Indie Boards and Cards | The Resistance: Avalon | Card Game | Ages 14+ | 5-10 Players | 30 Minutes Playing Time

The Resistance is one of the best games I have played and I play a lot of them, what makes it so good is that most games require often clunky mechanics or rules to force something that should be natural. In the resistance there are not many mechanics and instead human nature kicks in and makes it very interesting for those who play games all the time and those who never play games. The game is fast paced and fun, it can have people rolling on the floor laughing, on your knees pleading with someone to make the right choice and in some games shouting at people calling them liars..... It is fun when you start and if you keep the same players over time you see tactics and more depth to the game then you would imagine but is also inviting to new players and easy to pick up. I think a real test for the game was when my partner had a birthday party and near the end of the evening when the numbers dwindled to about 9 she came in with Resistance. I tried to put it away as it was my geeky side that i did not want everyone at the party to see. I lost the fight and was forced to setup (which takes about 1 minute) and start to explain the rules, I was using words that are in the rules like "Go on missions" "pass or fail a mission" "Squad leader" the girls were just laughing and saying how geeky the game was. I quickly wrapped up and said it was Cluedo but in teams and started the game. Within a minute or two everyone started to realise the game was not about the mechanics or using the playing cards or little gun tokens but human interaction, working as a team and lots and lots of lying. Some of the girls were shouting at each other "you’re the bad guy" - "No you must be" Others instantly started talking to each other, "Who do you think is telling the truth?" and coming up with plans of who they would send on missions and trying to find out who was good or bad. That is the genius of the game, most people know how to speak one another, try and get their point across, read body language and emotion. That is the main part of the game and only once you have played a lot more you realise the little mechanics in the game will help you but not break you. I would and have played this game, with hard-core geeky nerds, normal members of society and my family and every time it has been fun and different. Buy this game!

One quick "trial round" and you should be good to go. If you're not sure, have a poke around for "Resistance - Avalon" on YouTube to see how it's played. Honestly, it's such a fun experience as you try to ascertain who the "Minions of Mordor" (aka bad guys) are. It encourages open dialogue, leaving you staring into your friends eyes to see how honorable they are (or not!). In my opinion, this game is best suited for 6-7 players. The 5-player board is a too tough to work out who the bad guys are in time. And 6/7 players sits comfortably in the "need to think it out" zone. 10 players (the maximum), and it becomes more of a headache, than a fun experience! If after a few rounds you're finding it seems like perhaps the bad guys or good guys are winning too easily, you can introduce different styles of players. For instance, the Wizard, Merlin (who's a good guy) knows who the bad guys are... So he has to convince his fellow good-guys to pick the right team each time. Twist is, if the good guys win, then at the end, the bad guys get to take a guess on who Merlin is. If they get it right.... The bad guys win! So it's a subtle role that needs to be played well. And there's a similar character for the bad guys. But you get the idea ! We find voting a little cumbersome, but it is important. I would say have a thumbs up or down policy rather than pulling out additional cards. It comes in a very portable box, so ready to take away on a weekend with friends for that quieter night. Brilliant. Can't recommend it enough !

A well-produced game of bluff and deception that we play infrequently as it requires at least 5 players, and preferably more (about 7 is good, I'd say). It is based on the game Resistance but is (obviously) themed around the King Arthur and Mordred story, and it has additional mechanics (e.g., via the addition of Merlin - more of him later). Artwork is excellent and the entire package is not too large and so is easily transported. Players receive a character card (kept secret) that will be either allied to Arthur (good) or to Mordred (evil). Some of these characters have a special ability. Each round a player acts as king and chooses who goes on a mission. Arthur's side want the missions to succeed, Mordred's want them to fail. And that's basically it. 3 success and the good guys win, 3 fails and the bad guys win... The game play is interesting - there's plenty of opportunity to deceive and the game is fast and fun and intriguing from the very start; if you're good you don't know who to trust - unless you're Merlin, who knows exactly who the evil players are but who must not give away his own identity as, if the evil players correctly identify him, they win the game). Given that the game lasts around 30 mins, it's good that players are never eliminated - everyone plays throughout. This is a family game that genuinely engages all ages - even my 7 year old son enjoys it; the game mechanics are simple and the layers of sophistication/complexity lie with the players and their bluffing/deducing. A great game!

