Off with their heads! No, you don’t get to behead your opponents. Yes, you do get to compete over who can behead the most important people in France. Yes, there are a lot of puns. No, King Louie is only worth 5 points, not 12.
In my Social Studies class, we recently had a discussion about the French Revolution, so naturally, when my mother and I were trying to decide what game to play, I suggested Guillotine. Ironically, while I remembered the history behind the game, I didn’t actually remember the mechanics of the game itself. I have, of course, remedied that.
I would call this game straightforward, except the line of people awaiting beheading keeps shuffling… after all, nobody wants to be that one executioner who kills the Hero of the People (Yeah, that’s a card. He’s a -3 pointer, too.) You do, however, want to be the one to kill Marie Antoinette, King Louie, or even just that poor unlucky Cardinal who happened to be in France at the time (the religious figure, not the bird. I’m not even sure if a cardinal is large enough to behead properly in a guillotine. Perhaps a miniature guillotine?).
Anyways, the question becomes, if you don’t want to get stuck with the Martyr, how do you manage to kill somebody else? Well, there’s always the possibility that your designated Martyr Trips (Move any Noble back one space) and you end up with that Unpopular Judge instead, who, while not necessarily the best choice, is worth much more than that Martyr (It’s a matter of -1 point versus 2 points).
