November 18, 2011

'The Resistance' Review


The Resistance is a game of spies, sabotage and paranoia in the veins of Werewolf and Panic Station. Revolving around 2 groups, the Resistance who are trying to overthrow a malignant government, and the Spies sent to thwart the Resistance. Each game consists of missions that the Resistance have to succeed in order to win, and the Spies are there to sabotage the missions. Whichever side accomplishes their goals 3 times will win the game.

My Thoughts On The Game
This game resembles Werewolf in lots of ways, yet improve on it by forcing you to be on one of the two sides - the Resistance or the Spies. There is no guessing who the Spies are and lynching them. Instead, players use a voting system to determine if they trust the people whom their leader send out each mission. This is where we start to be paranoid about whom we can trust. If the vote succeeds, the mission players will then decide whether to make that particular mission a success or a failure. For the mission to succeed, all mission players have to play the 'success' card. Otherwise, the mission fails and the Spies have won that round. When the mission fails, things go crazy. People start mistrusting others, the team leader (if he or she is a Resistance) starts to doubt the decision made, and accusations fly across the table. It is this social interaction that makes the game work wonders.

The game definitely shines with more players as it is harder to spot who the Spies are. As a game, it works very well, with tons of player interaction, short playing time, and a theme that works. Compared to Panic Station, however, we find that Panic Station (with the 2 host variant) is a deeper experience and more fun. As it stands now, the Resistance is a good game to get. If you have 6 or more players in your gaming group, the Resistance really shines.

Overall gaming experience: B

(Note that we haven't tried out the expansion yet, which I will do an update later on.)

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