Overview
Coup is an intriguing card game, designed for players aged 10+. Invented by Rikki Tahta, the Coup card game requires 2-6 players and is played with a super unique deck of cards.
The Coup Card Game is about dominance of the royal class. The government is being run by the elite class. It is mainly being run for profit, and few people are living a life filled with desperation and paucity. The oppression gave birth to ‘The Resistance.’ It is an underground organisation that is planning to defeat the authoritative rulers.
The constant efforts of the organisation has brought about a state of intrigue and discord in the political courts. But, you are an authoritative official, who has got a prospect to bribe and blag your way to victory and absolute power.
The question is – what’s the aim of the game?
The Objective of the Game
The main objective of the Coup Card game is to obliterate the authority of your contenders, and impel them into exile. There’s only going to be one winner – that’s the basic rule of life and this card game.
The crux of the game is to bluff and develop a strategy. That’s what most card games are all about! It is akin to poker, but there’s a lot more intrigue in the Coup Card game.
How To Play Coup Card Game?
Playing a game of Coup is not as overwhelming as you may think. The game play revolves around a deck of fifteen cards. Out of these, five are unique cards. You will come across cards such as Contessa, Duke, Assassin, Ambassador, and Captain.
As the game begins, each player gets to deal with two cards. You have to be the last player or survivor in the game! This basically means that every player’s cards have to be dead and you should have one surviving card.
In the Coup card game, you will have ‘influence’ or coins as the currency. You will not be using these coins to purchase goods, but to kill other player’s cards.
The five unique cards have the power to let you gain coins or even lose coins. The most intriguing factor of the game is that your opponents will have no idea what cards you hold.
Each of the player’s coins/money will be visible, but the cards will be face-down. The remaining coins are kept in the middle as these are the ‘treasury.’
Before you start the game, it’s advisable to get familiar with the characters and actions.
You’ll start the game in a clockwise manner. A player cannot pass in this game, and only one action can be performed in one turn.
When a player loses their influence and both their cards are face-up, they are out of the game. You will have to leave your existing cards face-up and return all the influence/coins back to the treasure (in the middle).
There are three types of actions that a player can move forward with:
- General Actions
- Counter Actions
- Character Actions
The General actions are always available. These include Income, Foreign Aid, and Coup. Character actions include Duke, Assassin, Ambassador, and Captain. If you wish to block a particular player’s action, you can use the ‘counteraction.’ Use Duke, Contessa, or Ambassador/Captain to do a counteraction.
Since the game comes with instructions, you will find all the details within the instruction card.
What’s included in the Coup Card Game
- 3 Duke Cards
- 3 Assassin Cards
- 3 Captain Cards
- 3 Ambassador Cards
- 3 Contessa Cards
- 6 summary cards
- 50 coins
- Instruction card
Takeaway
Coup Card Game has all the action and intrigue that you are looking for in a game!
Ideally, anyone above 10 years of age can play it. In games like Chess, you know the strategies that will help you win. But, this one is challenging your brain time and again.
If there are two players, then the starting player will only receive one coin at the start of the game. Players have the freedom to look at their playing cards, but they must keep it face-down.
Once you get familiar with all the rules of the game, you will be able to ace it!