Guillotine
Published by Wizards of the Coast
Designed By Paul Peterson
$9.99
Take France in the late 1700s. Add a large helping of various and sundry mostly useless nobility. Stir in a group of disaffected common citizens with no real political power. Then toss in a pinch of Professor Guillotine and agitate vigorously. Garnish with extremely amusing art and you have Guillotine, the hilarious new card game from Wizards of the Coast about trying to get a head.
The most distinct thing about the game is the artwork. All of the caricatures are extremely well drawn in a finely executed satirical style, and this really adds to the flavor of the game. There is a minimum of repetition of the illustrations, making the game feel exciting and original for many plays.
Game play is quite simple. Using Action cards, players attempt to influence the line of Nobles waiting for execution. Some of the cards they play will make the line move faster, while others will slow it down. There are cards to prevent people from being executed, cards to change the order of executions, and cards to distract everyone during play. There are cards that prevent changes in the order, and even cards that allow the escape of nobles (such as the “Scarlet Pimpernel” card).
The flow of game play is similar to the Mayfair classic Family Business, with a different end. In this game the object is to collect the most prestigious heads possible (which means the ones with the highest point value), while angling . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: June 19, 1998
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