Resistance: Avalon Review
Resistance: Avalon Review
The kingdom of Arthur is threatened by the evil Mordred and his subjects. Merlin and his servants are the ones who will solve the matter. But not everyone in his crew is honest about their loyalty ... Check out The Resistance: Avalon Board Game Review below.
- The Resistance: Avalon is a standalone game and while The ...
- For 5 to 10 players
- Playback lasts 30 minutes
A brief overview of the resistance: Avalon
Resistance: Avalon is a companion deduction game for 5-10 players that is part of the family The Resistance of the game .
Set in the fantasy kingdom of Arthur, your group is divided into good and evil. A good team - led by Merlin - must try to complete three quests to win. While the Evil players have to try, the three Quests fail.
Problem? Only Evil and Merlin know who Evil is. But Merlin must not reveal his identity, otherwise he will be murdered.
It is largely based on group discussion, it is a game of bluff, deduction and intrigue, as each player tries to establish the identity of his colleagues.
Resistance unpacking: Avalon
Avalon does not have many components. What you get is:
- 14 Character Cards
- 10 Card Quest
- 5 team chips
- 20 voting tokens
- 5 markers
- 1 Round marker
- 1 Voice track label
- 1 Leader token
- 3 Tables of results
- 2 Loyalty Cards
- 1 Lady of the Lake Token
Avalon is a small game with only a few components that worry you. Most of them are just chips and cards . Nonetheless, I was impressed with how many topics they managed to pack. The animation beautifully draws the nature of each of the characters. And although the boards are quite ordinary, they still nicely evoke the misty green lands that early Britain apparently rolled through.
The components play only a small role in the game, so I was glad that their overall quality is strong.
I especially liked the policy . The animation in it is quite lame, but it is written superbly. All six pages are incredibly transparent with a simple and intuitive structure. Useful examples of play are available throughout, although I argue that they are not necessary given how well the rules are written. This means you will be playing Avalon in no time.
How to play Resistance: Avalon
Setup
Select the game board that matches the number of players and place it in the middle of the table in the first place of the search with a round marker. Then give each player two voting tokens.
Then take the number of the Good and Evil Role of the card as specified in the policy, making sure that Merlin and Assassin are included. For example, a five-player game will have three good cards (Merlin and two loyal servants of Arthur) and two bad cards (Assassin and Minion of Mordred).
These need to be shuffled and then distributed to each player. Then everyone would have to secretly look at their map to determine their role in the game. Also, choose one player to play as a Leader (usually the most experienced player to start with) and give him a Leader token.
Evil is revealed
This is an important part. Throughout the game, Evil players will know who they are. Merlin will also know who the evil players are, but no one will know who Merlin is except Merlin himself.
To achieve this, the leader tells everyone to close their eyes and place their hands in front of them in their fists. They then tell the evil actors to open their eyes and confess. The evil players then close their eyes and place their thumbs in front of them. Merlin is then told to open his eyes and find out who the evil actors are. Finally, everyone closes their eyes and lowers their thumbs before everyone can open their eyes again.
The game now begins.
Phase 1: Team building
Avalon consists of several circles, each with two phases. In the first - Team building - the group has to discuss who in the group they want to send on a search. There is little space, and if an evil player is chosen, he will be able to succeed.
All players should be involved in this discussion, but in the end, the leader is the one proposing the team (this can include themselves). Selected players receive a team token.
Voting
Once the team is selected, the group secretly selects a token (yes or no, marked with a black or white stone) to vote on whether they want the proposed team to go on a search. When everyone is ready, the voting cards are turned over to see how everyone voted.
If there are more tokens Yes (white stones) than No tokens (black stones), then the team is approved and you go to the search phase. Otherwise, the Leader token is passed on to the next player and the team building phase begins again. If he rejects five teams in a row, Evil wins.
Phase 2: Search
Players in the mission receive a Quest Success and Quest Failure card and now have to secretly choose whether the mission was successful. Good players need to choose the Quest Success card. While Evil players can choose either Search Success or Search Failure.
The Quest cards are then handed to the leader, who shuffles them without anyone seeing who chose what. Once it has been revealed if even one Quest Failure card has been selected, the task is considered to have failed.
