Coup Pictorial Preview!

Coup is a fantastic microgame that has been re-themed to fit the world of Resistance and is being published by Indie Boards & Cards.

For those of you who don’t know, a microgame is one with a small set of components. In this case, Coup has fifteen character cards, coins, and player aids. That’s it. Like other microgames the gameplay is fast and something you can easily dish out in fifteen minutes. Microgames are often refered to as “light” or “fillers” but when done right, like in Coup, they have meat and feel like a full game.

In Coup, you start the game with a player card, two face down character cards, which are revealed only to you, and two coins. The goal of the game is to be the last person standing with a character in play.

To win you get to use your character powers or you get to bluff, saying you have a character you don’t have, and use that character’s power. Someone may call you on your bluff or they may not. That’s where the fun of the game is.

Although there are fifteen character cards in the game there are only five characters and each is repeated three times. Their powers are…

• The Duke: allows you to take three coins from the bank.
• The Assassin: allows you to pay three coins to kill another character’s card.
• The Captain: allows you to steal two coins from another player.
• The Ambassador: allows you to draw two character cards from the deck and either exchange or pretend to exchange them with characters you already have.
• The Contessa: allows you to stop an assassin from committing an assassination.

Microgames are huge right now, thanks primarily to the success of Love Letter. They are almost a dime a dozen, but finding a quality one is rare. Coup is one of those rare ones.

Coup is one of those games that are good because they are so simple yet there is a lot of strategy to it. When playing, you don’t feel like you are playing a light game, even though the box is small and there are few components. It’s deep and at times can be really intense, but in a good way.

Thematically, it fits that Coup has been rebranded as Resistance because like it’s big brother, the intensity can be stressful in the same way Resistance can be. Both games scratch the same itch, the biggest difference being that Coup plays both faster and with a smaller group.

If you like Resistance, there is no reason not to get the new Coup. It’s quick play, versatility in player size, and low price makes it a must buy.

Note: The game is set to debut later this month with a $15 price tag, though most online retailers have it for pre-order at only $10.