The Game of the Month series highlights one of the many games in our libraries at Ravenwood Castle and The Malted Meeple. We will briefly describe the game, how to play it, and why we like it. This month’s Game of the Month is written by The Malted Meeple’s Head Game Master – and former Ravenwood Innkeeper – Karington Hess.

Game: The Resistance

In The Resistance, players take on the role of rebels trying to bring down a corrupt and powerful empire. To accomplish this, The Resistance is planning a series of daring missions. Knowing that this could shake the Empire to its foundation, imperial spies have been dispatched to infiltrate the ranks of The Resistance and sabotage their plans.

You must assemble your teams carefully, for even a single spy can cause a mission to fail. The Resistance members have planned five daring missions. Three must succeed to topple the empire, but if the spies secure three victories The Resistance will be defeated!

Players begin by shuffling the role cards and secretly distributing them, along with voting tokens. Each player looks at his role card and then closes their eyes. Then, all the players who were dealt red spy cards open their eyes to look around and see the other spies. This way they know who is on their team without the rest of the players knowing. Now, everyone opens their eyes and play begins!

One player will become the first team leader. The leader chooses a number of players to form the mission team. The exact number is dependent on the total number of players and the current mission. All of the players then vote on whether they want to see this team attempt the mission. If the players approve the mission, then the players proceed with the mission. If the players vote to reject the mission, then a new player becomes the leader.

When the players approve a mission, everyone who was chosen as the mission team is given the same pair of mission cards. One card says “Success” while the other card says “Fail.” A member of The Resistance can only choose the “Success” card. However, a spy can choose either card. Players then secretly hand the cards to the leader who shuffles them and reveals one at a time. If all of the cards are “Success” cards, then the mission is a success and The Resistance members are one step closer to victory! However, if but one of the cards is a “Fail” card then the mission fails and The Resistance is one step closer to defeat. The game progresses until The Resistance have succeeded in three missions or the spies have caused three missions to fail.

The Resistance is a Malted Meeple favorite and hits the table often, due in large part to the simplicity of the rules and the fact that it supports up to 10 players. What we enjoy most about The Resistance is all of the social interaction. Players making wild accusations and throwing out crazy theories of who they think are spies really adds to the excitement of the game. This is truly one of those Above the Table games we enjoy so much!

The mood of The Resistance is always tense, as you never know who just might be a spy! When freedom is on the line, who can you trust? Grab a cold drink and join The Resistance!

Jim Reed

Jim Reed is a lifelong gamer who started with the original red box Dungeons & Dragons. After spending 20 years in the corporate world, he decided it was high time that work be fun and struck out on his own. Jim now owns and operates Ravenwood Castle, and spends his days ensuring his guests have as much fun as he does.