Review: The Resistance

The Resistance
Players: 5 – 10

Publisher: Indie Boards & Cards

Year:  2009

Before we start, I must confess something. This is my favorite party game. Having said that, in this review I’ll explain why. Of course opinions can differ and reviews are subjective.

In this game, people take on various roles, playing either as a member of the Resistance, colored blue, or the Spies, colored red. The Resistance is working together to overthrow the evil government, however, the government has infiltrated their ranks with Spies and both sides are trying to sabotage the other one side. Over the course of the game, five missions need to be carried out. As soon as one side has achieved three victories, they win. These victories don’t even need to be in a row, but can be throughout the game. The groups that carry out these missions, as well as the requirements for a success or a fail, depend on the amount of players.

A leader is chosen and that person assigns people to send out on the mission. Depending on previous missions they can estimate what combination of people will bring about their preferred outcome. A Spy might try to include the other Spy or him-/herself in order to sabotage the mission, while the Resistance members will try to pick other Resistance members. There can be a vote about the chosen combination of people and this can create lively discussion as people will need to argue over who they chose and for what reason. If the team is rejected, because too many people voted against it, a new leader creates a new team. If the team is accepted, two cards marked ‘success’ (in blue) or ‘fail’ (in red) are given to each person in the team. They secretly decide which card they want to play, which influences the outcome of the mission. Afterwards the cards that they wish to play are taken together and revealed. As stated before, if there are enough ‘successes’, the Resistance has completed the mission. If there are too many ‘fails’ (usually one or two are enough) the Spies win the mission. 

 

Double-sided gameboards that give all the information you need.

In this game, the Resistance don’t know who to trust, because they are unaware of the affiliation of the other players. For the Spies it’s easier, as they might know who are on which team. Every mission is assigned a group to carry out the assignment. The number required is determined by how many players there are. The mission is successful if enough successes are played. Usually a single fail is enough to fail the mission, although there are exceptions. In order to sabotage the mission, the spies need to be on the team, however, they can’t be too obvious about it, because then they risk exposure.

Tokens that are handed out to people that are selected for the mission.

The biggest reason I like this game is that there’s no player elimination. So everyone that starts the game, continues until the end. This is unlike Mafia or Werewolf, where people are killed and thus out of the game. They will need to wait until the game is finished, before they can do something again. However, in the Resistance plays until the game is over, even when people are exposed as being a Resistance member or a Spy. Everyone can still discuss or try to influence the outcome. There’s no downtime as everyone is always capable of contributing the game. This makes it much better than Mafia or Werewolf, where people have to wait out the game, before they can participate again. Another aspect, that contributes to why I like this game, is that it’s capable of handling large amounts of players. The game can be played with five to ten people, so everyone can join. 

As a few minor drawbacks, I would say that the expansions are great, but they are rarely used. People first need to understand the basegame, before they can proceed to the more complicated modules or set-ups. Also the science-fiction theme might not appeal to everyone, but it’s a matter of personal taste. There’s Arthurian-themed one also available for those that prefer it.

Overall, the best parts of the game are the lack of player elimination and the fact it handles large numbers of players well.