End of the game
The game ends in three different scenarios:
- Three tasks are successfully completed = Good victories
- Three missions failed = Evil wins
- Five teams are consecutively rejected in the team building phase = Evil wins
Assassination of Merlin
The Evil team has one last chance to win, even if three tasks are successfully completed. With all the cards still hidden, the evil players are debating who they think Merlin might be (remember, Merlin knew who they were). The assassin then selects a good player for the assassination. If they choose Merlin, then Evil wins the game!
Optional signs
The basic game includes several optional characters with different powers. You don't have to use these, but they can make things a little more interesting. Percival, for example, is good and knows who Merlin is. Meanwhile, Mordred can also be added to the game, whose identity is the secret of even Merlin.
Your first game of resistance: Avalon
It is true that in social deduction games it is much easier. But a lot of trust is also involved.
You have to trust that no one will ruin the integrity of the game, which is very easy to do. So make sure everyone at all points in the game consciously tries not to see anyone’s character card or any Quest card.
The same goes for any questions during the game that will give away what you have on your card. Of course, people will claim who they are - that's the point of the game. But talking about works of art with cards that you would probably only know about if you had them in front of you should be avoided.
To avoid the unintentional appearance of something you shouldn’t, we advise you to shuffle discarded Quest cards and sent ones. This will help ensure that no one can be traced to the votes.
Otherwise, the best advice when it comes to actually playing the game is to question everything and suspect everyone. Why did someone vote to disband the team? Maybe they were evil and knew there were no evil members on it. Or maybe they were Merlin and they knew someone who went on a search was evil. Either way, the game comes into its own when people are made to explain or theorize. Only then will the cracks begin to show.
Advantages disadvantages
Advantages:
- Great group interaction
- A direct game of social deduction
- High energy and emotions
Weaknesses:
- Everything must be fully invested
- The social side of the game may not be for everyone
- You need a bigger group
Oh boy, do I like the social deduction game. And Avalon is one of the biggest. Each play is a high-energy, emotional slide that ultimately creates a sweet, sweet revelation. Whether it’s identifying the Evil players or the tense assassination attempt on Merlin in the end.
Things can get pretty noisy and that’s great proof of how the players involved can get. It’s amazing how many people can read in his simple voting system. And some of the theories that people are advocating can be ridiculous. Not to mention how nervous it is when you’re on the Evil team!
Clean and simple
The simplicity of Avalon is one of its main advantages over similar Secret Hitler . It focuses on group discussion and interaction, rather than having to play with some awkward mechanics or rules. Don’t get me wrong, I love Secret Hitler - this is probably my favorite social deduction game - but its rules can make it harder to introduce new players if they haven’t played a social deduction game yet.
Optional characters add spices
It is also worth mentioning that it is worth presenting optional signs. You could find yourself without them, but more ordinary players will soon want a way to mix things up. The addition of Percival, Mordred, Morgan and Oberon does this beautifully.
One of the challenges with any social deduction game is that they are simply not for everyone. To some, the accusatory and sometimes quite aggressive nature of Avalon may seem a bit exaggerated. Dominant players of the game can take on the role and if someone doesn’t like to dismiss a theory or accusation, they may not enjoy the game as much. Still, there’s nothing wrong with someone playing quietly. They are often quiet that you have to pay attention to ...
Go All-In
Even Avalon is not a game for halflings. Even if only one person does not pay full attention, the whole game can be ruined. What is supposed to be a connecting experience could ultimately lead to some arguments.
The result is that with at least five employees, it is sometimes a challenge to find a group that plays Avalon. Which is a shame, because it's brilliant.
The Resistance: Avalon Review (TL; DR)
The Resistance: Avalon is a board game with deductions for 5-10 players. It is a battle of good against evil, with a team of good trying to accomplish three tasks and a team of evil trying to prevent them.
Avalon is one of the simpler social deductions of the game out there, but that doesn’t mean it’s not full of intrigue, deception, and emotion. This makes it one of the most fun and easy to play options available.
Conclusion: a verdict?
Avalon is one of the best deduction games in society. And given that, it can usually be found nicely cheap , certainly one of the best values.
It’s a surefire way to start intense games, with bluffing, quarrels, scams, and accusations raging. Simple features make it incredibly easy to dive and probably one of the better candidates if you’ve never played a social deduction game before.
Of course, emotional pain and a nature that is difficult to discuss may not be appropriate for everyone. However, Avalon with the right mix can be some of the most fun you can enjoy while accusing all your friends of being evil.
- The Resistance: Avalon is a standalone game and while The ...
- For 5 to 10 players
- Playback lasts 30 minutes
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