Krishnan said I could use Coup as my game of choice for this week.
The game Coup targets people ages 14+ who have the ability to understand many different roles and even game theory, depending on how serious they are as gamers. In my experience, there are no gender imbalances for who this game is targeted for and it seems like older adults are also very willing to play it. It was designed by Rikki Tahta and published in 2012 by Indie Boards & Cards and La Mame Games. I played it in the typical style which is in person using cards from the original box.
The emphasizes social deduction through its reliance on lying/bluffing and strategically telling the truth in a way that sound like you’re lying. Since everyone only has two cards and there are a limited number of each card, as the game progresses, each played keeps a mental tally on who has which cards and how many have been called out. This allows players to deduce, using these mental tallies, which players have which cards. This deduction gives each player more confidence when calling others out, especially if it impedes a move that you specifically are trying to make (like someone blocking you using the Duke to take 3 coins). By also allowing players to swap cards with the court deck, it reduces other players confidence in which cards you hold and forces them to deduce more. You can also choose to make it sounds like you’re not confident or like you’re lying when you block someone’s move. This is a way to bait someone into making a certain move, knowing they have a certain card, and knowing that you will win the block because of a certain card that beats their card. There are also numerous ways to think about this game using more formal game theory techniques, however that ruins the game since it makes the turns longer and makes it feel more deterministic and less skill/chance based.
One thing I noticed while playing Coup is that people bluff very early on when nobody has any knowledge of others card besides what they have in their own hand. This makes the game usually start out with players bluffing that they have the Duke and taking an early advantageous 3 coins. I wonder if this early bluffing was intentional from the designers to make the game progress quicker or if it was just the result of having a few simple rules. Another game that I think is similar is Love Letter which involves character-based cards with a max of two in your hand at a time. Instead of bluffing in this game however, you’re forced to play more by chance and seeing peoples reactions to know who has what cards. For instance, you can’t say that you have a 7-number card when you don’t actually have one–something that would be possible in Coup unless someone blocked your move.
One thing I think Coup does well, is allowing you to carry a few different roles throughout the game. This fits into the Resources formal element we talked about. The game gives players the option to swap characters out for different ones in the court deck which gives more freedom and flexibility to players as well as a chance for newer players to learn the game faster. It also makes it harder for the other players to deduce what characters you have, especially since you could just keep the cards you already have if you wanted to. This fits into the mechanics and dynamics parts of the game since it is a rule to be able to switch cards (mechanics), but you can also choose not to and it makes it harder for people to guess your cards (dynamics).
Here we see exactly how many cards are available of each type (15 total, 3 of each) and that each player get a notecard with the specific rules so that they can see how to bend the rules or most effectively bluff. For instance, you could make it seem like you’re terrible at the game by looking at the rule card a lot, but in fact you have a lot of experience and the other players will ignore you for a few rounds until they realize the jig is up and you’re in fact a pro.
