Indie Boards & Cards
Coup
Game Description
Welcome to the intriguing world of Coup, the board game by Indie Boards & Cards that projects you into a corrupt Italian city-state. As the head of a powerful family, your goal is to manipulate, bluff, and bribe your way to power, eliminating the influence of all other families. Designed for 2-6 players, with games lasting just 15 minutes, this 2012 title promises tension and fun from the very first turn.
In Coup, your strength is your influence, represented by face-down character cards. Each player starts with two coins and two influence cards, drawn from a deck of fifteen cards that includes three copies of five unique characters. During your turn, you can declare you possess any character to perform their action, or choose from three general actions that do not require specific characters, which are fundamental to your rapid strategy. The available actions are:
- Duke: Take 3 coins. Block Foreign Aid.
- Assassin: Pay 3 coins to attempt to assassinate a character.
- Contessa: Block an assassination attempt against you.
- Captain: Steal 2 coins from another player, or block steals.
- Ambassador: Exchange character cards with the deck, or block steals.
- Income: Take 1 coin.
- Foreign Aid: Take 2 coins.
- Coup: Pay 7 coins to make an opponent lose an influence (mandatory with 10+ coins).
Every character action succeeds automatically, unless an opponent challenges you. If you cannot reveal the declared character, or choose not to, you will lose an influence, turning one of your cards face up. Face-up cards are inactive, making every decision crucial and the risk of deception an integral part of the game. Are you ready to master the art of persuasion and become the last dominant family?
Indie Boards & Cards
Rules - Coup
Coup is a tense game of bluff and deduction for 2-6 players, where the objective is to eliminate the influence of all other families to remain the sole power. Each player starts with two coins and two face-down character cards, which represent their influence. The deck contains five types of characters (Duke, Assassin, Contessa, Captain, Ambassador), each with a unique ability. The core of the game lies in the ability to declare any action, regardless of the cards you actually possess.
On their turn, a player chooses an action to perform. Common actions include:
- Income: Take one coin from the treasury.
- Foreign Aid: Take two coins from the treasury (blockable by the Duke).
- Coup: Pay seven coins to force an opponent to lose an influence (mandatory if you have ten or more coins).
Players can also declare specific character actions, such as taking three coins with the Duke, assassinating with the Assassin, stealing two coins with the Captain, or blocking an assassination with the Contessa.
When a player declares a character action, an opponent can decide to challenge their claim. If the challenged player possesses the declared character card, they reveal it, perform the action, shuffle the card back into the deck, and draw a new one; the challenger loses an influence. If the challenged player does not possess the card (or does not reveal it), they lose an influence. Losing influence means turning one of your character cards face-up, rendering it inactive. The game continues until only one player retains at least one influence.
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