Gameplay

Control the Streets of Paris,

Capture the Hearts and Minds of France,

Guillotine Your Friends!

In this card-driven area-control game you will take command of one of four asymmetric factions vying for dominance in revolutionary France.

  • Accrue political power to expand your influence over key locations throughout the city.

  • Call on your faction’s 24 historical figures and use their abilities to consolidate power.

  • Deploy your faction’s military strength to wrest control of the streets of Paris.

  • Invest in culture to gain the support of the people.

  • Denounce your rivals and dispatch them to the guillotine!

* Images show prototype components. Final version will feature all original, AI-free artwork.

Objective

To win, you will need to:

  1. Gain control of the ministry.

  2. Align the political spectrum with your faction.

    The ministry consists of four positions that represent the governance of France. To gain control of it, we will have to occupy strategic locations in Paris and promote members of our faction using our political resources.

    The political spectrum measures the pulse of the city. To align it in our favor, we will need to win hearts and minds in the struggle over culture.

This symbol indicates that Desmoulins will generate two red ‘zeal’ tokens for each café his faction controls. Marie Antoinette, on the other hand, will generate resources if her faction manages to control the blue ministry position.

Instead of generating resources, Danton, ‘The Giant of the Revolution,’ can use his considerable influence to shift the spectrum five spaces toward the ‘Cordelier’ wing of his faction.

Resources The Elements of Power

The resources of the game are the elements of political power: Authority, Prestige, Zeal, and Populism. Each faction is associated with a one of these attributes and has a different exchange rate for each. What is precious to us is cheap for our opponent, and vice versa, so we will have to negotiate shrewdly!

the Engine Recruit your party

Each faction will draw on their deck of unique historical figures to create a political party to generate resources. Each character will synergize with an aspect of the game, helping guide our strategy.

The forces in play

For information on the four asymmetric sides, visit our page on The Factions.

Take Charge Promote your characters

If we control the required location type in the city and have amassed enough political power, we can promote our characters into the ministry. Having the most control of the ministry allows us to set the turn order, declare an agenda to govern the round, and decide who faces the guillotine! But be careful, anyone ousted from the government goes straight into the basket of heads. There’s only one way out of power during the French Revolution!

Promoting characters also triggers resource generation or other powerful effects. In this case, when Lafayette is in power we can count a Jacobin minister as part of our own faction!

Sway the People Control the political spectrum

Aligning the political spectrum with our faction is a win condition and crucial tiebreaker — and it also protects our party members from the guillotine!

There are two ways to sway the spectrum: investing in culture and using our characters’ influence ability.

Hearts and Minds

For background on the ‘soft power’ shaping the revolution, visit our page on Culture.

Conflict Battle for the Streets

Another aspect of the revolution competing for our attention, and our resources, is the Battle for the Streets. Whichever faction invests the most in old fashioned combat will be able to execute their faction’s powerful conflict ability. The Ancién Regime can lock you out of one of your holdings. The Society of 1789 can revert control back to themselves. The Jacobins can take cover behind insurmountable barricades. And the Sans Culottes can burn buildings to the ground, removing them from play!

Rochejaquelein, the young darling of the royalist forces, will contribute two tokens toward the conflict if he is promoted. If his faction is winning the battle for the streets he will also generate ‘populist’ tokens.

J’Accuse! To the Guillotine

If we control locations associated with another faction, it will give us sway over them and make our accusations against their characters deadly! The political spectrum determines how many denunciations are required to execute a character — the more the revolution slips into anarchy, the easier it becomes to dispatch our enemies to the guillotine.

Coup d’état seize the day!

Throughout the game, we will play some of our characters face down as part of our growing conspiracy. When the time is right, we will be able to reveal them and use their powers all at once for a sudden, game-winning move!

The more the city descends into anarchy, the easier it becomes to send our enemies to the guillotine!

Endgame Vive L’Emperuer

The game ends as soon as any faction controls both the ministry and the political spectrum. However, a young general, Napoleon Bonaparte, is on the march. If no one wins in time, he will swoop in and take control. Will you be able to escape this historical fate and achieve victory in the French revolution?

Napoleon advances on his path toward destiny. If no one wins in time, he we take control, signaling defeat for all players.