Welcome to The Resistance

Hey there! I’m here to tell you about an amazing game called The Resistance. If you enjoy strategy, team dynamics, and secret missions, then you’re in for a treat. The Resistance is a game that puts you in the middle of a thrilling battle between two groups – the resistance fighters and the secret spies.

Imagine this: you and your friends are thrust into a world of deception and mistrust. Each player is assigned a secret role – either a member of the resistance or a spy. The goal? For the resistance to successfully complete their missions without being discovered by the spies. It’s like living out a spy movie!

As a member of the resistance, your mission is clear – work together with your teammates to complete a series of dangerous missions. But here’s the twist – among you are secret spies who will do anything to sabotage your efforts. So, it’s up to you to outsmart them and identify who they are.

The Resistance is not only about strategy and deduction; it’s also about trust and betrayal. You’ll need to rely on your instincts and the trust you place in your fellow resistance members. But beware – not everyone is who they seem. The spies will try their best to blend in and deceive you, making it even harder to figure out who to trust.

This game is all about communication and reading people. You’ll need to pay close attention to the actions and words of others to piece together the puzzle. Who can you trust? Who is trying to sabotage your mission? It’s a thrilling challenge that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

The Resistance is suitable for groups of five or more players, so gather your friends and get ready to embark on a thrilling adventure. Are you ready to join the resistance and bring down the spies? Trust me, once you start, you won’t be able to get enough of this exhilarating game!

The Resistance is an exciting card game where Spies try to hide themselves among the Resistance fighters and prevent the success of their crucial missions.

Preparing for the Game

Assigning Roles

Depending on the number of players, the Spies and Resistance fighters are assigned as follows:

• 5 players: 3 Resistance fighters and 2 Spies
• 6 players: 4 Resistance fighters and 2 Spies
• 7 players: 4 Resistance fighters and 3 Spies
• 8 players: 5 Resistance fighters and 3 Spies
• 9 players: 6 Resistance fighters and 3 Spies
• 10 players: 6 Resistance fighters and 4 Spies

Each player receives one Role card from a deck of 10 cards. There are 4 red “Spy” cards, marked with an eye symbol, and 6 blue “Resistance fighter” cards, marked with a closed fist symbol.

First, we need to pick a Leader. It’s best if they’re experienced and know how to manage the game. However, the other players have the power to vote and remove the Leader if they don’t like their Squad proposals.

Spotting the Spies

Once everyone has their identity cards and knows their roles, the Leader will guide the Spies in recognizing each other. Here’s how it goes:

1. Everyone closes their eyes.
2. The Spies open their eyes and look around to identify each other.
3. The Spies then close their eyes again, so everyone’s eyes are shut once more.
4. Finally, everyone opens their eyes.

GAMEPLAY

Let me tell you about how the game works. There are two main parts: Squad Formation and Mission.

Squad Phase: This is when the Leader gets to choose who will go on the mission. The Leader picks the players they want on their squad for the next mission. The size of the squad can change depending on how many people are playing and what turn it is.

So, you’re wondering how many players are needed to form a squad, huh? Well, let me break it down for you. Take a look at this table:	Total number of players	5	6	7	8	9	10
Turn 1 Squad	2	2	2	3	3	3
Turn 2 Squad	3	3	3	4	4	4
Turn 3 Squad	2	4	3	4	4	4
Turn 4 Squad	3	3	4	5	5	5
Turn 5 Squad	3	4	4	5	5	5

As you can see, the number of players required to form a squad depends on the total number of players available. For example, if there are 5 players in total, you would need 2 players for the first turn squad. On the second turn, you would need 3 players, and so on.

So, here’s the deal. When we form the Squad, we all have to vote on whether or not we’re cool with the mission it’s gonna tackle, alright?

If most of us (or at least half) say yes, then the Squad gets the green light and heads out on their adventure, which we like to call the Mission Phase. Pretty exciting, right?

But here’s the thing – if most of us are like, “Nah, not feeling it,” and we reject the Squad, then things switch up. The person sitting to the left of the Leader becomes the new Leader, and we have to start the Squad Phase all over again. It’s a reset button, basically.

Oh, and here’s a little something you need to know: if, during a single turn, we reject a whopping five Squads in a row, the game is instantly won by the Spies. Yeah, I know, that’s a pretty intense outcome, but that’s how it goes.

Completing the Mission: A Critical Decision

When I’m on a mission, I have an important choice to make – do I support the mission or sabotage it? It’s a decision that can have a major impact.

First, the leader gives every member of the squad two cards: one for success and one for failure. It’s up to each of us to select the card that reflects our intentions. I choose one card and pass it to the leader without showing it.

Once all the cards are collected, the leader shuffles them and reveals our choices. If there are no failure cards, the mission is a success.

It’s a critical moment that can shape the outcome of the mission, and the responsibility lies with each of us to make the right decision.

The Game is Over

You win if your team successfully completes three missions. You lose if the spies successfully complete three missions.

So, the game can last anywhere from three to five turns. However, if there are five consecutive failed squad votes, the game can end instantly with a victory for the resistance.

NOTES

This game is built to make it really hard for Resistance fighters like me to figure out who the skilled and highly organized Spies are. There are a couple of important pieces of information I need to pay close attention to:

• The votes for the Squads – I can see how everyone voted
• The results of each Mission – I don’t know who might have sabotaged it

VARIATIONS

Targeted Attacks: Instead of doing the Missions in the usual order, the Leader gets to pick which Mission we do. That affects how many people are in the Squad. But here’s the catch – we can only do each Mission once, even if it doesn’t work out. And we can only do the fifth Mission after we’ve had two other successful Missions.