Coup (card game)
Coup is a social deduction card game designed by Rikki Tahta and published in 2012 by Indie Boards & Cards and La Mame Games. Players are given two cards and attempt to eliminate the other players by lying and calling their bluffs until only one player remains.
Gameplay
Each player has two face-down character cards, with the remaining cards being placed in a "Court Deck" in the centre of the play area. Players take turns performing actions, while the other players have the opportunity to challenge or enact a counteraction.| Character | Action | Effect | Counteraction |
| Income | Take 1 coin | ||
| Foreign Aid | Take 2 coins | ||
| Coup | Pay 7 coins to force a player to lose a character card | ||
| Duke | Tax | Take 3 coins | Block foreign aid |
| Assassin | Assassinate | Pay 3 coins to force a player to lose a character card | |
| Ambassador | Exchange | Take two cards and return two cards to Court Deck | Block stealing |
| Captain | Steal | Take two coins from another player | Block stealing |
| Contessa | Block assassination |
Some actions and counteractions require a player to claim to have a specific character card. Such claims can be challenged by anyone in the game, regardless of whether they are directly involved in the action. If a player is challenged, they must prove they had the played character card by revealing it from their face-down cards. If they can not or do not want to prove it, they lose the challenge, but if they can, the challenger loses. Whoever loses the challenge immediately loses one of their character cards. When a player loses both their character cards, that player is eliminated. The winner is the remaining player after all others have been eliminated.
Spin-offs and expansions
''Coup: Reformation''
In 2014, the game Coup: Reformation was also released by Rikki Tahta and La Mame Games. In this version, each player must declare themself as either Loyalist or Reformist and can target only members of the other faction. Conversion between factions is possible by paying a donation to the Almshouse. After the other faction has all been eliminated or converted, all remaining players within a faction descend into in-fighting, and the game proceeds as in Coup. Moreover, it introduces the Inquisitor role which can replace the Ambassador, increasing the total number of roles in the game to six. Additionally, by having five cards for each role, the game can accommodate up to 10 players.''Coup: Promo Cards Mini Expansion''
This is a mini expansion introduced to the game. It introduces additional roles: Speculator and Bureaucrat which can replace the Duke as well as Jester and Socialist which can replace the Ambassador.| Character | Action | Effect | Counteraction |
| Income | Take 1 coin | ||
| Foreign Aid | Take 2 coins | ||
| Coup | Pay 7 coins to force a player to lose a character card. Must Coup, if you have 10 or more coins. | ||
| Convert | Pay 1 coin to Treasury Reserve to change your allegiance or 2 coins to Treasury Reserve to change another player's allegiance. | ||
| Embezzle | Take all coins from Treasury Reserve by claiming you don't have Duke, Bureaucrat, or Speculator. | ||
| Duke | Tax | Take 3 coins | Block foreign aid |
| Assassin | Assassinate | Pay 3 coins to force a player to lose a character card | |
| Ambassador | Exchange | Take two cards and return two cards to Court Deck | Block stealing |
| Captain | Steal | Take two coins from another player | Block stealing |
| Contessa | Block assassination | ||
| Inquisitor | Exchange OR Examine | Take a card and return a card to Court Deck OR Examine another player's card and may force them to exchange with a card from Deck | Block stealing |
| Bureaucrat | Cooperation | Take 3 coins and give one of them to another player | Block foreign aid |
| Jester | Disorder | Take a card from Court Deck and a card from a player and return a card to Court Deck and the player | Block disorder Block stealing |
| Speculator | Gamble | Take coins equal to your coins. If it is successfully challenged, the acquired coins are returned and the first challenger takes all the player's coins. | Block foreign aid |
| Socialist | Share | Take a coin or a card from all other players. Add a card and choose one card to keep. Then add one random card from Court Deck, shuffle, and return a card to players and Court Deck. | Block stealing |