The Resistance: 3rd Edition
Set in the near future, The Resistance pits a small group of resistance fighters against a powerful and corrupt government. The resistance has launched a series of bold and daring missions to bring the government to its knees. Unfortunately spies have infiltrated the resistance ranks, ready to sabotage the carefully crafted plans. Even a single spy can take down a resistance mission team, choose your teams carefully or forever lose your chance for freedom.
Included in this release is a full expansion - "The Plot Thickens" is 15 additional action cards that increase the pressure and pacing of the game, and requires the spies to be even more deceitful if they are to achieve victory.
The Resistance artfully balances pure deduction elements with the social elements into a game that creates the adrenaline filled moments of high stakes poker but in a full interactive and social event. Its not for the faint of heart, or slow of mind - but if you are quick on your feet you'll be proud of your hard fought victories.
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The Resistance is a game that I’ve been waiting for to get to this site, just so I could “Favorite” it and “Heart It”. The only serious downside that I have found is getting enough people to match its “5-10 players” requirement.
The Resistance plays on the player’s logic and emotion. In each game two things usually happen. Either the correct people are chosen for the missions (and they play the “correct” way) which leads to a possible logical conclusion about who is and who is not a spy. The other thing that happens to us (and the situation that is more often encountered) is you can logic it down to a few possibilities and then it is just people’s words against each other.
While you’re a member of the resistance, you have little to do but defend yourself. There was a lot of “well, I know I’m not a spy, but I can’t really say anything to convince you of that” going on while I was a resistance member. Every so often you’ll get into a scenario where you can really lead the discussion on why a certain person is a spy but most of the time it’s the spies that get to have the most fun.
Being a spy is stressful. Certain ways of thinking enter your head that you didn’t think to consciously control. Things such as saying “they”/”them” instead of “we”/”us” when talking about the resistance. Also pushing too hard for certain rosters tends to get you (or your partner(s)) into trouble. Nothing that I’ve played can beat the thrill of being a spy and having resistance members point to you during discussion and say “well, we know he’s not a spy”. You start to worry “how do I react? I should be happy…but not too happy”.
All-in-all this is a solid party game if you have the minimum amount of people to play. One complaint that the group had is that there are too few missions, but even with the complaint, we haven’t tried to lengthen the game (not sure if it would ruin a round or not).
So far about 3/4 of the games have been awesome. The last quarter, while still fun, had a sort of helplessness to them. Either the resistance couldn’t figure out anything and lost 3 missions quickly, or the spies didn’t get chosen (or messed up their play) and the resistance won 3 missions quickly.
I can’t comment on the expansion included in the game because we haven’t gotten around to playing it. I assume it makes it more interesting but so far we’re having so much fun with original, that we haven’t even read the rules for the expansion.
Good: Awesome, intense play. I love the tabletalk that goes on. Most thrilling game I’ve ever played while a spy. Games are quick.
Bad: Hard to find 5 people (I need more friends). About 1/4 of the games are “helpless” and there’s nothing that either side can do to stop the other side.
Decent games that can accommodate a large number of players (here up to 10) and play quickly (within a half-hour) are useful to have for group gaming events with multiple tables of games that start and end at different times. While waiting for people to arrive or for a table to finish before starting a new game, The Resistance works well as a high energy filler.
The Resistance shares its roots with Werewolf/Mafia, a card game where players are secretly assigned a role (usually “human” or “werewolf” / “good” or “bad”). Different roles have different winning conditions, usually based on eliminating players with the opposite role type. With the roles being secret, decisions are based on whatever criteria you choose, often involving impassioned speeches based on little to no meaningful data, and resulting in a player being removed from the game.
Thankfully for me (and likely those that also don’t care for Werewolf/Mafia), The Resistance improves upon this shared experience by placing gaming elements on top of this theme. Gone are the player eliminations and long playtime required to repeatedly knock out these other players. The Resistance plays relatively quickly, and can be learned easily. It keeps the need of players interacting and deducing someone’s true nature, but adds missions from which information can be gained.
Game Play
Each player is secretly assigned a role card to start the game, either blue or red. Blue players (Resistance Operatives) compete with red players (Imperial Spies) to be the first to complete 3 missions (thus it is best of 5). The spies will know who each other are (after roles are passed out, everyone closes their eyes with the spies opening their eyes to see each other), the resistance only know their own role.
Each turn, a start player will pass out mission cards to a number of players (this number if based on the total number of players). The earlier missions typically have fewer participants than later. All players vote whether they agree to those chosen being allowed to go on the mission. If more vote “yes”, the mission occurs. If there is a not a majority of “yes” votes, the start player passes to the left, and this player now selects a mission team. This continues until a group is approved. If this type of vote fails 5 times in a row, the game ends with the spies winning.
When a mission occurs, each member who was selected gets a blue and red card. They select one to play (blue players may only select blue, red players may select either color), discarding the other. After shuffling to keep who played which card secret, the cards are revealed. If any are red, the mission fails (some missions may need 2 red to fail depending on player count and round). Failure means red gets 1 of the 3 points needed to win the game. If all are blue, the mission succeeds, and the blue team gets the point.
This continues, with a new team being selected and voted upon. The game ends when one team has taken 3 missions.
My Thoughts
The Resistance takes a card based group experience that I grew weary of long ago (Werewolf / Mafia) and adds a gaming element to it. It plays quicker, doesn’t have player elimination. Heated discussions over a player’s allegiance are still around, but the missions now give information upon which to base accusations.
