The Resistance: Avalon

THE RESISTANCE: AVALON is a SOCIAL DEDUCTION PARTY GAME (2012) designed by DON ESKRIDGE, published by INDIE BOARDS & CARDS. King Arthur / Camelot reskin of Eskridge's earlier THE RESISTANCE (2009) — same core mechanics, medieval fantasy theme + additional roles (Merlin, Percival, Morgana, Mordred, Oberon). 5-10 PLAYERS secretly split into LOYAL SERVANTS OF KING ARTHUR (majority, GOOD) + MINIONS OF MORDRED (minority, EVIL). Servants win by completing 3 successful QUESTS (out of 5); Minions win by sabotaging 3 quests OR (via ASSASSIN role) correctly identifying + killing MERLIN at end of game. UNIQUE ROLE MERLIN — Merlin knows all Minions but must HIDE THIS KNOWLEDGE to avoid assassination. Percival can protect Merlin. Morgana appears as Merlin to Percival (confusion). Considered THE DEFINITIVE SOCIAL DEDUCTION GAME + benchmark for the genre alongside WEREWOLF. HELD BGG TOP-50 PARTY for years (2012-2026); considered SUPERIOR to Werewolf by many hobby gamers (no player elimination; 30-min games; more structured deduction). 30 MIN PER GAME. GAMEPLAY: Deal roles secretly. At start, EVIL players (except Oberon) know each other; Merlin knows evil (except Mordred); Percival knows Merlin (+ Morgana confusingly). GAME = 5 QUEST ROUNDS. Each round: (1) LEADER (rotating) proposes a TEAM of players to send on quest; (2) All players VOTE approve/reject team; if majority approve, team goes; if 5 rejections in a row = evil wins; (3) Team members SECRETLY play SUCCESS or FAIL cards (Good must play Success; Evil may play either); (4) 1+ FAIL = quest fails (except 4th quest at 7+ players requires 2 fails). WIN: 3 successful quests = Good win; 3 failed quests = Evil win; if Good would win, EVIL ASSASSIN gets 1 chance to identify + kill Merlin — if right, Evil steals win. RECEPTION: BGG top-50 party 12+ years; Golden Geek Best Party Game 2012 nominee; considered a genre-defining classic + more balanced than Werewolf.

Binary team win: Good (3 successful quests + Merlin survives Assassin) OR Evil (3 failed quests OR 5 rejections OR correctly kill Merlin).

Win condition · Good: 3 quest successes + surviving Assassin. Evil: 3 quest failures OR 5 rejections OR correct Merlin kill.

Central quest tracker + team proposal area + vote cards. Each player has role card (secret) + vote cards (approve/reject) + quest cards (success/fail).

• The Resistance: Avalon base box

  $20 USD; supports 5-10 players

• The Resistance base (2009)

  $20; sci-fi reskin, same mechanics

• The Resistance: Hidden Agenda expansion

  $15; new role variants

• Role cards (Servants + Minions with special abilities)

  Merlin, Percival, Morgana, Mordred, Oberon, Assassin, +generic loyal/minion

• Vote cards (approve/reject)

  For team approval

• Quest cards (success/fail)

  For quest resolution

• Score tokens + Leader tokens

  Track quests + rotating leader

• Merlin: hint at evil without revealing

  Steer team choices subtly; avoid explicit knowledge showing.

• Percival: watch Merlin/Morgana carefully

  Percival sees both; deduce which is real via play.

• Assassin: track Merlin candidates

  Note who seems to know evil; guess at end.

• Evil: coordinate team failures

  Only 1 Fail needed early; more nuanced at 7+p round 4.

• Team composition math

  Track who's been on teams that failed = suspect.

Merlin

Good role who knows all evil (except Mordred); must hide knowledge.

Percival

Good role who sees Merlin + Morgana as one identity.

Morgana

Evil role appearing as Merlin to Percival.

Mordred

Evil role hidden from Merlin.

Assassin

Evil role with end-game Merlin-kill guess.

Oberon

Evil role hidden from other Evil (no team recognition).

Quest

One of 5 team missions; success/fail via team card play.

• BGG top-50 party 12+ years

  ongoing · worldwide · since 2012

• Golden Geek Best Party Game 2012 nominee

  annual · worldwide · since 2012

• 🇺🇸United States
• 🇬🇧United Kingdom
• 🇩🇪Germany
• 🇫🇷France
• 🇮🇹Italy
• 🇪🇸Spain
• 🇵🇱Poland
• 🇦🇺Australia
• 🇨🇦Canada
• 🇸🇪Sweden
• 🇳🇱Netherlands
• 🇯🇵Japan
• 🇮🇳India
• 🇨🇳China

• Indie Boards & Cards (publisher)

  Founded 2009 · USA

• Don Eskridge (designer)

  Founded 2009 · USA

• Indie Boards & Cards — Avalon— IBC
• BoardGameGeek — The Resistance: Avalon— BGG
• Wikipedia — The Resistance— Wikipedia