The Resistance: 3rd Edition - Tips & Strategies

Some people are generally more talkative than others. This game brings out your personality. You can win this game by being chatty or quiet.

The thing to be aware of is to play the same way as a Spy as you do as a Resistance Member.

So if you are generally chatty at this game, then don’t get quiet and contemplative when you play a Spy. It’s a red flag for your opposition.

This variant is actually described in the rule book, but so many groups don’t do it. Simply don’t give the spies a chance to see one another before the game begins. Now they are as blind as the Resistance. This variant is especially good to use when people begin to complain that the spies win too often (there is usually always one person who claims this).

So you’re midway through the game and somehow, the traitorous Resistance has found you out. They cut you out of the loop: your votes don’t matter, your voice goes unheard, your efforts are met with naught but sneers of “spy!” Even your partners have forsaken you, throwing you under the proverbial bus with glee. Your game is over.

Not so fast! Your role now is to completely confuse the Resistance, and I’ve found the best way to do that is to be relentlessly and completely positive. Support every idea at the table. Always vote yes. Continuously compliment every other player on their ideas and plans with a huge smile and never offer any of your own. If two other people get into an argument, support BOTH sides, loudly, even if it makes no sense.

When I used this strategy, I was captain on the final round and picked a go team with none of the spies on it. The vote passed, and the Spies were about to lose the game. Finally, a Resistance member used his card to cancel a mission and take the captaincy from me, sending a new team with one of our spies on it. The Resistance fell, all because of a smiling, happy-to-help blown spy that they simply could not trust.

After reading about two particular roles in a review of Avalon, our gaming group decided to try them out with our Resistance cards. For those unfamiliar with these two characters from Avalon, the Merlin character knows who all the spies are, but the spies do not know who Merlin is. Merlin has to be careful to not be too obvious as the spies will get one shot to assassinate him at the end of the game. If the spies correctly guess the identity of Merlin…spies win. The way it’s executed is simple. Spies look up to acknowledge one another. Spies then close their eyes but raise a thumb upward on their right hand. Merlin opens eyes and sees raised thumbs. Merlins closes eyes. When game concludes (if the Resistance wins), the assassin will identify themselves and chose a Merlin. If correct, spies win.

My group prefers the sci-fi theme to fantasy so switching games wasn’t an option. I also prefer this version due to it’s simplicity. I’ve played Avalon and find it folds in on itself as you add too many characters. Simplicity is what encourages all the banter and arguing. With that said, the Merlin and Assassin characters can be a great change of pace. Keeping with the theme, we decided prior to handing out the role cards which two of our characters will be the ‘Double Agent’ (Resistance) and ‘Assassin’ (Spies) . We tend to pick characters with distinctive physical traits like the Resistance guy with the glasses and the female spy. Try it out. Fun variant.

This is tricky, especially when more people play. What I mean by this is to try to rely on what you can mark down as fact. This game is super fun because emotion plays a big role in the game, and that often very misleading…you can read into it too much. Instead, keep track of who went on missions, and which ones succeeded and failed. Keep track of who approves and vetoes the mission team. Conversation is important, but it’s hard to quantify. Instead, see if there are certain people who consistently agree/disagree. You’ll build the strongest case with facts.

With the best of 5 format for The Resistance, losing the first mission can feel very deflating, knowing you now have to get 3 of the next 4. This often will lead to spy players playing the red card as often as possible to get those red markers on the board.

Especially for lower player count games, (8 and below), if you’re a spy and you’re selected for the first mission, don’t be afraid to play the blue card to let the mission succeed.

While allowing the mission to succeed won’t automatically remove all suspicions of your fellow players (in The Resistance nothing short of revealing your role card will do this!) it will make failing future mission easier. It is much tougher to determine the spies when they are helping missions succeed, than if someone makes their presence known in the first mission.

The reason this works even better in games with 8 or fewer players is due to the last round requiring all blue players to be in the mission for it to succeed. If you can convince the blue players you’re on their side due to helping in the first round, you have a better chance of getting in on the last mission, ensuring a failure there.

From my experience, games where a spy has the first mission fail are most likely to be won by the resistance than games where a spy slow plays the first round, and gets their revenge in future rounds.

I want to stress that, for the resistance, this only works best early on in the game. You gain a lot of information out of seeing who approves and rejects the mission. And, even though the spies win if 5 mission teams in a row are rejected, the resistance will always win the majority if everyone on the resistance approves it. Through all of that, you’ll get a lot of helpful information that will pay off in later missions. Plus, more people get to be team leaders, which I think is the trickiest part of the game.

I have used this strategy to catch many spies in the past.

If you accuse another player of being a spy with little known evidence and 1 – 2 players latch on to your accusation and agree with you then you almost always have a spy on your hands.

Usually the spies are eager to have the target off their back and tend to agree with others accusations so they don’t have to make their own. Loyal players just don’t have the information especially early on and tend not to jump on others accusations as quickly.

Whenever I have done this and someone agrees with my faulty accusation I usually ask them why they agree with me. I wait for their answer and then explain how my reasoning makes very little sense. It’s pretty convincing to the rest of the loyal players who the spies are at that point.

I’ve noticed a tendency for some games to get a little heated. Some folks can get a little testy with a game about lying. If a friend bests you in the game by completely betraying your confidence…congratulate them. That is the game after all. Learn from their tactics and use what you learned in future games. Do your best to not be a sore loser…and then plot your revenge. (evil laugh while twisting mustache)

This may seem obvious, and that’s probably why no one has mentioned this yet… but you really need to pick yourself (as the leader) when you go on a mission… especially the first mission!!! Why? Well, the spies are the only people who know who everyone is. When you don’t choose yourself… you look suspicious. If you are a spy, you’ve given yourself away. If you are not a spy… all experienced players will now suspect you of being a spy… especially if it’s the first mission. You may not recover. I’ve seen this happen far too often in recent games. I thought this was Resistance 101 stuff.

Strategic Tip ~ PICK YOURSELF!!!

Granny Out.