Card game
Coup
Claim any character, bluff boldly, and be the last one standing
- Set-up
- About 2 min
- Reading
- Little
The quick verdict
Full verdict ↓Great for Teens and adults who enjoy bluffing, arguing and catching each other out
Think twice if Your group includes younger children, or people who don't enjoy lying even in fun
How we rate it
Learning curve. The rules fit on the summary card and one game teaches them, but knowing when to bluff and when to challenge takes a few games. That puts it alongside Codenames on our scale.
Luck & skill. The deal is random, but you can claim any character, so reading people and timing your bluffs and challenges decide most games.
Interaction. Every action invites a block or a challenge, and you knock other players out directly.
Set-up. Shuffle the 15 character cards, deal two face down to each player, give everyone 2 coins and a summary card, and put the remaining cards and coins in the middle.
Reading. Character and summary cards carry short English text. Once the five characters are explained, nobody needs to read during play.
Learning curve: 1 = UNO or Connect 4; 3 = Catan; 5 = a heavy strategy game. These describe the experience, not an overall score.
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Is Coup right for you?
Great if
- Teens and adults who enjoy bluffing, arguing and catching each other out
- Cousins and friends on a late festival night, in groups of 4 to 6
- Trips and cafés, since it's a small box of cards and coins
- Fans of Mafia or Werewolf who want something that works with fewer people and no moderator
Skip it if
- Your group includes younger children, or people who don't enjoy lying even in fun
- You usually play with only two
- Some players hate sitting out. Once you lose both cards you wait for the game to end, though games are short
How Coup plays
The deck has 15 character cards: three each of the Duke, Assassin, Captain, Ambassador and Contessa. Everyone gets two cards face down and 2 coins, and the rest of the cards form the Court deck. Your two hidden cards are your influence. Each time you lose influence you turn one of them face up, and when both are face up you're out.
- Time to teach: about 10 minutes.
- Reading and language: The six summary cards list every action and block in English, so one person can explain the five characters in a few minutes. After that the game is all talk: claims, challenges and accusations work just as well in Hindi, Tamil or Hinglish.
How to Play Coup · Geek & Sundry
Choose a video · Watch right here
If this creator doesn’t allow embedded playback, watch on YouTube ↗.
A turn, step by step
- 1Act
Take one action: Income (1 coin), Foreign Aid (2 coins), a Coup (pay 7 coins and pick a player to lose a card), or a character power such as the Duke's 3 coins. You may claim any character, whether you hold it or not.
- 2Challenge
Anyone can call your bluff, and some actions can be blocked by claiming the right character. Whoever is wrong about a challenge turns one of their two cards face up.
- 3Win
When both your cards are face up, you're out. The last player with a face-down card wins, usually within 10 to 15 minutes.
The full explanation: how a game of Coup goes
On your turn you take one action. Anyone can take Income (1 coin), Foreign Aid (2 coins, which a player claiming the Duke can block) or launch a Coup. A Coup costs 7 coins and makes a player of your choice lose an influence, and nobody can stop it. If you start your turn with 10 or more coins, you must launch a Coup.
The characters give stronger actions. The Duke takes 3 coins. The Assassin pays 3 coins to make a player lose an influence, but the target can block by claiming the Contessa. The Captain steals 2 coins from another player, who can block by claiming the Captain or the Ambassador. The Ambassador draws two cards from the Court deck and swaps any of them with your hidden cards.
Here's the twist: you can claim any character, whether you hold it or not, and so can anyone blocking you. Any player may challenge a claim. If you're challenged and can show the card, the challenger loses an influence, and you shuffle that card back into the Court deck and draw a new one. If you were bluffing, you lose an influence and your action fails.
The last player with any influence wins. Games are short, so it's easy to play several in a row. In a two-player game the starting player takes only 1 coin, and the rules include an optional two-player setup.
What's in the box
- 15Character cards
3 each of the Duke, Assassin, Captain, Ambassador and Contessa - 6Summary cards
one per player, listing every action and block - 50Coins
the shared Treasury - 1Rules booklet
Box: 15.4 × 11.2 × 3.4 cm, 0.2 kg. Handy to know for gifting and travel.
Contents as listed in Indie Boards & Cards' rulebook (2018 file). Some newer printings also include extra alternate-art character cards; one US retailer's rules summary lists 12, including two Inquisitors for the Reformation expansion, so check the back of your box.
