The Resistance Card Game - Social Deduction, Strategy, Bluffing, Negotiation, and Deception for Teens and Adults - Party Game for 5-10 Players Ages 13+ in 30 Minute Rounds by Indie Boards & Cards

This game was my introduction into the addicting world of social deception games, and whenever my friends have get togethers, we ensure there's at least one copy of the game present (there's at least three floating around our friend group). I like to describe it to people who have never played as "Mafia or Werewolf on steroids." It's so easy to get passionate about convincing everyone that you're right while playing, and for us, there's one infamous round that went down in history as the one that almost ended friendships two years ago. I must have played this game hundreds of times, and just a few things that have happened while playing: we've been yelled at to quiet down by RAs, I now always take Advil pre-emptively because I always end up with a headache from screaming at other players to convince them of one thing or another, and can you really say that you've played until at least one person is standing on top of a chair, pointing fingers, and proclaiming their innocence?So the game works with cards being randomly and secretly distributed to every player that assign them to either the Resistance (Good) or the Spies (Bad). There are up to five missions, and whichever team claims the majority of the misisons is the winner. If only it were that easy. For each mission, the Leader (a role that shifts each mission) selects a certain number of players, the whole group votes to approve or reject the Leader's choice, and if it's approved, each player on the mission gets a Success and a Fail card. If you're Good, you submit a Success card face-down to a pile in the middle. If you're Bad, you have the option of submitting either a Success or a Fail card. When everyone on the mission has submitted their cards, they're shuffled and revealed. The mission passes if there's all Successes and fails when there's a Fail. But if there's a Fail ... who on the mission was the Spy who put it in? Let the lying and interrogating begin ...I think in our group we've played with every configuration from 5 to 10 players, and it's definitely a lot more fun with more players, but you just have to make sure that everyone's paying attention as the group gets bigger. It's no fun if someone's on their phone while everyone else is arguing and theorizing, it almost feels like you're lacking information. I'd say 7+ players is the most fun. You also have to stress for players not to cheat if they're Good by putting a Fail card in the middle just to be funny ... it really confuses the game and makes it less satisfying for everyone else. Have patience while explaining the game the first time around; sometimes it's even worth it to do a practice round because some of the nuances don't quite make sense until the game is happening. It's very easy to pick up, though, and the games can go by in about 15 minutes depending on how much arguing between rounds is done.I've seen a lot of comparisons favoring either The Resistance or Avalon, but I do love both in their own ways. I enjoy that The Resistance has plot cards that get distributed at the beginning of rounds, which can sometimes get players feeling more involved. The characters in Avalon are a blast, but sometimes if you're stuck without a special role, it's not as fun. With The Resistance, at least, you can convince the Leader to give you plot cards so you can have some sort of "special ability". It's true that the expansion packs adds the character features of Avalon to The Resistance, but really, you can't go wrong with either and especially not with both.Pro tip: I'd recommend getting card sleeves for this game. The ones with one clear side and one opaque side are great for the character cards because you can face the character toward the opaque side so that if they accidentally fall off the table, no one's at risk of seeing your character. It also keeps everything in great shape so you don't have any character cards identifiable by folds or scratches.Buy this game. It never gets old, and I honestly don't think I've met anyone who's played and not enjoyed it. Very worth the money and, trust me, it'll become a staple of your get togethers quite quickly, too.

Basically, a group of players are randomly and secretly selected to be either part of the resistance or the spies. The spies get to reveal themselves to each other, so they know who the spies and the resistance members are, while the resistance members remain in the dark about who is a spy and who is part of the resistance. Obviously, everyone knows what he himself is, spy or resistance.The object is to reach 'three' first. For the resistance, this means three successful missions. For the spies, this means three failed missions. There are five total missions (if needed).Once the spies have revealed themselves, the leader of the table (a player chosen randomly, preferably before "spy" and "resistance" assignments are determined) chooses which members to go on the mission. This proposed team goes to a vote, and it passes if more players accept than reject the proposed team. If the team is rejected, then the leader role passes clockwise and the new leader chooses his proposed team, which again goes to a vote. If five straight proposed teams are rejected, this counts as a mission fail for the spies. I've yet to see this happen. Typically, a team eventually gets accepted. The number of players for a mission depends on how many players are playing the game and which mission number you're on. Sometimes it'll be 2 players, other times as many as 5 players. Note: your vote to accept or reject a team becomes public, so you'll have to explain yourself if you reject a team or accept a team with a suspected spy. This is one place where inferences will get made about your status.Only after a team has been accepted by the table do those team members vote for whether the mission succeeds or fails. This is done by secret ballot. Typically, just one "reject' vote means the mission fails. On some missions, you need two 'rejects' for the mission to fail.It's really only after the first mission has been voted on that the game becomes truly interesting, because you now have information to draw inferences from about who is a spy and who is part of the resistance. If the spies aren't clever, they will be found early enough to get shut-out of the missions and the resistance will win the game. If the resistance isn't clever enough, one or two spies will elude them long enough to get voted on in the later missions and the spies will win the game.Your job as the resistance is to make the best inferences as to who are the spies and to convince your fellow resistance members of this. Once you can get all of the resistance to see things your way, given that you're right, you can easily win the game -- because you have the numbers. Your job as a spy is to act like a resistance member, making it as hard as possible for the resistance to figure out who all the resistance members are. Sometimes that will mean giving yourself up (by an overtly spy type act) if it means keeping the identity of another spy intact, because that spy might get voted on the deciding final mission and you'll win the game.