A spy being able to choose a blue card, allowing a mission to succeed is, in my mind, the key factor in this game that keeps it entertaining and challenging. If spies always had to vote to fail a mission, it would get dull quickly, becoming a straight deduction game. With spies being able to mask their allegiance, they can gain the trust of the players at the table, only to stab them in the back later. As more people are required for later missions, the ability to determine who is on the blue team becomes more important, and more difficult.
I like the mission board that comes with the game. While not a necessary component, it does an excellent job of presenting information that many games make you search the rulebook for each time to find. The number of blue vs. red players are shown for different player counts, as well as how many people must go on each mission. The game is mainly negotiation/deduction based, and does not rely heavily on the components, keeping game costs down.
I find the game as described above to hit a good balance of time/complexity. Somewhat surprisingly in today’s game market, additional cards are included that give players special powers. These are the sorts of cards that I believe most games would leave as expansions for an additional cost. I don’t feel the game needs these extra cards, but they are good for groups that play the game regularly.
Overall, I find this to be a solid filler. While I prefer Incan Gold as a quick playing large group (up to 8, compared to The Resistance’s 10) game, The Resistance scratches the itch of player interaction where you can lie, bluff, or deduce your way to victory. If this sounds like your group’s idea of fun, give The Resistance a try!
This last weekend I was lucky enough to try two games, both of which are semi co-operative. The first was Locke & Key: The Game, Cryptozoic Entertainment’s card game based on the Locke & Key comic book series written by author, Joe Hill. The other was The Resistance: A Game of Secret Identities, Deduction, and Deception, a social game for larger groups published by Indie Boards and Cards. That I played it twice in an afternoon of trying little games is indicative of which one of the two that I preferred. This though, will not stop me returning to review Locke & Key: The Game at some point.
The Resistance is a game of deduction set in the near future when a group of resistance fighters have banded together to bring down a powerful, but corrupt government. Members of the resistance believe that if they are to succeed, the Empire must fall. They are nearing that final objective, and need only to strike at five key bases. If three of these bases can be taken, Imperial strength will be broken, the people will be freed, and the Empire will collapse. Unfortunately for the members of the resistance, the Empire has infiltrated the subversive organisation with spies ready to sabotage the resistance’s efforts. It only takes one spy to pass information to his government masters and prevent one of the resistance’s missions from succeeding. Although the resistance suspects that one or more of its members are spies in the employ of the government, it does not know the true allegiance of every one of its members. So any leader sending members of the resistance out on a mission will have to choose carefully, and learn from the success or failure of the mission as to whose allegiance lies where…
Designed to be played by between five and ten participants, The Resistance shares many features with social games like Werewolf and Mafia, but in either case, it plays quicker, a game rarely lasting longer than thirty minutes, and nor it does involve players being eliminated from the game. It is also more focused, involving just the five missions. All the resistance has to do is successfully pull off three of these missions, whilst the spies need to betray three of the missions.
The game comes in a small box. Inside are several sets of cards, three sets of wooden counters, and a small card board. The cards consist of a Leader Card, plus Identity, Team, Vote, and Mission Cards. The Identity Cards determine which of the players are loyal members of the resistance and which of them are spies; the Team Cards are used to indicate which of the players are going on a mission; the Vote Cards to determine if a proposed team for a mission is acceptable; and the Mission Cards are used to determine the success or failure of a mission. The Leader Card indicates which player currently has the task of nominating the members of a Team that will go on the mission. The game’s board shows how many players of the resistance are actually spies and how many members need to go on each of the five missions. Using the counters, it also tracks the number of successful or failed missions, and the number of failed votes for the nominating a Team for a mission.
At game’s start, each player is dealt an Identity Card. On its reverse, it shows either a person wearing blue, in which case that player is a loyal member of the resistance; or it shows a person in red, which means that he is a spy working for the government. The number of spies will vary according to the number of players. It is never less than two, but in larger groups, it can be as many as three or four. A player’s Identity Card is never revealed, but before play begins, the spies reveal themselves to each other so that they can work together to undermine the efforts of the resistance. Everyone also receives a pair of Vote Cards, one for “Yes” and one for “No.”
Then the first Leader is randomly selected and given the Leader Card. It is his job to nominate the players who are going on the next mission. The number needed for each mission varies according to the number of people playing, but it always starts out at either two or three and grows. So in a five player game, the first and third missions only require two participants, but the others need three. In an eight or nine player game, the first mission needs three participants, the second and third needs four, and the fourth and fifth needs five. What this mechanic does is force the need to find the spies quickly as the requirement for more players increases the possibility that one or more spies will be included on the Team for that mission.
Once nominated, everyone gets to vote on the make-up of the Team. This is done by playing the Vote Cards, either a “Yes” or a “No” card. If the Vote passes, then the Team goes on the mission. If it fails, then the Leader Card is passed to the left and the new Leader gets to nominate the members of a Team for the current mission. If the Vote for a Team fails five times, there is too much dissent amongst the ranks of the resistance and the spies are deemed to have successfully prevented the mission from going ahead.
Should a Team be successfully Voted for, it goes on the mission. Each player on the mission now has the chance to determine its outcome. He receives two Mission Cards, one indicating a Success, the other a Failure. He will secretly play one of these two cards onto a mission pile. If he is a loyal member of the resistance, he must play a Success. If he is a spy, then he can choose to play either a Success or a Failure card. Once everyone on the mission has played a Mission Card, they are all revealed and the mission’s outcome is determined. If they are revealed to be all Success cards, then the mission has succeeded. If only one of them is a Failure Card, the mission has not been a success.
