How to play Coup, a classic, intergalactic bluffing game.
Watch the Video
Read the Rules
The aim of the game
To win, be the last player with influence at court, represented by the two face down cards in front of you.
To set up
- Shuffle the character cards and deal 2 face down to each player, place the remaining in the centre of the table.
- You can look at your cards, but don’t show anyone else!
- Deal 2 coins to each player - coins must be kept visible at all times. Place the remainder by the deck to form the treasury.
- Give everyone a reference card - this summarises each action.
- Finally, choose a starting player.
To play the game
On your turn pick a single action.
General actions can be performed by anyone:
- Income lets you take 1 coin from the treasury.
- Foreign aid lets you take 2 coins, but can be blocked by the Duke.
- Coup lets you pay 7 coins to the treasury to make a player lose an influence and turn a card face up. If you start a turn with 10 coins, you MUST perform a coup.
To perform a character action, you must claim to have that character in front of you. Of course, no one can see your cards, so you can choose to bluff.
- The Duke lets you take 3 coins from the treasury.
- The Assassin pays 3 coins to make a player lose an influence and flip a card.
- The Captain steals up to 2 coins from another player.
- And the Ambassador lets you draw 2 cards from the deck, swap one with one of your face down cards if you wish, and shuffle the others back.
After choosing an action, everyone else has the chance to block or challenge you if they wish.
To block a player, you’ll need to claim you have the correct character…of course, you can lie!
- If you claim to have the Duke, you can stop any player taking foreign aid.
- The Contessa lets you block an assassination attempt on yourself.
- And the ambassador or captain blocks a player from stealing from you.
When a player picks an action, or chooses to block, everyone else has the chance to challenge them. When challenged a player must prove they have the character whose ability they are using.
If they do, they reveal it, return it to the deck, shuffle it and draw a new card to replace it. The player that challenged incorrectly loses an influence - flipping a card face up. The stated action or block goes ahead.
If they do not have the card they claim to use, or do not wish to prove it, the challenge is successful. The player’s action or block fails, they lose an influence and pick a card to flip.
- You do not have to be directly involved in an action or block to challenge it.
- A player that loses influence picks which of their cards to reveal.
- When a card is flipped up, you can non longer claim to use its ability…Unless you have another one face down of course, or lie about doing so.
- Remember, there’s only 3 of each card in the deck, so bluff carefully!
If ever you lose two influence, i. e. both of your cards are flipped, you're out!
Game end
Take it in turns, claiming an action, blocking or challenging if you wish, collecting coins and performing coups until just one player has any cards face down. They win!
That’s Coup, where you’ll need to destroy your opponent's influence, by bluffing and deducting your way to victory.
Enjoy!