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Indie Boards & Cards

The Resistance

Low stock
$21.00
$21.00 RRP $45.00

The Resistance is a fast, elimination-free social deduction party game for 5–10 players, playable in about 30 minutes. Resistance operatives must complete missions against the Empire while hidden Imperial spies work to sabotage them — trust carefully, vote wisely, and unmask the traitors before it is too late. Light rules, recommended for ages 13 and up.

Players
5–10 players
Play time
1h
Age
Teens
Complexity
Easy

About the Game

The Empire must fall, but spies have infiltrated your ranks. In The Resistance, every round opens with tense debate as players propose and vote on a mission team. Approved operatives then secretly choose to support or sabotage the mission, and each reveal narrows — or deepens — the web of suspicion. The first side to claim three missions wins, so trust is everything and one well-told lie can swing the whole game.

The Resistance plays with 5–10 players in around 30 minutes. Rules are light and suited to ages 13 and up, making it a superb party game. Hidden roles, bluffing, deduction and team voting drive the action, and unlike the classic Mafia/Werewolf games that inspired it, there is no player elimination — nobody is ever left watching from the sidelines.

Designed by Don Eskridge and first published by Indie Boards & Cards in 2009, The Resistance refined social deduction into a fast, elimination-free format and remains a benchmark of the genre.

History

Designed by Don Eskridge and first published by Indie Boards & Cards in 2009, The Resistance drew on the hidden-traitor tradition of Mafia and Werewolf while removing player elimination entirely, keeping everyone involved until the final mission. Early printings carried a small rules correction for the plot card deck, fixed in subsequent printings, and the game went on to become a benchmark of the social deduction genre.

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Shipping details

The Resistance

$21.00

Watch: How to play

Rules of The Resistance

  • Set up: shuffle and deal one hidden role card to each of the 5–10 players — Resistance operatives or Spies (2 Spies at 5–6 players, 3 at 7–9, 4 at 10). Everyone closes their eyes, then only the Spies open theirs to identify each other.
  • Choose a starting Leader; the Leader marker passes clockwise after each round.
  • Propose: the Leader names a mission team of the required size, which varies by player count and mission number, and the table debates the choice.
  • Vote: all players approve or reject the proposed team. A rejection passes the Leader marker on; five rejections in one round hands the mission to the Spies.
  • Go on the mission: approved team members secretly play a Success or Fail card. Resistance members must support the mission; Spies may choose to sabotage it.
  • Shuffle and reveal the played cards — a single Fail normally fails the mission, though the fourth mission requires two Fails at 7+ players.
  • Record the result, pass the Leader marker, and begin the next round with fresh debate.
  • Game end: the first side to claim three missions wins — the Resistance by passing three, the Spies by failing three.
  • There is no player elimination, so everyone stays involved for the whole roughly 30-minute game.

Strategy

  • Know the Spy count for your player number and use it — it limits how many suspects can plausibly sit in any one group.
  • Treat every vote as information: note who approves teams containing whom, and who proposed teams that later failed.
  • Be cautious approving teams stacked with unknown players late in the game, when one more Fail could hand the Spies the win.
  • Watch for deflection — a player loudly accusing others on thin evidence may be pulling suspicion away from themselves.
  • As a Spy, blend in rather than sabotaging every mission: support when it costs little and strike when a Fail matters most.
  • Remember the fourth mission needs two Fails at higher player counts, so one Fail card there doesn't clear everyone on that team.
  • Track confirmed results as you go — each passed or failed mission narrows the list of possible Spies.
  • There's no guaranteed winning line, so trust your reads, explain your reasoning, and stay willing to change your mind.