The Resistance -- Heated Discussions Sound Fun? Read On!

[Gerald]

The Resistance is a deductive party game for five to ten players published by Indie Boards & Cards in 2010.  A game can run anywhere from thirty to seventy minutes (depending on the number of people and the length of "discussions").  The game was designed by Don Eskridge.

The Resistance is heavily influenced by games like Mafia or Werewolf, and like its predecessors, shine with the right group (or craps out with the wrong group).  This review will only be for the base game.

COMPONENTS:
The game comes with a bunch of cards, some tokens, a central board and a rulebook (pictured below).  The game uses the cards for various purposes.  Some cards determine your allegiance for a game.  Some cards are used for voting and some cards are for the mini-expansion.

Picture Submitted By: Travis Worthington || Taken From the BGG Database

The cards are of decent quality and seem quite durable.  Only a sleeve-a-holic would need to sleeve these cards.  The central board is of average make, but serves its purpose.  The rulebook, while not perfect, is clear enough that you shouldn't have too many questions after a read or two. 

The tokens are your typical wooden discs (in three different colors), similar to what you find in countless other euro games.

But honestly, for the price, I expected more (case in point, Forbidden Island)... in fact, for the price, I felt I deserved more (this is just my personal opinion so no need to jump down my throat).

GAMEPLAY:
Setting the game up is easy.  Every player is dealt a card that determines his/her allegiance for that particular game.  A player can either be an Imperial Spy or a Resistance Operative (the ratio of operatives-to-spies depends on the total number of players).  The central board is then placed... you guessed it, in the middle.  Each player is dealt a hand of voting cards, a starting leader is determined randomly, then the game begins.

A game will last for at most five rounds/missions.  The objective of the Resistance Operatives is to succeed in majority of the missions while the objective of the Imperial Spies is to make sure the majority of the missions crash and burn.

Picture Submitted By: Ender Wiggins || Taken From the BGG Database

At the beginning of a turn, the leader will choose a team (which may or may not include himself/herself) to send on a mission.  The number of people to send will depend on which mission the Resistance Operatives are currently in.  Everyone then votes on whether or not the chosen people are acceptable.  If a majority of the players vote yes, the team gets sent on the mission.  If a majority of the players vote no, then the team is scrapped and the mission is delayed.

Once on a mission, the participating team members are dealt a new set of mission voting cards.  Each participating then votes on whether or not the mission will succeed.  If even one person votes 'NAY', then the mission fails and odds are there was an Imperial Spy in the team.

After a mission succeeds or fails (or was vetoed), the leader title passes on to the next player and the above process repeats itself until either three out of the five missions succeed (in which case the Resistance Operatives win) or fail (in which case the Imperial Spies win) or a mission is vetoed three straight times (in which case the Imperial Spies win).

I may have skipped a nuance or two, but that's pretty much the game in a nutshell.

COMPARING IT TO OTHER SIMILAR GAMES
As I stated above, this game draws heavily from other deductive party games like Werewolf and Mafia.  Personally, I like that the characters don't have a truckload of special powers (i.e. Ultimate Werewolf) as I this leads to more provocative and logical discussions.  There's no "I'm the witch and this-or-that did whatchamacallit... just logical arguments presented from all fronts.  The mission cap is also nice, as this provides a better feel from when a game would end and adds extra tension.

I feel that The Resistance has done enough to evolve a step beyond its predecessors, and while fans of Werewolf and Mafia will find enough familiarities, they will also find ample differences (mostly improvements).  Plus, there's technically no player elimination which is often times a good thing.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
The Resistance is a good party game that should be an automatic must-have/purchase for Werewolf/Mafia fans.  Its relatively quick to play and very easy to teach.  It often evokes well-thought out arguments amongst its players and its simplicity doesn't work against it.  Works very well with the right group... which is also its downfall.

With the wrong group, this game will often fall flat.  Without heated arguments and evocative discussion, this game will end up just being a boring "guess who did it" crap-fest.  Also, if there are a handful of "boisterous" players in the game, they tend to choke out the voices of more timid players and make the game tedious and drawn out for them. 

Another negative is while the game does bring out great discussions, it also can often lead to too much bickering and at times downright in-fighting. 

Bottomline, if you're a Werewolf/Mafia fan (which I am), this is a good game that you'll get decent mileage off of.  If you're the quiet type, or you prefer games that involve a strata of strategies and/or tactics, then this game just isn't for you and you should look elsewhere.