign Aid."

"Block Foreign Aid" is a counteraction, as you're basically waiting until a player attempts to take the General Action of "Foreign Aid" on their own turn, then telling them you're blocking that action. If you say that, you're telling them that you either have the Duke or the Ambassador in your hand (as the Ambassador has the same counteraction printed on it).

Here's where the real fun comes in: you don't necessarily have to have that card in your hand to claim that action. You can just say "I block Foreign Aid with my Duke." If someone pays 3 coins to play the Assassin against you (thus removing 1 Influence/card from your hand), they may or may not have the Assassin. You can say, "I block with my Contessa." You may or may not have the Contessa. The game is played without revealing any cards in your hand until someone issues a challenge. Anyone at the table can issue the challenge; it need not be someone either playing a card or being targeted by a card play. When one issues a challenge, they are challenging the player who claims to have that card to prove it by revealing it.

If the challenge is successful, the person who was bluffing about the card they had will choose 1 Influence/card from their hand and discard it. If the challenge fails (because the person who was challenged has the card they claimed to have), then the player who was challenged reveals the card. They then shuffle that card back into the deck and draw a replacement card before the challenger who lost chooses 1 Influence/card from their hand and discards it. There is no way to gain additional cards in this game, and you are eliminated when you've lost both Influence/cards in your hand.


Bottom line: This is a really fun, short game that allows for quick play. I love the way events can unfold, I like watching challenges get wild, and I appreciate that I can go all-in by doubling down on a challenge or action, get eliminated in the first round, and still be able to play the next game in a couple of minutes. This is a staple game in my collection as a palate-cleanser of sorts between bigger games.