Critical Component Comparison: Coup & Coup: Rebellion G54

A while ago we reviewed Coup on this blog and recently Coup: Rebellion G54. Of course a comparison is logical to make. The purpose of this post is to review the components of both games and share some thoughts on the mechanics. This review shall start with a overview of what’s in both boxes, before examining them in detail.

Coup (Coup)

Players: 2 – 6

Publisher: Indie Boards & Cards

Year: 2012

Coup: Rebellion G54 (G54)

Players: 3 – 6

Publisher: Indie Boards & Cards

Year: 2014

Both games are about deception and bluffing. Both games are published by Indie Boards & Cards. They’re set in the same universe and the goal is to eliminate other players. Coup was published first, while Coup: Rebellion G54 came out later. The following aspects will be compared: total components, player aids, cards, coins, box, extra's.

Total components

Total components

Coup comes with 15 characters cards, 6 summary cards, 50 coins, a rulebook.

G54 comes with 75 influence cards, 2 general actions cards, 25 role actions cards, 8 role tokens, 50 coins, rulebook, 25 role dividers, 2 dividers.

Judging by the components alone, G54 gives a lot more than Coup. Not only in terms of cards, but also other additions as well, such as the tokens and everything else. The nice aspect is that it’s not just the game, but also storage of the game that they thought about.

  

Player aids

The player aids

Coup comes with simpler version, which is double sided. One side features the available actions, while the other side shows the roles and their related actions, explained in two sentences. Illegal actions, or actions that can’t be taken are marked with a cross. Also symbols related to the roles are shown.

G54 comes with cards that explain the role, as well as general action cards. These cards are divided into several sections (force, communications, special interest, finance) and that makes swapping them easier.

Equal. Both serve their purpose. The benefit of Coup is that they are personal and are in front of you. It would be impossible to fit all the cards from G54 on a player help and it are separate cards. Because of the space, more text can be put on it, so more complex roles can be added to the game.

  

Cards

The cards

Coup comes with bigger and sturdier cards. On it the person and their action is shown. These stand up better to repeated playing, shuffling and transporting. Sleeves for these cards are less easily available.

G54 comes with smaller cards, features the artwork and a box with the text. The cards are numbered in the bottom, relating to their set and the game. They are also better sleevable, making them more durable and standing up to repeated play.  

G54: Cards are a smaller size and sleevable. While they would be equal and both have benefits, the size is the dealbreaker.

  

Coins

The coins

Coup comes with 50 coins. These are all valued 1. They look like a cross between poker chips and sim cards for your phone. They are good to wield, except that they are all the same value.

G54 comes with 50 coins. These are valued either 1 or 3. The look like small sim cards for your phone. The value 1 is silver, while the value 3 is gold. It ensures there’s enough money to go around for every player, while you don’t need to gather big piles in front of you.

G54: Because the coins have different values.

Extra’s: Dividers and tokens

Extra's

Coup doesn’t have this feature.

G54 comes with 2 big divider cards and 25 role divider cards. These can be inserted in the box to split the cards and to make it easier to take out the cards that you want. You can use them, but it’s optional. While they are okay to have, I haven’t used them so far and to me it doesn’t seem to add a lot to the game. G54 also has tokens, which can be used to make more complex roles.

No points awarded.

Box

The boxes

Coup comes with a smaller box, which contains everything. The game is much more manageable and transportable this way. This is a huge benefit compared to the other box.

G54 comes with a big box, which can hold everything. You can even fit the box of Coup in there. The size is also the detrimental here, because it’s not easy to carry around. While Coup can easily be added to your backpack or taken along, G54 fills the whole bag. However, it’s nothing that can’t be fixed by putting the game in a different container.

Coup: has a better box.

Even the Coup box can even fit in the G54 box!

Score: Coup – 2 (Box, player aids) G54 – 4 (Coins, cards, player aids, total components)

Final thoughts.

G54 comes out better in comparison. Coup is leaner and might have trimmed out some of the unnecessary fat, such as the divider cards, but it also lacks the extra possibilities of G54. Of course, this can be explained as Coup was published two years before G54 came out. Therefore it’s logical that G54 is like an improved version compared to the previous game. There’s several benefits to G54 that make it more suitable than the basic game, such as the different coin values. However, the main feature that really improves this game is that there’s so many cards that can be used and added. Where as Coup can only be played in a certain pattern with the same cards, in the same environment, G54 offers the possibility of changing everything. This way you can introduce new mechanics, new strategies and a whole lot of more replay value to the game than just basic Coup. It stays interesting, even after several playthroughs in a single session and elevates it from a light filler game to something that can be used to spend the evening. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed this comparison and it might help you make a better decision if you’re still on the fence about which game you should buy.