This continues until either the resistance has successfully completed three missions or the spies have successfully stopped three missions. The Resistance is as mechanically simple as that.
Yet, The Resistance is much more than this. Both sides are up against the time limit of five missions. Failure is an option in the game – certainly early on. Failure for the members of the resistance hopefully enables them to identity the spies, but failure for the spies enables them to hide their identities. Neither side can afford to fail more than twice of course… Whilst the primary means of working out who the spies are is deducing who played the Failure cards on a mission, a secondary means is by watching how the players vote for members of a Team.
In addition to the deduction, there is nothing to stop the players from accusing each other of being a spy. This can because one player has an idea that another really is a spy, or it could actually be a spy sowing dissension. In fact, table talk of this kind should be encouraged, and it really works if all of the players participate. Nor is there any reason to stick to the game’s futuristic flavour. Any conflict can be used as a source of flavour when playing The Resistance, whether that is Communist revolutionaries against the military junta of a Banana Republic or the Rebel Alliance against the Empire in Star Wars.
The Resistance is simple. It is quick. It is fun. It is easy to teach. It is a good group game, working well with gamers as well as non-gamers, both of whom will be able to grasp the rules and the theme of the game easily and quickly. The social dynamics will take a little longer, but for the most part, the participants are going to be supplying those themselves. It perhaps works best with six or seven players rather than five, or eight or more. At five players it is easier to identify the spies, whilst at eight players, it becomes harder, and the spies also need more than the one Failure to be played for each mission for it to fail. The Resistance: A Game of Secret Identities, Deduction, and Deception is an excellent social game, a good filler, and just working out who the spies are can be frustratingly fraught!
The Resistance is a character deduction game of espionage. Wherein you play the role of either a member of the rebel resistance or a turn coat spy, set to sabotage the work of the resistance.
GAME PLAY:
Each player is given a card in secret that will dictate their role as a spy or a member of the resistance. Before the game begins, while everyone’s eyes are closed, the spies are given a moment to reveal themselves. With this knowledge in hand the spies set out on their path of destruction.
The game is played in five rounds where a leader selects a number of people to go on a mission. This selection is voted on and approved by the players. The people on the mission secretly vote if the mission succeeds or fails. It only takes one vote for the entire mission to fail, but who cast that vote? Who is the spy!?!?! If the spies are able to sabotage three missions they win. Figure out who the spies are and the resistance can over through their oppressors.
PROS:
• The components are small, but nice. I like how they have packaged everything into as small a space as possible. It makes it easy to store and get around. Even though it is small, it’s still top quality.
• The game is easy to learn, there is basically no learning curve other than learning how to lie to people’s faces! But the game play is pretty simple.
• The game definitely produces good memories. There is lots of laughing and accusing. There will be lots of times where you will be shocked by who was what. At the end of the you’ll stand up and shout, “I Knew You Were a Spy!!!!”
• It’s very quick, depending on the number of people its usually under 30 min.
• It can be played with a very large group.
• It’s a good mix if you have a group of party gamers.
CONS:
• CAUTION: This game has caused arguments. Lots of people shouting a accusing.
• Make sure you have the right people for the job. There are some people I wouldn’t want to play this game with, or would at least say they wouldn’t shine in this game, such as overly shy people. I’m my small group we have a few shy people who basically wouldn’t talk the whole game. I’ve also played with people who didn’t understand it was ok to lie in the game?
OVERALL:
While some of the more strategy board gamers didn’t care much for it, I think this game fills a great role in a game night. It works great as a filler, or something to bring a large group together at the end of the night. Some might say there isn’t any strategy, but disagree. I feel like this game has tons of strategy. When you are the spy you have to say exactly the right thing and accuse the right person to deceive the rest of the group. If you fail at that, then your whole group fails. Hopefully I don’t sound too evil trying to explain that.
The Resistance is a secret identity game for 5 to 10 players designed by Don Eskridge and published in 2009 by Indie Cards and Boards.
I first played this game a couple of weeks ago at a small local gaming convention in my home town. We were 9 people who sat down to play this and it was the first time for just about all of us. I think there might have been one or two who had played it before. The concept of the game is that the players are resistance fighters trying to take down an oppressive regime by completing 3 of 5 missions through out the game. Among the resistance fighters there are some spies who will work together and try to sabotage the resistance fighters missions.
The Resistance is an easy game to learn and to play. At the beginning of the game every player is dealt an identity card which they keep secret from everyone else. This card is mostly Rebels and some spies depending on how many players there are in the game. Everyone is also dealt two cards used for voting, one “yes” card and one “no” card. All the players then close their eyes and the players dealt the spy card open their eyes and look at each other so they all know who the spies are. The game is then played in 5 turns or until the resistance or the spies achieve 3 victories. At the beginning of each turn the one who is the current team leader will select some of the players to go on that turns mission. The trick here is to select the correct members for the task. If you are with the resistance you don’t want any spies along to sabotage the mission and vice versa. When the mission members have been selected they all vote in secret on whether the mission fails or succeeds. What then usually follows is a heated discussion on who are spies an not, trying to weed the out of the resistance group. When there are 3 successful missions the resistance fighters immediately win, if there are three failed missions the spies immediately win.
I have to say I really enjoyed this game and so did all the others I was playing with. So much so that we played about 4 or 5 games in a row that evening. The fun part of the game is not in playing the game as such but the discussions that happen when people are trying to figure out who the spies are. It’s especially fun when you are the spy who just sabotaged the mission and you have to trick everyone into believing you are with the resistance. And the rush you get when you manage to dupe everyone into believing you and you manage to pull of the win as the spies is amazing.
