''Coup'' is a social deduction

card game A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games (such as poker). A small number of card g ...

designed by Rikki Tahta and published in 2012 by Indie Boards & Cards and La Mame Games. Players are given two cards and attempt to eliminate the other players by lying and calling their bluffs until only one player remains.

Gameplay

Each player has two face-down character cards, with the remaining cards being placed in a "Court Deck" in the centre of the play area. Players take turns performing actions, while the other players have the opportunity to challenge or enact a counteraction. Some actions and counteractions require a player to claim to have a specific character card (which they can do regardless of whether or not they have it). Such claims can be challenged by anyone in the game, regardless of whether they are directly involved in the action. If a player is challenged, they must prove they had the played character card by revealing it from their face-down cards. If they can not or do not want to prove it, they lose the challenge, but if they can, the challenger loses. Whoever loses the challenge immediately loses one of their character cards. When a player loses both their character cards, that player is eliminated. The winner is the remaining player after all others have been eliminated.

Spin-offs and expansions

''Coup: Rebellion Guatemala 1954''

A spin-off, ''Coup: Rebellion Guatemala 1954'' (also known as ''Coup: Rebellion G54''), was released in 2014, which included a variable deck of 25 characters. The rules and gameplay are the same as ''Coup'' (2012) but with different possible characters, of which five out of the 25 are chosen in each game. An expansion of this called ''Coup: Rebellion Guatemala 1954- Anarchy'' was released in 2016 which added seven new roles (Anarchists, Paramilitary, Arms Dealers, Freedom of press, World Bank, Plantation owners, and Socialists) and actions to the game.

''Coup: Reformation''

In 2014, the game ''Coup: Reformation'' was also released by Rikki Tahta and La Mame Games. In this version, each player must declare themself as either Loyalist or Reformist and can target only members of the other faction. Conversion between factions is possible by paying a donation to the Almshouse (treasury). After the other faction has all been eliminated or converted, all remaining players within a faction descend into in-fighting, and the game proceeds as in ''Coup'' (2012).

Reception

Upon its release, ''Coup'' received generally positive reviews. A review from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' praised its simplicity, engagement, and replayability. Clayton Ashley from ''Polygon'' praised the game's simplicity and bluffing mechanism. Alex Walker, writing from ''

Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...

'', complemented ''Coup: Rebellion'' for its ease of play, quick rounds, and mechanics. However, he also described that the game could "drag on over longer sessions" compared to the original.

References

External links

* {{Bgg title, id=131357, name=Coup Multi-player card games Dedicated deck card games Card games introduced in 2012 Party games Social deduction games Works about coups d'état