In an attempt to play a game quickly, we decided to play Coup. This game takes 10-15 minutes to complete, but it went quickly after a couple of rounds. Perhaps because this game is easy to pick up and easy to win/lose, either way, I realized Coup is not that great.
At the start of the game, each player is dealt two hidden/secret character cards and two coins. The goal of this game is to eliminate players by revealing their character cards, either by paying for a coup or using an assassin. The game revolves around players taking turns using the actions set by their character cards or lying and using abilities that pertain to other characters. If caught, players lose their “influence” (or character card); if both cards are lost, they are out of the game. For a player to win the game, they must be the last player to stand.
While I appreciate the simplicity of the game and the idea of social deduction, it became apparent that this game relies heavily on who you are playing with. This game challenges players to lie and criticize each other’s plays. For this reason, when we played the game, nobody embodied these characteristics, and sooner or later, the games started to become boring and repetitive. I felt that this issue could have easily been addressed if the mechanics of the game were more interactive. I enjoyed the visual art of different characters and reading about their special abilities. The characters and story of the game had a lot of potential but were not taken advantage of. For instance, Something I noticed when playing this game was that the mechanics of the game were very similar to that of a love letter. The prime distinction I found was that love letter gives context to the game by including flavor text of the situation and the characters involved. Suddenly players take on their roles a lot more seriously and feel invited to embody them and incite the qualities of a social deduction game (accusation, bluffing, trash talk, etc.)
While this game is designed to be quick, it becomes a repetitive act of everyone simply going around the circle and taking turns. It became apparent that it is easy to simply accuse someone of lying and because each player is given only two characters to play with, a player did not last long in this game. Because there are a very limited number of actions and characters you can play with, it quickly turns into a game that gets tiring to play after a couple of rounds.
One of the downfalls I noticed rather quickly in this game was the fact that there was no use in having two of the same characters. When drawing a new character, I did not expect to get the same one, which is a real possibility with no benefit or drawback. Perhaps I did not think thoroughly about how to strategize this move, but I did not see any purpose in this, which I think could have had substantial implications for the game.
Despite these drawbacks, I believe that this game is highly accessible and easy to play. New players may feel bored in the beginning when trying to adjust by only taking coins and not lying. However, once players feel comfortable and experienced, this game can be fun and interactive.