I would really recommend this game to those who are fans of secret identity games and to those who like games with a lot of player interaction and bluffing. This is a game I hope to be playing lots more of in the future.
In The Resistance, you and your fellow players are a group of resistance fighters. But, some of your fellow players are actually spies trying to thwart your plans. Who the spies are and why that person across the table from you didn’t approve your mission is what you’re trying to figure out.
What do we like about this game?
The interaction between players is outstanding. If you’ve ever attempted game nights and things just aren’t clicking for some reason, this is the game to pull off the shelf. The Resistance is a game that gets more fun the more you accuse your fellow players of being spies, even though YOU might be a spy yourself. Don’t hold back…cause confusion! Even the quietest people can get caught up in the role playing. We’ve had some stunned faces during the last mission because one of the spies was so good at, well….lying.
What don’t we like about this game?
Personally, we don’t care too much for the 2 person missions because they almost always succeed. If they don’t succeed it’s really easy to narrow down who at least one of the spies is unless you’re a really good actor. Another thing is that a minimum of five people are needed to play. Sometimes it’s a let-down because we don’t always have five people hanging around when the urge to play strikes.
Video Review
There is a slight learning curve just to get the idea of how to figure out who the spies might be and knowing how to act so your fellow players aren’t tipped off to your role. Be careful not to get too personal with how you accuse someone of being a spy.
Check out our video review of this game: Gettin’ Higgy with The Resistance
To say that I’ve played this game a couple of times is a complete understatement. Since it’s release, I’ve played this game with my friends a minimum of 3 times a week. At GenCon 2011, I worked a bit at the Cambridge Games/Indie Board and Card Games booth and ran many… many games of The Resistance.
GAMEPLAY
Each round, a leader choices a predetermined amount of players to go on a mission (leadership rotates after every round). The players that go on a mission give the leader one of their two mission cards face down, and then the cards are shuffled. The two mission cards consist of a “Pass” card and a “Fail” card. The leader (after shuffling the cards) reveals the mission cards. If just one of the cards revealed is a “Fail” card, the mission failed as there was obviously at least one spy on the mission. If all the cards are “Pass” mission cards, then the mission was a success. The game is played until one faction (either spies (with failed missions)or Resistance (with passed missions)) wins three rounds.
Before The Resistance, I played Werewolf/Mafia an incredible amount. This game provides a very similar experience without elimination. If you are discovered as a spy (a bad guy sabotaging missions), the game isn’t over for you. You keep playing, but a leader is not likely to put you on another mission.
COMPONENTS
This is where the game really falls short. I really don’t understand how some of these mistakes made it all the way through to the 3rd edition.
First of all, the cards do not have symmetrically designs on their backs. This means that there is a noticeable “top” and “bottom” to every card. So when someone gathers the mission cards or deals the character cards, if you noticed which cards where upside down… you can determine who got/used which card. If the cards were symmetrical, my group wouldn’t have to make sure that all the cards were aligned the same way.
Secondly, the character cards have unique character images printed on them. This was a big mistake, even though the artwork of the characters is great. Talking about what your character looks like breaks the game. “The character on my card was a female with red hair.” An experienced player knows what the spy cards look like and can determine who is what faction by character description. The character cards should simply be a spy symbol, or a resistance symbol. Even better, just have the spy cards be red and the resistance cards be blue. That way, color is the only topic of conversation on “What did your card look like?”
Finally, there are more cards in the game that are needed. There are cards that leaders are supposed to give to players they nominate to go on missions. This is ridiculous as they leader could simply give the players the mission cards. This wouldn’t be a big deal, as getting more cards in a game is usually a good thing. The problem is that the game doesn’t fit in the box as well as it could without those cards.
OVERALL
The game is not for everyone, as it does indeed force you to lie. You’ll be put in a situation where you will have to look friends and loved-ones in the eye and lie to them. Other times, you will have to work hard to convince players that your friend/loved-one is lying, that they are indeed a villain. Needless to say, this game requires a lot of good sportsmanship to prevent hurt feelings. I’ve seen friendships destroyed and relationships ruined. This game can burn bridges with people.
That being said, I play this game more than any game. Be a good sport, remember that it is just a game, and that the goal is fun. Do this, and you’ll enjoy a game that will be played for centuries to come. No, I am not exaggerating.
Resistance is a great social game best played in a large group and is easy to pick up.
What happens in the game?
During the game you will play five “missions”, in which a team of players can choose to either pass or fail.
But why would I want to fail a mission?
At the beginning of the game, each player will receive a character card. Most players will be a member of the resistance, and their goal is to pass at least three of the five missions and would never choose to fail a mission.
The other players will be spies, and their goal is to fail at least three of the five missions. The spies get to know who the other spies are, but the resistance don’t get to know who the spies are.
So what happens on a “mission”?
During each mission a team will be selected by a leader. The team is small for the first mission and grows in size on subsequent missions. All the players get to vote to accept or reject the team. Once a team has been accepted, each member of the team gets a pass and a fail card. They hand in one of the cards face down and they are shuffled and revealed. If there is one fail card, the mission is failed (except on mission 4, which requires 2 fail cards to fail).
Is that it?
In a nutshell, yes it is.
Sounds kinda dull!
But it’s not! The fun in this game comes from the social interaction of the players. The resistance need to figure out who the the spies are, and the spies need the throw the resistance off but still fail most of the missions. The spies will try to throw the resistance off, and some spies will decide to pass a mission to avoid suspicion. You’ll have accusations thrown round the table all game and it’s great fun.
Is there any strategy to it?
