How to Play

The Resistance: Avalon

5-10 players 30-30 min 7.5 Board Game Geek Rating

Players split into good and evil teams in this medieval deduction game. Evil players know each other's identities while good players remain blind, except Merlin who secretly knows the evil agents. Through mission voting and careful deduction, good tries to complete quests while evil works to sabotage them, with Merlin risking exposure.

Published 2012

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

Select the correct board

Choose the double-sided board matching your player count (5-10 players)

Place components centrally

Put the board, result markers, team tokens, voting marker, and mission cards in the center of the table

Position the round marker

Place the round marker in the first mission space on the board

Distribute voting tokens

Each player receives two different voting tokens (one "Approve" and one "Reject")

Choose the first leader

Randomly select a player to receive the leader token

Create the character deck

Assemble cards based on player count:

Deal character cards

Shuffle the deck and give each player one card face-down; players secretly view their character and loyalty

Conduct the Evil recognition phase

The leader reads the script aloud:

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Propose team members

The leader selects the required number of players for the current mission (shown on the board) by giving them team tokens

Include yourself optionally

The leader may assign themselves a team token if desired

Discuss the proposal

All players may debate, argue, and share suspicions about the proposed team

Call for a vote

After discussion, the leader asks all players to vote on the proposed team

Vote simultaneously

Each player secretly selects one voting token, then all reveal together

Determine vote outcome

The team is approved if a majority votes "Approve"; ties reject the team

Handle rejected teams

Move the voting marker forward one space; the next player clockwise becomes leader and proposes a new team

Track failed votes

Evil wins immediately if five consecutive teams are rejected in a single round

Distribute mission cards

The leader gives each team member one Success card and one Fail card

Select mission cards secretly

Each team member chooses one card and places it face-down

Shuffle and reveal

The leader collects, shuffles, and reveals all played mission cards

Determine mission result

The mission succeeds if all cards are Success; one or more Fail cards causes failure

Mark the result

Place a result marker on the mission space (blue side for success, red for failure)

Advance to next round

Move the round marker to the next mission space and return the voting marker to the first position

Pass leadership

Give the leader token to the next player clockwise

Winning

How to claim victory.

Good wins by completing missions

Successfully complete three of the five missions without Merlin being identified

Evil wins by failing missions

Cause three missions to fail

Evil wins through deadlock

Force five consecutive team rejections in a single round

Assassin's final chance

If Good completes three successful missions, Evil players discuss and the Assassin points to one Good player they believe is Merlin

Immediate game end

The game ends immediately after the third successful mission (triggering assassination attempt), third failed mission, or fifth consecutive rejected team