It can not be overstated this game is amazing, but be prepared to lose friends. The concept of the game is simple, there are a certain number of players and within that number of players there are some loyal resistance and some spies. You play up to 5 rounds, best of 3, and if 3 missions pass then the resistance win and if 3 missions fail then the spies win. I won't go into huge detail but the game play is simple in its premise but leads to very complicated lies being webbed. You can play with 5 players and until recently I would have advised against it, but actually it lead to some very interesting games, I would still say that 6 players or more is best. I have now played this game with virtually every number of possible players, the more there are the more difficult it becomes for the resistance. It is a game that works well for every type of player, if you have a good poker face and can lie through your teeth, then you will make an excellent spy, if you are logical and good at spotting when someone is lying or not playing their "usual" game then you will make a great resistance member. Be warned this game can get quite heated and has caused a number of arguments and a couple of screaming matches when mixed with sufficient alcohol!

Played this with a few friends the other day, excellent fun. Great for Xmas I'd say as you can have up to ten players so no one has to sit out if you have a big family. My only criticism would be that it could get very repetitive after a while but all in all a great game and good value for money. This game can be modified into a drinking game if you ask me, the losers drink shots...I'll leave it at that!

The Resistance is the perfect gateway game for introducing to non-gamers at parties and such. You know those people that pull a face when you suggest you play a game over some drinks? I tell them 'try this out, it takes fifteen minutes and if you don't like it I'll never ask you to play a game again'. I never brought it to a table and not had everyone ask for another round. People sidle up to you days later 'what was that game we played? The one with the spies and that? Aye, that was really good, I'd like to play that again....' The Resistance has a great hook. Before you start to explain the rules, you hand everyone a card. If it's a red card, they are a spy. If you are a spy, you have to keep it secret from the other players. You are here to sabotage the group without getting caught. Everyone's looking at each other. Who are the spies? The spies are sweating and looking about thinking 'omg they all know. THEY KNOW. Try to look innocent, casual. But don't look like you're trying to look innocent!'. The players don't even know how to play the game, but they are already emotionally invested. Genius. A game of deduction, keeping a poker face, reading body language. Paranoia. Distrust. Betrayal. I once played when I was a spy and I convinced my girlfriend I was innocent. She was so convinced that she was passionately arguing my innocence to the table of sceptics around me. When the spies won the game and it was revealed I was a spy all along, the look of betrayal on her face made me wonder if I had actually done some damage to my relationship. It was brilliant :) I've played a ten player game where everyone was drunk. Ten people yelling accusations at each other. Total chaos. 'OF COURSE HE'S A SPY! THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT A SPY WOULD SAY!!!'. Great fun. I've played quiet, tense five player games. Everyone racking their brains. Just staring at each other, holding their breaths. Great fun. This is a total classic game. It's very cheap. If you have any interest at all, toss the dumb party games you bought in the supermarket into the bin and grab this.

Got this game after watching a youtube review from Will Wheaton and seeing the good reviews on here. Not disappointed at all! This is a brilliant little game. Fantastic for group gatherings. We got this a few days ago and have played several games every night with different groups of people each time and it has been a huge hit. Simple to learn, extremely fun to play, and the short game length means it can be played quickly as a filler or multiple times in the same session. I'm not sure if who you play with is important or not. Personally I've played with family and friends who are all up for a laugh and able to point the finger (literally) at people they think are spies. That is what the game is all about, the social interaction is fantastic. You will have to decide whether the groups you would play with would be able to be so confrontational with each other. But it is all friendly fun. This game is excellent and I highly recommend it.

Plays like mafia or secret Hitler. My friend dubbed it his favourite board game. We ended up playing a round for 30-40minutes. There's enough variation in this game with different player cards (that have different effects) to make it repayable. Would highly recommend this game to others