Mainly in trying to discover if your mates are lying or trying to lie convincingly, as I said this game is more about the social interaction. It states in the rules that the spies are likely to win more often than the resistance, but you won’t care because you’ll have had such a good time.
So everyone’s a winner?
No. That would be silly.
One of the best signs of a great game is that it generates lots of “Remember When…?!? Moments…in other words, times well after the game when you are laughing with friends and family by recounting great moments in your gaming past. And, those moments are the reason you should run not walk to your local gaming store and buy a copy of The Resistance. I personally have not had a game generate more of these moments so quickly.
Gameplay:
The game is quite simple especially for those who are familiar with Mafia or Werewolf. At the beginning of a game everyone is dealt a card face down that identifies them as a member of the Resistance or an evil spy working against the revolution. The number of spies varies depending on the total number of players (the larger number of players, the larger number of spies). These spies get an opportunity to identify themselves to each other and then the missions begin. No matter what, there will never be more than five missions so the game plays in five rounds. Each round a different leader selects who goes on the mission and, if there is consensus on the choice, the mission takes place. Each person on the mission is given a success and fail card and they then secretly submit the card that corresponds with what they want to have happen. Once all cards are submitted, the cards are mixed and then revealed which determines if the mission succeeded or failed (essentially one failure card means that the mission fails). At that point, the accusations will quickly start to fly as a new leader selects members for a new mission, which usually requires taking even more members. The revolutionaries win if three missions succeed while the spies win if three missions fail.
Logistics:
The game supports 5-10 players which is wonderful for large groups. I’ve played with almost every number and have enjoyed it every time although I’ve found the spies are pretty easy to figure out with 5 players while higher numbers makes it very difficult for the loyal members of the resistance to identify all of the spies.
Components:
The components are simple but the artwork on the cards is nice and is themed towards a futuristic world. There is a small board to keep track of the score and wooden pieces for it — all are high quality. I ordered the game from my local game store which didn’t have it in stock and when I showed up to get it I frankly was taken aback by how small the box was and was initially disappointed. However, now I love the small size of the box and components as I realize how convenient this game is to take anywhere and how often I want to take it.
(The game actually includes expansion cards which will shake up the rules and the ability of people to verify their theories and throw people off the trail. I think these cards might help if the game gets stale but since it hasn’t yet, I haven’t used the expansion cards so I can’t speak directly to them.)
Fun:
Accusations, tension, and conspiracy theories are generated almost immediately in the game generating a lot of memorable fun. Players will have to be mature about it as the game requires lying to people’s faces, but most adults can handle it and will beg for more as they try to redeem themselves. The five rounds move quickly and you can be done with the game in 30 minutes (although typically everyone wants to immediately play again). My experience is that gamers and non-gamers alike can’t help but enjoy themselves.
Final:
If you ever have the opportunity or need to play games with a larger number of people this affordable game is a definite buy and definitely has immense replay value (even before considering the included expansion). So, don’t resist, buy this game and start piling up those “Do you remember when….?!?” moments!
Or are they?
The Resistance is game of trust, especially lack of it. It is simple, fast and great fun. This game is all about human interactions and how well you can read your friends poker face.
In short order
You’re a proud member of the resistance in a dystopian corporate tyranny, but little you know that your resistance is compromised. Or maybe you’re the wolf among the lambs and you’ll do anything that your masters remain in power.
You’ll do everything in your power to bluff and call others bluff in your way to victory. This wont be easy, because almost without fail everybody in this game acts strange and frantic.
How to obtain your freedom?
Game starts with everybody being handed a loyalty card, blue symbol you’re a good guy and red for bad guy. When all have checked their cards, and done best in their power not to twist their faces, comes the part when spies (bad guys) get to know who their pals are.
After this the actual core of game is ready to begin. One person starts as an leader of the resistance and gives mission tokens to persons he/she feels can be trusted, according to limitation of mission parameters (there is always a limit how many players can go). Then everybody votes whether they think the mission can go (5 failed votes in row causes defeat), if consensus cannot be reached, leader changes and new mission crew is chosen by new leader.
After every vote mission leader will change to next player by going clockwise.
When majority of votes pass for mission players are dealt 2 cards, success and fail. Resistance members can only choose success, but spies can choose either (in order to play tactical). Even one fail will cause mission to fail, which means point for spies and huge amount of speculation and accusing on all mission members.
Game ends when either side completes 3 missions on their benefit. If spies can keep their calm or shift suspicion to others they usually have slightly easier time to win.
Guns and banners
This game comes with very limited amount of components, because the players are the most important part of the game. Art is pretty and have a proper feel of near future tech on them. Lack of components makes this game very easy to teach and fast to play, also it means this game is fairly cheap to get.
In smoking ruins of dystopia
If you have larger game group (5+) that you can pull together for gaming this is a game that you need to add in your collection. Fast 15-25 minute game filled with friendly accusations and laughter, it will be played more than once, when you bring it to the table.
However this not something that everybody can handle, if you get easily hurt from being blamed to be the bad guy. Don’t get this or toughen up, because this is amazingly fast and fun game and you don’t want to miss up on this.
Game also scales marvelously for the full range of players (5-10 players) and it’s much easier than its sequel The Resistance: Avalon (and I like theme of this better).
When you’re a member of bad guys and you win, you can’t describe the joy when you steal the victory from your friends and family. Don’t forget to laugh like a maniac.
Do you want to play a game where your closest allies and dearest friends, could possibly be your worst nightmare? The Resistance is the perfect game, keeping you guessing who is a loyal member of the Resistance, and who is the spy of the corrupt empire.
