Coup X
Coup X Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 25 character cards: 5 of each character type.
- 10 reminder cards.
- 62 influence tokens: 4 tokens worth 5, 10 tokens worth 3, and 20 tokens worth 1.
- 10 team cards.
Source note: the printed token breakdown (4 × 5, 10 × 3, 20 × 1) adds up to 70 tokens' worth, not the 62 stated in the same line. Both figures are transcribed as printed.
Goal
You will have to eliminate the others by making smart use of your cards' abilities (or by lying, using the abilities of characters you do not have). This seems simple, but... be careful! If they challenge you and you were lying, you will lose your card. The winner is the player who survives last with at least one of their cards.
Setup
Give each player a reminder card.
Prepare a deck of 15 cards by taking 3 cards of each character. Shuffle the cards, deal 2 to each player face down without looking at them, and leave the remaining deck in the centre of the table.
Place 2 influence tokens next to each player, and leave the remaining tokens in the centre of the table.
Note in the source: each player must leave their two cards face down on the table. You may look at your cards whenever you want, but you may not show them to anyone.
Source note: the setup says to prepare 15 cards with 3 of each character, which implies five character types. The character abilities page at the end lists six characters (Captain, Thief, Guard, Dealer, Assassin, Inspector), and the Variants section counts 5 cards per character for 9–10 players. The numbers are transcribed as printed; the source does not reconcile them.
How to Play
The most unscrupulous person at the table starts. Play proceeds in turn, clockwise.
Each turn has two stages.
Stage 1: Actions
Choose and perform only one of the four possible actions:
- GET INFLUENCE: Take 1 influence token from the streets.
- STREET AID: Take 2 influence tokens from the streets. (This action may be blocked by a Thief.)
- COUP: Pay 7 influence tokens to stage a coup against another player. That player loses one of their cards and must reveal it by turning it face up on the table.
These three actions may be performed by any player, regardless of which character cards they have.
- USE CHARACTER ABILITY: You may tell the truth by using one of the abilities of the cards you have, or you may lie and use the ability of another character by naming aloud the character you are going to use.
You can check the abilities on the last page.
Example: Lara has a Captain and an Assassin, but she says aloud that she has a Thief card so that she can use the ability "Steal 3 tokens from the city treasury."
Blocks
Blocks are used to block another participant's action.
- You may only use blocks during another player's turn.
- You may use them to block an action directed against you or against any other player.
- You must say which character you are using to perform the block, without showing the card.
Table on the source page: "Ability (on your turn)" and "Block (during another player's turn)," listing each character's ability and the character(s) it can block.
Remember: you may lie and use the ability of a character you do not have, both to perform an action on your own turn and to block another participant's action on their turn.
Stage 2: Challenges
Every time a participant performs an action or a block, it may be challenged. Any participant may issue a challenge.
If you are challenged, you must show your card to prove that you have the character whose ability you were trying to use.
Who wins the challenge?
- If you do not have in your hand the character card whose ability you used, you lose the challenge. The player who issued the challenge then wins it.
- If you do have the card, the player who issued the challenge loses it.
- The player who loses a challenge loses a character card of their choice from those they still have.
The token cost of an action that was performed is never returned, under any circumstances. If you stole influence tokens from another participant by lying and then lost the challenge, you must return them to that participant.
Example: Alex declares that he has an Assassin and, paying 3 tokens, tries to kill one of Lara's characters. Sergei challenges Alex, who shows his Captain card. Alex loses the challenge, so he discards his character card and does not get back the 3 tokens he spent.
Source note: the Russian source ends this example mid-sentence ("...и, заплатив 3 значка,") and runs straight into the next example. The text is transcribed as printed.
If the challenged player wins, they must return the card to the deck, shuffle it, and draw another card. This way, the other players do not know which character they have now.
Example: Lara has an Assassin and a Thief. She uses the Thief's ability and takes 3 influence tokens. Sergei challenges her, but Lara shows her Thief card. Because Lara wins the challenge, she keeps her tokens, and she also replaces her Thief card with another card from the deck. Sergei loses the challenge and turns over one of his cards.
End of Turn and Game
After the first player's turn, the turn passes to the player seated to the left, clockwise.
The game ends when only one player remains.
Clarifications
Two character cards can be lost in a single turn. For example, if a player lies that a Guard can block an Assassin, is challenged, and does not have a Guard, they lose two cards: one for losing the challenge and one for the murder. Another example: if a player challenges an Assassin used against them and fails, they lose one card for losing the challenge and another for the murder.
Negotiation between players is allowed but not mandatory.
The Dealer first draws 2 cards from the deck and decides whether to exchange one of them for the card (or cards) they have. Then they return 2 cards to the deck.
Example: Sergei has a Captain and a Guard. On his turn he lies and uses the Dealer's abilities, and nobody challenges him. He gets an Assassin and a Thief. He keeps the Assassin and the Captain, which he already had, and returns the other two cards to the deck.
Team Coup
This variant is played by the same rules as Coup X, except that the players play in teams: red or blue.
Setup
Place a team card next to each player where everyone can see it.
The player who starts first chooses their team (red or blue). Then, in order, clockwise, the players alternate colours (red, blue, red, blue).
Additional rules
No participant may perform an action against, or block, a participant from their own team, except when only their team remains.
Attention: yes, you may challenge a player on your own team.
Players may use two new actions:
- SWITCH TEAM: Pay 1 influence token to move to the other team. Pay 2 influence tokens to move another player to the other team. The tokens used here are bribes, which are placed to the side of the table.
If someone has used the team action SWITCH, two stacks of cards appear on the table: a city influence card and a Bribes card.
- STEAL BRIBE: If you do not have a Thief card, you may take all the accumulated bribes from the table. If you do have a Thief, you may perform this action by lying and saying that you do not have a Thief. Any participant may challenge this action, accusing the person who performed it of not having a Thief card. The challenged player must reveal their cards and prove that they do not have a Thief, and then exchange all of their cards for other cards from the deck.
Remember that each player may perform only one action per turn. You must choose between these two actions and the four basic actions.
Variants
- 2 players: The player who starts will have only one influence token at the beginning of the game.
- 7–8 players: Take 4 cards of each character from the deck (20 in total).
- 9–10 players: Take 5 cards of each character from the deck (25 in total).
Character Abilities
- Captain
- Takes 2 tokens from another participant.
- Blocks another Captain.
- Thief
- Steals 3 tokens from the city treasury.
- Blocks Street Aid.
- Guard
- Blocks an Assassin.
- Dealer
- Exchanges their cards for 2 from the deck.
- Blocks a Captain.
- Assassin
- For 3 tokens, kills another character.
- Inspector
- Exchanges 1 of their own (or an opponent's) cards for another from the deck.
- Blocks a Captain.