Where to buy
Paid link · We may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
How to make sure you get a genuine copyEditions and the details worth checking.
What reviewers and players say
Reviewers agree that Coup is quick, cheap and tense: anyone can claim any character, so every turn is a chance to bluff or to call a bluff. It shines with talkative groups of four or five and as a warm-up while people arrive. The common complaints are player elimination, since a wrong challenge can knock you out early, and that quiet or reluctant groups make it fall flat. Some also find that five characters start to feel samey after many games.
What people love
- Rules short enough for one card, and games last 10 to 15 minutes, so it's easy to play several in a row
- Constant tension: anyone can claim any character and anyone can call it, which makes for loud, funny moments
- A tiny, inexpensive box that works as a warm-up while people arrive, because latecomers just join the next game
- Easy to teach: most people understand it after one short game
Common complaints
- Player elimination: a wrong challenge can knock you out on the first turn, and then you wait for the game to end
- It depends on the group; timid or quiet players can make it dull or uncomfortable
- With only five characters some find it repetitive after many plays, and it is weaker with two and more chaotic with six
Based on 5 reviews and discussions
- Review Coup Card Game Review (Tony Mastrangeli, August 2014) · Board Game Quest
- Review Coup (2012) review (Michael Heron, November 2017) · Meeple Like Us
- Review Dale Yu: Review of Coup, with comments from other reviewers (February 2013) · The Opinionated Gamers
- Players Is Resistance: Coup worth getting if I already have Resistance: Avalon? (June 2015) · Board & Card Games Stack Exchange
- Reference Coup (card game) · Wikipedia
Summarised in our own words from the sources above. We don't use Amazon reviews or ratings.
More like Coup
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Our picks if Coup isn't quite right.
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Why consider it | This game Claim any character, bluff boldly, and be the last one standing | A different fit Another tiny card game of hidden cards and bluffing, gentler and fine from age 10 | A different fit A better pick for bigger mixed groups, with teams and no one knocked out | A different fit Another quick, cut-throat card game with player elimination, but lighter and fine for kids |
| Players | 2–6 | 2–6 | 2–8 | 2–5 |
| Best with | 4-6 | 3-5 | 6-8 | 4-5 |
| Play time | 15 min | 15–30 min | 15 min | 15–20 min |
| Age | 14+ | 10+ | 14+ | 7+ |
| Rules | Easy | Easy | Easy | Easy |
| Indian edition | Imported | Imported | Imported | Available |
| On this page | Explore Love Letter | Explore Codenames | Explore Exploding Kittens |
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Also worth a look (not in our catalogue yet): The Resistance: Avalon – Indie Boards & Cards' team hidden-role game for 5 to 10 players.
Questions people ask about Coup
Is Coup available in India?
Yes, as an import. There's no Indian edition and no official Indian distributor, so every genuine copy is Indie Boards & Cards' imported box, and our Check price on Amazon.in button goes to that edition. Be careful with cheap look-alikes, and make sure the brand is Indie Boards & Cards.
Can you play Coup with 2 players?
Yes. In a two-player game the starting player takes only 1 coin, and the rules include an optional two-player setup. It works, but the bluffing has more bite with 4 to 6 players.
Can more than 6 people play Coup?
Not with the base game, which takes 2 to 6. The Coup: Reformation expansion adds 15 more character cards and faction rules and takes it up to 10 players. You need the base game to use it.
What age is Coup suitable for?
Retailers such as Asmodee UK list it as 14 and up, and Indie Boards & Cards' website says 13+. The rules are simple, but the game is about lying convincingly and spotting lies, and players get knocked out, so it suits teens and adults more than young children.
Game facts
- Designed by
- Rikki Tahta
- Publisher
- Indie Boards & Cards (first published by La Mame Games in 2012)
- First published
- 2012
- Players
- 2–6
- Barcode
- 722301926246
- Language
- Little reading – The six summary cards list every action and block in English, so one person can explain the five characters in a few minutes. After that the game is all talk: claims, challenges and accusations work just as well in Hindi, Tamil or Hinglish.
- Box size and weight
- 15.4 × 11.2 × 3.4 cm, 0.2 kg
Sources & photo creditsThe references behind this guide.
Facts on this page come from the publisher, the Indian maker or distributor, and the sources below. Photos are credited under each one.