With no need for a table, this game can be played anywhere, even without buying the whole game. You can easily play will a simple deck of cards, one color of cards symbolizing Resistance Members and Success, and the other color symbolizing Spies and Failures.
The recommended amount of players being 5, you can also play with up to 10! No matter how many people to play with, you are guarantied to have a fun time.
The beauty of the game is that the identity cards that are dealt to each player are done so randomly and secretly. This makes it so that no one, except the spies themselves, knows which of their friends are trying to fail their missions, and which of them are actually trying to help.
Wondering how to play??
When playing with 5 players, you put down 2 Spy Cards, and 3 Resistance Cards, and shuffle them up, and then deal them out to yourself and your players. Have everyone look at there cards, and then put them to the side, and keep them face down.
After this is done, everyone closes their eyes. The 2 spies then open their eyes, find the other spy, make eye contact, and then close their eyes again. The game leader then tells everyone to open their eyes, and the game begins.
One player (determined in any way you want ex: age, most experienced player, etc.), starts by picking 2 players to go on a mission. You usually want to include yourself on the missions you pick seeing as you know if you are a spy or resistance member.
Once the team is picked, every votes Yes or No if they like or dislike the team chosen for the mission.
If more than half of the votes are Yes, then the mission goes on. Otherwise, the person to your left picks 2 people, and you try again.
When the team goes on the mission, each member is given two cards: A Failure card, and a Success card. Loyal resistance members must ALWAYS vote for the mission to succeed. The Spies however, get to choose if they want to succeed or fail a mission. It only takes one failure card to fail the entire mission.
The number of people chosen for the missions changes each round.
Round 1: 2 players
Round 2: 3 players
Round 3: 2 players
Round 4 and 5: 3 players
The goal of the game for a resistance member is to succeed on half of the missions, while the spies want to fail half of the missions.
If half the missions are failed or succeeded, the game is over, and your identity cards are revealed.
This game can be played again and again, but you will never know which of the smiling faces around you want to watch you, and your entire Resistance, burn to the ground.
Are you ready to light that fire? or will you lead the fight against the empire and bring forth a new dawn?
All of that will be determined when you sit down and play a game of The Resistance!
How do you know whom to trust? Can you rely on your ability to call a bluff? The statistical chance of them being the good guy based on the information at hand? The knowledge of how your friends act when they’re nervous? The Resistance is a social game that puts all these skills to a test, resulting in a tense and exhilarating contest of bluffing and deduction that fits nicely within half an hour and ruins any trust that existed between 5-10 people.
In a distant dystopian future, exactly the one we’ve seen in Fahrenheit 451, The Matrix or Equilibrium a small group of resistance fighters are plotting the downfall of the oppressive Big Brother government. A series of undercover missions should do the trick, but government spies have infiltrated the Resistance and they aim to sabotage any attempts to damage the regime.
How it works
In Resistance each player plays the role of either a Spy or a Resistance member. The game consists of a series of missions – each mission requires a certain number of people. A rotating “team leader” selects the team for the job and then all players vote on team composition. If the majority approves the team – a mission commences – each player on a mission receives two cards – “success” and “fail”. Loyal Resistance must play success, however a spy on a mission may play a failure card instead. The cards are shuffled (so that it is unclear who contributed which card) and revealed. If no “fail” cards were played – the mission is a success and is scored for the Resistance. Otherwise – the mission was compromised and is scored for the Spies. The first side to either succeed on or sabotage three missions wins the game.
How it plays
The Resistance builds on the principles of classic hidden role games such as Mafia or Werewolf but improves the formula drastically with two tweaks. First one is that there is no elimination in the game – every player has a chance to keep persuading others they are NOT a spy. It does wonders for keeping everyone engaged and taking an active part. The other one is a wonderful mechanic of fail/success cards that opens up a rich field for bluffing and misdirection on spy’s part. Do you go for the easy route – failing the mission but drawing suspicion? Or do you play along to garner trust of others? Analysis that Resistance members have to do is even more excruciating. While the Spies know who each player is, Resistance players are left to their deduction and trust in others’ reasoning. It creates an exhilarating environment of uncertainty and grasping at straws as you look for solid clues where there are few or none.
How it feels
The great thing about Resistance is that the most active participation is not through the voting or through playing the cards during missions. It is the deliberations and accusations that each player gets to indulge in that contain the meat of the game. The calculated uncertainty, the careful observation of others’ mannerisms and voting patterns – the game lends itself very well to a wide variety of playing styles. Those who like to think can find endless considerations to take into account while those who rely on hunches can find ample support for their theories (objectivity is another matter).
The game keeps each player engaged both through the discussions and the voting and it is equally enjoyable for both Spies and Resistance. It also succeeds greatly at delivering the entire experience in very manageable time – few games will go longer than half an hour.
The base game comes with a built-in “Plot Thickens” expansion that offers additional cards that introduce advanced complexity through unique card effects allowing more control of events in the game and exchange of information. These are great for when you got tired of the base Resistance, but the game is built on such a solid and flexibly foundation that it has great longevity even without these.
In Conclusion
Its’ greatest success is giving the spotlight to the players and only providing rudimentary game mechanics that allow people to focus on each other. Accommodating from 5 to 10 players and being such a breeze, this is a great social game that can organically become a memorable part of a fun party or a solid addition to a dedicated game night.
If you enjoyed this review please visit the Altema Games website for more reviews with photos and other board game materials: http://altemagames.com/?page_id=11
The Resistance
This is much different from the usual type of game I play. That doesn’t mean it’s any less good, actually The Resistance is awesome and I want to try more games like it.
