The Resistance: Avalon - How To Play

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First published on May 9, 2016.

[bakedcamembert]

So this video made playing this game on Christmas Day with family possible as none of us have the patience to read and make sense of the rules. We want to thank Elliot for his excellent instruction! (We’ve decided he is Elliot from the E on his mug)

[caleb]

One of my friends introduced the rest of our class to avalon, and it got all of us hooked. We must have played hundreds of games by now. We don’t even use the box, we use marked playing cards.

Of course now we mostly play among us to scratch that social deduction itch, but Avalon is the social deduction game that is as “pure” as possible without sacrificing depth or replay-ability.

There are definitely better social deduction games, but they all have some tradeoff compared to Avalon. Among us adds spatial reasoning to the classic werewolf formula, which makes it uniquely fun, but it adds player elimination, which is a big pitfall in traditional social deduction games. Blood on the Clocktower is probably the best social deduction game, but it’s far more complex than avalon.

This may sound wierd, but I think of Avalon as the default “good” social deduction game. More tightly designed than mafia/werewolf, less complex than games that supercede it.

[tahliamurphy]

Played this once while drunk and had so much fun. Tried to play it again sober ages later and forgot all the rules and it was a massive failure. This video helps soooo much. Next time will be better.

[markizle]

I thought I was following SUSD for decades but I just got this little gem in my recommendations. It's a f-ing 7 years old... and still a gem.

[Owen]

there's a browser version of this if anyone is ever interested, its still really good and fun to pay with friends during quarantine times

[jacobthompson]

This needs a Frank Herbert's Dune retheam and id be so into it.

[panoptikum]

Great video!
I only know 'Werewolfs of Millers Hollow' and 'Secret Hitler' similar to 'The Resistance: Avalon', but it seems to me that 'Secret Hitler' borrowed a LOT of mechanics from 'The Resistance: Avalon'.

[danielmccloskey]

good attempt of showing the game "The Resistance Avalon, very similar to Ultimate Werewolf but of course it's slightly different from a certain perceptive.

[midastheunwise]

This is an absolutely phenomenal game, and my favourite board game ever. As stated in the video, it's not for everyone, but if you and your friends are cool with getting the claws out and outright accusing each-other with near-baseless accusations and not taking it personally, it's heaps of fun.

As an evil player, there's nothing more enjoyable than successfully tricking everyone into thinking that one of the good guys is the culprit, and as a good player, there is nothing more satisfying than unweaving a web of lies and cornering an evil person with logic, because something they did or said on round 2 directly contradicts the lie they are making on round 4. It gives you all the satisfaction of being a detective and catching the culprit, without all of the sleepless nights and speaking to bereaved relatives.

It also leads to some hilarious moments; I remember one time in a game of 6 or 7 of us, myself and a friend both became convinced that the other was evil. Voices were raised, we were both denouncing players who tried to bring the other along on a quest and accusing THEM of being evil as a result, and then... the game ended and it turned out neither of us were evil. The moment that reveal came, the heated tension instantly broke into uproarious laughter from both of us at the absurdity of the entire situation. Just the fact that we had been at each-other's throats for the last half hour, utterly convinced the other was evil and doubling down on it, made it that much more funny. Needless to say, the evil people won that game.

It's for this reason that you do need to play with familiar people who won't get upset easily and understand that it's all just a game. I could definitely see people getting upset and tearful in such a circumstance, so if you're timid or feel uncomfortable around raised voices then it may not be for you. But with the right group of people, being able to take the gloves off and battle it out in a game of deception and wits is one of the most enjoyable experiences you can have without spending lots of money.

[sergebishyr]

The Resistance is hands down the best board game I've ever played! But I want to try the Avalon now!

[joshuajonas]

I just ordered this and can't wait to play it!

[erinneely]

Damn, The Resistance: Captain America would be so good.
Players play as loyal agents of SHIELD or the minions of Hydra who have snuck in. The sigils are the SHIELD and Hydra logos. As in Resistance: Avalon, there are special characters. Nick Fury knows who the Hydra agents are, and if you're playing with Black Widow, she knows who Nick Fury is. More optional characters include Arnim Zola (Hydra, unknown to Nick Fury), Alexander Pierce (Hydra, appears as Fury to Black Widow), Baron Zemo (Hydra, but unknown to them) and Maria Hill (replaces Nick Fury, opens her eyes along with the Hydra agents so they think she's one of them). Of course, there are also Captain America and the Winter Soldier. Captain America is a known good guy and leads the first quest. The Winter Solider is evil, and if he correctly guesses Nick Fury's identity, the bad guys win instantly. But Captain America can try to guess who the Winter Soldier is at any point. If he ends up accusing a loyal SHIELD agent, they're out (lost the fight); if he nabs another Hydra agent, both he and the Hydra agent are out. But if he guesses correctly...the Winter Soldier turns back into Bucky Barnes, who's a good guy, and can recount who all the Hydra agents are openly, which is an instant win for the good guys. To help Captain America, the Winter Soldier has certain identifiers, like not being able to strategically succeed missions.

[MeenToss]

Coming from vanilla Resistance, I enjoy the idea of Merlin as a game concept. However, I find it troubling how the Evil team basically has a chance to win simply by guessing who Merlin is, even if they lost the game. There must be a better way to work around that issue.

[momololo]

Super clear demonstration. Thanks for the vid!!

[vovegde]

please do one for a "secret hitler"

[oswaldcobblebot]

Your videos are excellent! I think I have found my favorite YouTube board game reviewer! Thank you!

[radyou]

Thanks a lot for such an amazing explanation! Loved the game!!!

[janislove]

@shut up & sit down - Can you scale this game so that you can play with a larger group, of say 30 people?

[zoelamp]

Can anyone please answer my question, 1st question; If we play 6 players and during the voting, if there's a 3 approved and 3 reject is it considered as rejected? 2nd question; if evil team continuously won quest 1, 2 and 3 straight, is there still a chance for the good guys to win? Like what's gonna happened to the quest 4 and 5

[janhob]

Thank you for this video. Lets see if our first game will be fun!