Guillotine is a fun, fast, light little game from
Wizards of the Coast. It's a card game, complete in one box, in
which players are executioners during the reign of terror in the
French Revolution. Whoever gathers the most prestigious heads wins
the games.
While this sounds gruesome, it actually isn't, as the art work
makes light of the subject and keeps it at a silly level.
The game consists of two decks - one of nobles waiting to be
executed, and one of action cards for the players to play. Most
of these action cards allow you to rearrange the line of nobles.
This is important because you normally only get to "collect" the
noble in the front of the line. Since the nobles are rated anywhere
from 5 points (for King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and the
Cardinal) to -3 (for the Hero of the People) and since you want to
collect the most points, you really want to rearrange that
line sometimes!
There are three rounds in the game ("days" of execution), in which
twelve nobles are lined up randomly in front of the guillotine (a
stand-up guillotine is included, but not a working model, alas).
Each player may play an action card, then must "harvest" the first
noble in line, then draw another action card. When all nobles are
removed from the line (either through execution or escape via an
action card), lay out twelve more for the second day, and so on
until three days have been played.
Most action cards allow you to rearrange the line in some way.
Others allow you to gain more points for collecting certain types
of nobles, and others allow you to do a variety of things, such as
remove a noble from a fellow player's collection, or draw more
action cards, or prevent another player from playing an action
card, etc.
While certainly not deep, the game doesn't pretend to be. It's an
excellent filler game for times when you want something quick and
light. I have only two minor complaints, and, of course, a fix for
them:
- The action card Callous Guards is way out of line with the
other cards. This card prevents anyone from changing the line order
(including adding or subtracting nobles) until you discard Callous
Guards - which may mean for the rest of the game. This means that
well over half the action cards become useless! It also makes for a
boring game, since rearranging the line order is the most fun part of the
game. Therefore, I have a house rule that Callous Guards
must be discarded after one round of play. (I had originally tried one
day, but even that was too long. Brian Bankler suggested one round,
and it works well.)
- (This next fix is actually from Bruce Allen, but it's one I
use.) The Noble card Master Spy has the ability to move to
the end of the line whenever an action card is played. I'm not
sure if the intent is to make sure he's the last card harvested
that day, or simply to create some interesting interactions. Since
the latter is more fun, that's how we play it. That is, the
Master Spy goes to the end of the line when an action card
is played, as stated, but the action card is then resolved
after the Master Spy has thus moved. So, for example,
if you play The Long Walk, first the Master Spy is
placed at the end of the line, then the line is reversed, then the
Master Spy is executed!
At any rate, a fun game, recommended for those who like lighter
fare.
Back to SOS' Gameviews
Back to Steffan O'Sullivan's Home Page