For a full review, complete with iamges for example purposes go to http://toddsboardgames.blogspot.ca/2013/02/the-resistance.html
What is The Resistance and why is it so different? Its a social game of manipulation, deduction and deceit for 5-10 players. Since a lot of games are capped at 4 players, The Resistance fills a void for when you want to play with large groups of people.
Objective: To pass or fail missions depending on your role.
Roles: Players will be given one of two roles in The Resistance, you will become either a Spy or a member of The Resistance.
The Resistance: It is your goal to succeed in carrying out ‘Missions’, during the Mission phase you can only play your success card, but if even one fail card is played then the mission is a fail.
The Spies: Your goal is to sabotage the Missions being conducted by The Resistance, it will only take one of you to successively fail the Mission, it is important that the Resistance thinks you are one of them.
Gameplay:
The game is broken into 2 phases with the majority of your time spent in the Team Building phase.
Team Building Phase: Here, the current ‘Leader’ will assign people to go on the Mission based on the mission and the number of players in the game. After the leader has chosen the required amount of players, everyone, including the people not going on the mission, players will discuss why they think certain people should not go on the mission, and why another player would be a better option. After some time the leader will call for a vote, everyone now submits either their approve or reject vote by placing it face down in front of them, once everyone has a vote in front of them, you turn over the tokens so that everyone can see how you voted. Its a majority vote, if there are more approve than fail the Mission Team is approved.
If the Mission Team is approved we enter the Mission Phase: Once a team has been approved its really straightforward, everyone submits their success or fail card based on their role. (spies submit fail and resistance members submit success) If all the votes are in favour of The Resistance then they succeed and place their marker over the corresponding mission space on the layout card.
If the Mission Team is rejected: The leader passes clockwise and a new proposed Mission Team is selected. This continues until a Mission Team is approved, if 5 teams are rejected in a row then the Resistance loses the game.
Plot Card Expansion: In order to spice things up you can add in Plot Cards, at the start of each round the leader draws a plot card, depending on the card, the leader will either play it immediately for its effect and then discard it, save it or place it in play for the remainder of the game. Plot cards are a great addition, but I would recommend playing a few times without them.
Having trouble getting discussion going during the Team Building Phase? Try these questions:
Are you a spy? – Its basic, but effective
Why did you vote to reject the team? – basic also, but good for tripping up spies
If you aren’t a spy, why are you acting like one? – even if they aren’t acting like a spy, its a good question to trip up a spy
Who thinks ______ is a spy? – good to arouse suspicion, but be careful it doesn’t backfire on you
Why are you suggesting we send _______ on the mission? – a lot of our early games the leader avoided suspicion easily, its important that you ask the leader questions too!
Who would enjoy playing The Resistance?
Casual Gamers: It depends a lot on the crowd, but The Resistance sits best with casual players, feelings are not likely to get hurt, people are likely to get into the game after the first couple missions, if you are introducing the game its important to encourage starting discussion and being vocal right away so that others follow in your footsteps. Short playing time, little to no setup time, backstab and sabotage your friends, and near infinite replayability, the resistance is great for Casual Gamers and works well at social events.
Gamer Gamers: I think the Resistance would also sit very well among heavy gamers, its easy to get hooked on the deduction part of the gameplay and really get into trying to figure out who is who. Add in the plot cards and maybe add some story instead of just ‘going on the mission’ and you’ve got a really intense game of espionage, mystery and gorilla warfare, who knows what else the possibilities with this game are endless.
The Resistance is hands-down, without-a-doubt, the absolute best bang for the buck I have ever gotten out of a board or card game. My 3 couple / 6 friends gaming group has played this one around 50 times, and every single time we play it gets better. All of that glowing review for a game that costs somewhere around $15.
Recently when I was writing a blog post about the best board games for folks new to the hobby (http://brianhazzard.com/recommendations/2013/04/28/the-best-board-games/), I had to put this on the list. So what makes it so good?
– Theme: Most of the players are loyal resistance members, but a few are spies for the corrupt government. Only the spies know who’s who, and their goal is to cripple the resistance.
– Deduction: As a resistance member, it is thrilling to watch for social cues and do some logical reasoning to uncover each player’s motivations.
– Deceit: As a spy, it is gut-wrenching trying to go undetected, while making the necessary plays to trip up the resistance team.
– Simplicity: Any fiddly rules are decidedly missing from this game, leaving just the riveting intrigue without game-ish destraction.
The final verdict: this is the only game I have ever played that has twisted my stomach in knots so much, but had me coming back for more. If you think that you and your friends can handle the heat, you MUST have this game.
Why are there always so many pesky spies in our resistance movement! And why are the numbers always so balanced?
Who cares? He’s the spy, forget about him!
The Resistance pits rebels against a group of spies in their midst. The game plays out in a number of voting and mission rounds where a team is chosen for the mission and then those team members play a pass or fail card. Only spies can play a fail card.
Think of this game like Battle Star Galactica lite, without all the complicated character powers and plastic pieces. It’s just, who the **** is a cylon?
The sweet spot for this game is right around 7 players. Before that many, the game does not have a good social dynamic. After that number, some players may never get involved.
The advanced rules are not too advanced. In fact, I’d say they were pretty much necessary for game balance.
Be sure to pay attention to the fact that on the summary card, an * next to a mission number means that there must be two fail results for the mission to fail.
This is a solid game, overall. People that like simple games that involve a large amount of interaction will find their home here.
