Recently, a member of the gaming group brought in a copy of The Resistance. Originally published in 2010, this is not a new game on the market but is a new game for our group. In this game several of the players are “spies” who secretly attempt to undo the missions set upon by the group at large, “the resistance”. The spies are known to each other but not known to the other players.
This game is best played with a group of outgoing people not embarrassed to put on a show. Play acting as the leader of the resistance, or playing along as a spy who is doing their best to act like the resistance, provides plenty of opportunity for hijinks and hilarity.
While I don’t expect this game to have a long play life it has caught on fire. It appears that the verbal and mental dynamics required to ferret out the spies holds quite a bit of intrigue for my group. Accusations fly, attempts to reveal the spies with word tricks and gameplay abound. If the first missions ends in success the newly formed “leaders” of the resistance immediately set upon a campaign of manipulation and intimidation to keep suspected spies off future missions. Of course this tactic at times results in keeping a loyal resistor off the team while permitting a secret spy to infiltrate. Good fun.
Once this game has run its course with our current group, I believe it will remain a valuable game to keep in the library to be pulled out when new members join the group, when a quick game is needed for a large group (The Resistance plays up to 10), or for those occasions when seeing your friends accuse, lie, and harangue in the struggle to resist the oppressor is just what’s needed to bring life back to a tired gaming night.