Objective

The goal is to be the last remaining player with influence in the court by eliminating all other players.

Components

• Character Cards: 15 cards consisting of 3 copies each of 5 different characters.

  • Duke: Can tax and block foreign aid.

  • Assassin: Can pay to eliminate another player.

  • Captain: Can steal from others and block stealing.

  • Ambassador: Can exchange cards and block stealing.

  • Contessa: Can block an assassination attempt.

• Summary Cards: Used to remind players of character actions and counteractions.

• Coins: Tokens used for various actions.
  

Setup

1. Prepare the Deck: Shuffle the character cards and deal two face-down cards to each player.

2. Prepare the Coins: Place the coins in the center as the central treasury.

3. Determine the First Player: Choose randomly or by any agreed-upon method.
   

Gameplay

1. Taking Turns: Players take turns in a clockwise order. On their turn, a player can perform one of the following actions:

   • Income: Take 1 coin from the treasury.

   • Foreign Aid: Take 2 coins from the treasury. (Can be blocked by the Duke.)

   • Coup: Pay 7 coins to the treasury and target a player to lose 1 influence (reveal and discard one card).

   • Perform a Character Action: Claim to use the action of one of the character cards (e.g., Duke’s tax, Assassin’s assassination, etc.). The action can be challenged by other players.

2. Challenging Actions:

   • If a player claims to have a character card and performs an action, other players can challenge the claim.

   • If the claiming player is telling the truth, the challenger loses 1 influence (reveals and discards one card).

   • If the claiming player is bluffing, they lose 1 influence (reveals and discards one card), and the challenger draws a new card from the deck.

3. Counteracting Actions:

   • Contessa: Can block an assassination attempt.

   • Duke: Can block foreign aid.

   • Ambassador: Can block stealing attempts.
     

Losing Influence

• When a player loses influence, they reveal and discard one of their character cards.

• A player who has lost both character cards is out of the game.
  

Winning the Game

• The last remaining player with influence is the winner of the game.
  

Variations

• Team Play: Play in teams where teammates work together to be the last team standing.

• Advanced Rules: Introduce additional character actions or changes to the standard rules for a more complex game.