[GAME]The Resistance - Mafia-Like Game

The Game Room
1

I will moderate a game of “The Resistance”. This game is similar to mafia in that it pits an informed minority against a larger group of uninformed players. It does differ from mafia in gameplay and players do not get eliminated during the game. I will explain the game below but if you would like to play you should be able to get on the board at least once a day. Multiple times daily would be even better. The game will be for from 5 to 10 players depending on interest.
The players will be randomly divided into two teams: The Resistance and The Spies. The members of The Resistance will not know the identity of the Spies, but the Spies will know each others identity. The number of Spies will be known by all (1/3 of the players rounded up to the nearest whole number).

The players will be put in a list that will be randomized to determine the order of play.
The game consist of up to 5 rounds, with each round having 3 primary phases.
Players will take turns being “leaders” in the order of the randomized list.
During the first phase of a round the leader will select a group of players to go on a mission. The number of players to be selected will vary during the game, but I will tell how many for each round before the game begins. For example, if it is a seven player game and we are in the third round, then 3 players would be selected. The leader may select themselves to go on the mission.

During the second phase of a round the players can discuss whether they want that team for the mission or not. They will then vote to “accept” or “reject” the mission. If the mission is rejected the turn ends and the next player in the list becomes the leader. If five missions in a row are rejected, the Spies win the game. Players will vote by sending me a PM, but I will reveal how everyone voted when the decision is announced. If the mission is accepted, the round moves on to phase three.

During phase three, the players on the mission will inform the moderator whether they want the mission to succeed or fail (by PM). Resistance members must choose success(so don’t really need to do anything), but Spies may choose whether the mission is to succeed or fail. If one or more players select “fail” then the mission does not succeed (in a few cases, failure may require two votes for “fail”, but I will let you know this ahead of time).

If there are three successful missions, the Resistance wins. If there are three failed missions, the Spies win.

As far as timing, I will allow up to a day for leaders to select their teams. Once the team is selected, I will go ahead and start phase 2 of the rounds. I will allow at least one day for discussion, then end phase two when all the votes are in, but I will set a hard deadline that will be sometime close to the end of two days. If a player does not vote by the deadline, they will automatically vote “accept”.

For phase 3, there will be a specific time that “succeed” or “fail”'s have to be in. Phase three will usually be about 1 day long. If a player does not send me a “succeed” or “fail” notice, the default will be “succeed”.
I will start the game when I have ten players or two days after the fifth player signs up, whichever comes first.
If you want to play, let me know in this thread, and ask any questions that you have.

2

I forgot to mention that after each mission, in addition to the result, the number of “succeed” and “fail” votes for the mission will be revealed, but not who cast them.

3

I did not notice this, Mentalguy.

/in

And if I get to it tonight, I’ll pm some regulars to spread the word.

4

In please

5

Do the spies get to discuss strategy?

6

No, the spies (or any players) are not allowed to talk to each outside of the thread.

I am essentially trying to keep this first attempt at the game the same as the live version as much as possible. If we decide to try it again, I (or whoever) may adjust the rules to make it more like online mafia where private discussion is allowed.

7

Private discussion would be broken, imo. A huuuuge part of the strategy relies on spies not being able to clearly communicate who is going to fail a mission if two are sent.

8

I’d like to play, if there’s room.

Clarification: you say that the results of the accept-reject vote are made public; is the same true of the succeed-fail vote? If I am a Spy, and I vote for the mission to fail, will everyone know?

9

The accept-reject votes are made public, but the succeed-fail votes are not. What is revealed is how many succeed and fail votes there were.

10

Well, as might be expected, I am disappointed that I have only had 3 players sign up. It could be that people are not going to be interested regardless, but I realize part of the problem could be that my description is just a straightforward explanation of the mechanics and may not give a good feel for the game.

I don’t know how a message board version will compare to the face-to-face version (finding out is part of the reason I wanted to do this), but I have played the face-to-face version (including just last night) and it is a blast. Accusations and counter-accusations, bluffing, looking at the information of people are selecting to go on missions, who is voting for who to go on missions, and who was on missions when they failed.
If you are interested at all, I encourage you to sign up. I think you will find it an enjoyable game.

Players that have signed up, you may want to contact some of the regular mafia players and encourage them to join in so we can at least have this trial game.

11

I find it interesting in concept, but I haven’t signed up because I would prefer to see a game played out first. Which I realize is something of a chicken-and-egg problem, but there you go.

12

Oh, come on Chronos, sign up. You were one of the player I was thinking I would like to have when I created the thread.

13

Baffling rules. Unclear strategy. Lousy scumhunter me has no idea how to hunt Spies. What’s not to love?

/In

14

clueless sinjin is in. I pity the team i’m on :stuck_out_tongue:

15

Chronos, CHronos, CHROnos, CHRONOS!!! I always wanted to be a cheerleader, hehehehehehe.

16

Send out the BATLIGHT for COMETOTHE whatever cookies.

17

Here is a playthrough on Will Wheaton’s Table Top. (Warning: this will consume 25 minutes of your life and likely lead you into an addiction of watching playthroughs on other games like Pandemic and Fiasco.)

Color me interested in playing, but my availability is limited (checking back once a day is optimistic).

Stranger

18

I’ve played The Resistance in real life. It’s very tense and usually very quick. No one gets killed so everyone is involved in every play and no one has to spend their time twiddling their thumbs waiting for the next game.

I’m in.

19

I’ve played this in real life. I’m not sure how well it will translate to the boards since there’s a lot less fodder for “scum hunting,” but let’s see how it goes.

/in

20

We now have enough players, but we do have room for three more. I will send out roles (just spy or resistance member, no special roles for this first game) on Wednesday. It will probably be late afternoon or evening (central time) because of my work schedule.

If anyone else wants to sign up, please do.