Monday night was the first time I played The Resistance: Avalon with classmates in Design for Play at Game Night. Avalon is a classic social bluffing game designed by Don Eskridge with players divided into two teams, loyal servants of Arthur and minions of Mordred. The game is targeted for both strangers and friends, 5-10 players in a social setting, and can be played both as a tabletop or board game.
I joined the room mid-game and found players distressed, excited, and highly engaged as they were accusing each other (i.e. Butch bullying Ryan).
Sabrina explained the rules to me in under 5 minutes, which is a decent time for a social game where players are expected to understand the mechanics quickly and have fun without much deciphering.
I find the mechanics similar to Mafia, where the evil know each other, while good players are kept in the dark. The game engages the fun of fellowship, challenge, and expression. I found myself constantly contemplating how to present my character as a trustworthy good player using logical reasoning and acting.
What I find the mechanics of Avalon excel at is the inclusion of more roles on the good team like Percival and Merlin; this ensures that more good players are actively involved compared to passive villagers in Mafia. Particularly, the inclusion of Merlin makes the game a lot more interesting. In my second game, I was Mordred; our team failed to conceal our identity, but the assassin successfully identified Merlin. This mechanic offered an interesting plot twist dynamic that pushes for more heated bluffing and guessing. In this case, the fun of fellowship was evident.
The way people approach the game is very interesting. My experience made me realize that I am someone who prefers a reasonable logic over theatrical and chaotic playing in terms of communication style in social games, love to project theoretical deductions helpful to my team, and take on a flexible role in group dynamics. I was on the good side and evil side each time, and tried to keep the character of an honest and reasonable loyal servant of Arthur both times. In the first game, because I was not included in the first two quests, people became more hesitant to include me in the quest (as an unknown). I tried to pitch my identity as the good side but failed under the lead of Butch, who deceivingly concentrated all of our attention on people whom he chose in his quest and made me overlook the fact that he might have been evil.
I also noticed different people using ways other than logical reasoning to approach the game; notably, Akary mentioned how she made deductions based on pre-existing trust and Judak depended on “vibes.” Jeffery, who played evil even though he was good every time, also claimed that “to play logically is a weakness,” exemplifying how the end goal of social deduction games is not simply to win the game but to get to know each other better through the act of performance and deceit.
Responding to the ethics question, Avalon is a game where evil players must actively use deception and bluffing as a winning mechanism. This rule legitimizes lying to your friends as an appropriate action. I think that it is a natural outlet for a piece of human nature where we need to cover up some of our secrets. It also gives players a chance to practice pitching and logical or emotional persuasion even when the situation is against oneself. The deception here is similar to a white lie: the end goal is not to harm, but to allow players in the game to see a more vulnerable, authentic, and maybe not as glorious side of humanity — a quick way to erase social tension.
