While Mafia reigns supreme in the world of party games, my friends and I have been engrossed for the past months in a similar, yet far lesser-known game—The Resistance. Like Mafia, the game is one of strategy and persuasive deception, but it offers far more depth and gameplay experience while being as simple to set up and play.
All you need are five people and a deck of ordinary playing cards. Alternatively, if you are somewhat attached to the storytelling in Mafia, a sixth person can serve as a narrator and also circumvent the need for a deck of cards.
Rules of Engagement
The Resistance is built on a rather cliché story, but if you’re reading this, you’re probably looking for a fun game rather than an original novel. In a five-player setting, three are randomly chosen to be members of a resistance against some unknown oppressive empire, while the other two are imperial spies who seek to destroy the Resistance from within. The spies know each other’s identities, but the Resistance has no knowledge of any identities.
Here is where the game begins to differ from Mafia—the goal of the Resistance is not strictly to figure out who the spies are, although determining identities certainly does help. Instead, victory hinges upon a series of five missions that make up the crux of the game.
To begin, the roles are assigned, usually by dealing out cards to the players. Once the spies secretly acknowledge one another, the scene is set for the first mission. One player is randomly chosen to “lead” the first mission, which means that they choose the players who are going on that mission. Generally, the first mission involves three players, the second, two, the third, three, etc. The mission leader can choose themselves, although they are not obligated to. After each mission, the player to the left of the current mission leader becomes the new mission leader.
Before each mission begins, the five players vote for or against the mission. This phase is very important (which will become clear later if not at present). A majority in favor will pass the mission; in the event that the mission does not pass, mission leadership changes as it normally would but the number of players going remains the same (in other words, if a three-player mission is voted down, the next mission leader is also responsible for a three-player mission).
Missions proceed with a vote concerning only the players who are on the mission. Each mission-goer secretly votes either for the mission to succeed or fail by indicating with the color of a card that they place. Although Resistance members must vote for any mission they are on to succeed, spies can choose whether to vote for a success or a fail. A single vote for fail condemns the entire mission to failure. Why is this important? The spies win the game if three of the five missions fail. The Resistance wins if the aforementioned condition is not met.
The Fun Part
Herein lies the devilish and intricate entertainment that The Resistance provides.
The first few missions may pass relatively innocently, but by the third—and especially the penultimate—missions, tensions and debate rise as each Resistance member attempts to convince whomever they believe to be their allies that they know who the spies are. Shouting matches are frequent. Sometimes, a mission leader goes in circles, struggling over the decision of who exactly to pick for the crucial mission.
The spy game is very difficult to play correctly: failing a mission too early or in conjunction with your comrade spy will quickly give away identities and lead to an easy Resistance victory. To maintain your identity, careful play and acting are of paramount importance. Some players may be good at playing the Resistance side, but terrible at playing spies if they cannot act as if they are not, in fact, a spy.
Odd mannerisms can give away a spy: they may be more shy than usual, or talk a bit too much. More frequently, however, an observant Resistance member will notice a spy based on trends in earlier missions in which they participate with another suspicious player. They will, of course, still have to convince the other players that said suspicious player is a spy.
It’s all in how you play the game, and that is one of the best parts of The Resistance. Each game feels fresh and new, even when you play continuously with the same group of people, and bringing in new blood can only make the scene more exciting. So get out there and teach your friends and family!