Is Coup the best Euro to come along in years?

Some friends went to Essen and brought back a bunch of games. One is called Coup. I must have played 30 games of it by now.

It is a vicious little bluffing game that takes about 5-15 minutes a game. I think it's the best Euro that I have played since Imperial.

It is by La Mame Games ( lamamegames.com/ ).

I saw this, it looks ridiculously similar to Future Pastimes' HOAX. That game was not perfect, though, so I haven't just dismissed this as a "ripoff", it could have improved on the original. The original (I've got DIE ERBEN VON HOAX components but use the original rules) was a very, very Eon game: one of the most loose, dependent-on-the-players games I've ever played. Completely unique. Those guys were geniuses.

I hadn't seen Hoax before. That's by the guys who made Dune and Cosmic Encounter. It does look very similar. One of the games Coup reminded me a little bit of was Cosmic Encounter.

The actions look like they are more direct in Coup - pretty much just take money from the bank, steal money from another player, kill another player or swap your characters. I am guessing Coup might play like a stripped down version of Hoax.

Yeah, basically how Hoax works is that each turn, you can declare yourself as one of several hidden roles, each of which has a different way of gaining income: either just taking income from the bank (of three different kinds, you're looking to acquire sets of one-of-each), or by stealing in various ways. On other people's turns you can declare yourself as one of the roles that can interrupt a turn and fine someone for using their role, or declare the fine unjust, or etc. etc. According to the original Hoax rules, you can declare yourself as multiple roles in the same turn!

You can use those sets you've acquired to get a small amount more information about what someone is. At any time, you can call bullshit on someone using a role. There needs to be a majority vote in favor of the call, though: because if you're wrong, and they ARE that role, they win the game! If you're right, though, and they're using that role without it being their secret role, then they can never use that role again.

The other way to eliminate people is to make a secret guess on your turn about someone's role; if you're right, they're out, if you're wrong, you're out.

Last player alive wins!

Okay, so incredibly chaotic. INCREDIBLY. You actually cannot imagine how chaotic this game is without playing it. It is by far the most fragile game I've ever played. Thankfully, it is also very short, so if a game bombs you just start another.

So is Coup worth looking into? I remember reading about Hoax and thinking it was very cool but not quite good enough to get it. What are the differences?

I am guessing Coup was inspired by Hoax.

One action that doesn't seem to be in Hoax that is interesting is the Ambassador's ability to switch their cards. In the first few games, that action felt purely defensive in case you had terrible cards. However, looking at cards in the deck gives you a lot of information about what other players might have late game. It also makes it harder for your opponents to know what you have. It doen's feel like any of the roles are bad cards to have.

There is a Dice Tower explanation of the rules, which explains the full rules of the game better than I could.
www.dicetower.com/game_reviews/c/coup

Citadel wrote: . I think it's the best Euro that I have played since Imperial.

I'm guessing you've not played a lot of Euro games in the last 5 or 6 years! Not to mention I think including a 10 minute bluffing card game as a Euro is, erm, peculiar to say the least! apples and oranges and all that

Wow, this game looks right up my alley. Ima have to look for this one.

ldsdbomber wrote:

Citadel wrote: . I think it's the best Euro that I have played since Imperial.

I'm guessing you've not played a lot of Euro games in the last 5 or 6 years! Not to mention I think including a 10 minute bluffing card game as a Euro is, erm, peculiar to say the least! apples and oranges and all that

It's a very stripped down ruleset where you play a Renaissance prince.

...but yeah, it doesn't play that Euroish. Especially as I wouldn't count games like Eclipse and Mage Knight as Euros.

I would guess that I have played something like a hundred Euros released since Imperial, which you should definitely hold against me.

Nah i dont hold it against you citadel, thas more than enough to have sampled as much meditteranean shipping as most people could stand