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I’m gonna be honest about this…I’m very annoyed about people saying this is the EXACT same as the older CODs …. because I don’t think it is. I mean they tried for a more emotional story, but a more futuristic setting, and made moral choices for a different ending. Don’t you count that as more additions? This is just my opinion, and I respect that people think VERY differently about this game.
I have never played this game with anyone who didn’t have a great time. It’s almost as simple as that.
The game plays with up to ten players, though it’s fun with as few as six. At the beginning of the game a few players are randomly dealt spy cards while the others are randomly dealt resistance cards. It’s a matter of the informed, evil minority versus the uniformed majority.
Each turn, a new player is passed the Leader token. He or she must choose a certain number of people to go along on a mission. But who do you choose? If you pick a spy, they may sabotage the mission. The spies only need to sabotage 3 (out of 5) to win, so picking incorrectly too many times will be the end of your resistance.
There’s only so much information to be had. How have players voted? Who is acting suspiciously? Who has the best poker face?
This game almost always ends up with hilarious, friendly shouting, gesturing, accusations, and pleas of innocence. The game plays anywhere from 15 minutes to a half hour and I’ve never had someone not ask to play again (and sometimes again after that!).
The game has great components and is perfect for large parties. You cannot beat the price.
This game instantly became a hit with everyone that I introduced it to. At first they thought there was an actual mission to complete but then afterwards as they played into the 3rd round, they finally understood the concept.
I love this game. First of all, I love the theme of it because it is about the Dystopian Future where a rebellion is trying to overthrow the corrupt government. That theme alone makes me quite interested. And then to top things off, the 3 rounds from picking your team members, to the voting process, to the secret voting of the mission is a really fun and creative way to make a game of deduction to be a very involved process.
This game can get really loud especially when there are 2 on a mission and the mission fails. People will be constantly accusing each other and only 1 of them is the traitor. This is what I love about the game. This aspect really puts the players into character. And then the next thing you know, when either the spies succeed or the resistance succeeds……..everyone wants to play it all over again, and again and again.
Resistance has ALOT of replay value. It is definitely a game you can play with a group of 5 but can get even more chaotic (in a fun way) with a group of 10. It will be loud and there will be lots of yelling involved but that type of enthusiasm is what you want in your gaming group.
And with the expansion “The Plot Thickens” already included in the game, it makes for a really great value at the price it is already at. And don’t forget that there are also 2 expansions that make the game even more complex and will have people pointing more fingers.
I highly recommend this game and you can’t go wrong with it.
Since I have picked up The Resistance, it has just been a huge it with everybody I’ve introduced it to. It not only has replaced King of Tokyo as the group favorite, but it has replaced Arkham Horror as my personal number 2 tabletop game (behind Magic: The Gathering).
The game is for 5-10 people, so it’s perfect for parties. At the beginning of the game, everyone is dealt a role card identifying them as either a spy or a Resistance member. Everyone is then told to close their eyes. The spies are then instructed to open their eyes and identify each other. Then the spies close their eyes and everybody opens their eyes at the same time. At that point whoever has the leader token chooses the number of people needed for mission 1 (it changes depending on how many people are playing.) Then everyone votes to either approve the mission team or reject it. If it is rejected, the leader rotates and the process starts over. If it passes, each person on the mission is dealt a success and a fail card. All Resistance members must vote success, while spies have the option either way. Once everyone puts in their success or fail card, the cards are shuffled and revealed. If they are all successes, the mission goes to the Resistance if there is one or more fails, it goes to the spies. The first team to 3 missions wins.
To watch this game played, (which is entertaining in itself) youtube “tabletop: The Resistance with Wil Wheaton.”
The one and only negative thing about this game is the components seem to damage quickly. Given, the first group I played with liked to slam their tokens/cards on the table for dramatic effect, but still. The voting tokens and a couple cards were already scratched, and one of the cards had a bent corner. At least this is a cheap game ($17) so its easily replaced.
The Resistance also comes with plot cards that gives each person a power (i.e. forcing a person to show their role card to one other person.) and there is a 2nd version of The Resistance called Avalon that adds more complex roles, but doesn’t come with plot cards. My group loves to play with the Avalon roles the most, although we figured out how to use them in the standard Resistance so we wouldn’t have to buy Avalon (go to my home page and look under “tips” for more details on how to play with Avalon roles).
Overall, this game is a must have for all social gamers, and a strongly recommended for everybody else.
At a friend’s party a few months ago, I ran into this interesting couple from Australia. They were talking up the gaming night they held once a month. We were comparing various titles when the game ‘Resistance’ came up. Apparently, the game was banned from their future parties after it’d caused too many arguments and hurt feelings. This clearly did not dissuade me in the slightest. Quite the opposite, it absolutely peaked my curiosity.
I picked it up online and broke it out after our Game of Thrones viewing party. We started with a group of 5. The rules of the game and how it appears in the manual are deceptively simple. I already understood it to be a ‘social’ game, but I wasn’t prepared for what was to come next. Over the next two hours, close friends did everything they could to stab one another in the back in the name of this fascist regime.
Sadly, I was suckered in to believing a dirty traitorous spy on more than one occasion. I’d form alliances with my votes only to discover in the end…I was the patsy. I walked away from the evening truly impressed at how good my friends were at subtle deception.
After many evenings of playing Resistance, I’ve boned up a bit on my ‘reading’ skills. I’ve played with every permutation of party size allowed by the game. With 10 people, the game becomes extremely challenging and makes ‘The Plot Thickens’ cards almost a necessity.
If you have an open mind and a sense of humor, you’ll have a blast getting to know your friends in a whole new way.