Party games
The Resistance: Avalon
Don Eskridge2012
- players
- 5–10
- minutes
- 30
- years
- 13+
In the box
Avalon game
Box details
- Designer
- Don Eskridge
- Mechanics
- Hidden RolesVotingTeam-BasedDeduction
Where to buy it
Near you and online
In a shop
Within 50 km.
Online
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The basics
Arthur's Loyal Servants must succeed at three quests; the Minions of Mordred, hidden among them, must make three fail. For each quest, the Leader proposes a team, everyone votes, then each member secretly plays a Success or Fail card: a single Fail makes the quest fail. Three failed quests, or five teams rejected in a row, give Evil the win; after three successes, the Assassin can still snatch it by naming Merlin.
Checked against the official rules · September 2026
The rules, step by step
Setup
Merlin and the Assassin, Character face down, 2 vote tokens
- Take the board that matches the number of players.
- How the sides are split depends on the number: 3 good and 2 evil with five, 4 and 2 with six, 4 and 3 with seven, 5 and 3 with eight, 6 and 3 with nine, 6 and 4 with ten.
- Among the good cards, one is Merlin; among the evil ones, one is the Assassin. The others are ordinary Servants and Minions.
- Everyone gets a character face down and two vote tokens. A Leader is chosen at random.
- With everyone's eyes closed, the Minions recognise each other, then raise their thumbs so that Merlin can see them in turn.
How to play
Up to 5 quests, Team vote, 1 Fail, quest fails
- The game has up to five quests. Each one starts with building a team.
- The Leader chooses the number of team members set by the board, including themselves or not.
- Everyone votes at the same time to approve or reject the team. With a majority, it goes; a tie counts as a rejection.
- Rejected: the Leader role passes to the player on the left, who proposes another team.
- On the quest, each member secretly plays a Success or Fail card. The good players must play Success; the evil players choose.
- The cards are shuffled then revealed: a single Fail makes the quest fail.
- Exception: with seven or more players, the fourth quest only fails with two Fails.
- After each quest, the Leader changes and play moves on to the next.
Scoring
No points, Count quest results
- There are no points: count the successful and failed quests on the board.
- In Marquoir, add 1 to each player on the winning side.
End of the game
3 failed, Evil wins, 3 successes, Good wins, Unless Merlin is found
- Three failed quests: Evil wins.
- Five teams rejected in a row for the same quest: Evil wins immediately.
- Three successful quests: the evil players confer, and the Assassin names a player. If it is Merlin, Evil wins; otherwise, Good wins.
Going further
Frequently asked questions · In the same family
Frequently asked questions
Should Merlin help his side openly?
He should guide it, but discreetly: if he seems too sure of himself, the Assassin will spot him and turn the game around.
Is rejecting a team suspicious?
No. A rejection simply passes the proposal to the next Leader; it is mostly votes in favour of a dubious team that give players away.