by hectorir

In a time of strife, upheaval, and revolution, your beloved city has plunged into chaos, eagerly awaiting a leader to guide it. You are more than ready to take on the challenge, but so are several other revolutionaries! It’s time to demonstrate to the city who is truly in control. Blackmail the general, bribe the merchant, and threaten the priest with extreme force. Gather support within the city and spark the Revolution!

Revolution is a strategy board game centered on the theme of political turmoil and gaining influence over a city. It is considered a gateway game, one that is less complex than a standard strategy board game, but introduces gaming concepts and mechanics to new or casual board game players. In the case of Revolution, the game focuses on bidding and area control mechanics as you attempt to use money, blackmail, and force to outmaneuver other players and take control of key areas in the city.

The objective of the game is to garner the most support within the city. This is achieved either by accumulating support points during the game or by controlling key areas of the city at the end of the game. These areas – including the Fortress, Cathedral, Harbor, and Market – are worth varying amounts of support to the players who finish the game in control of them. Controlling an area means having the most influence on it, as represented by colored cube tokens.

So, how do you win support and place your colored cubes on crucial locations? By using the best tools available – gold, blackmail, and force! You can gain the cooperation of the city’s key figures by either bribing them, blackmailing them, or using extreme force to persuade them to support your cause.

However, every player wants to influence these figures. So, the game has a unique bidding mechanic to determine which player is successful.

The bidding process in Revolution takes place on bidding boards (each player has their own board) with 16 boxes, with each box representing one of the city’s key figures. You indicate which of these boxes you wish to influence by placing your “resources” on them, represented by Gold, Blackmail, and Force tokens. This is done in secret behind screens, so you won’t know which boxes other players are trying to influence or how many resources they are allocating to them. The resources are not equal, either. A bid containing Blackmail can trump a bid made with only Gold, and a bid containing Force can win against bids that only contain Gold or Blackmail. If two bids have an equal amount of Force, the bid with the most Blackmail will win.

There are some limitations, though. For instance, Force cannot be used to influence the General or Captain (they are likely more violent than you), and Blackmail cannot be used on the Innkeeper or Magistrate (they probably have more material to blackmail you with). Then there’s the Mercenary, who will only accept cold, hard cash. Each player places their bids in secret, and once everyone is ready, all bids are revealed, and the winners for each bid box are determined.

Each box provides the winning bid with different benefits. For example, the General offers some support points, a Force token to use for bidding in the next round, and the ability to place one colored cube to influence the Fortress. Similarly, the Innkeeper provides support, a Blackmail token, and allows a colored cube to influence the Tavern. There are other abilities, such as the Printer, which grants you a whopping 10 support points but nothing else. There’s also the Spy, which lets you replace someone else’s colored cube on the board with your own, and the Apothecary, which allows you to swap the positions of two colored cubes on the board.

Once all the boxes’ abilities are executed, each player collects any Force, Blackmail, and Gold they earned during that round (up to a total of 5 tokens using Gold). The next round of bidding begins, and this continues until every last influence slot in all the key regions of the city is filled with player cubes. At this point, the game ends, control of each region is determined, and the support scores are totaled.

The game is highly dynamic, as control of the key regions keeps changing, particularly due to the Spy and Apothecary. Similarly, the bidding process can be quite unpredictable, as players may unintentionally cancel each other out (no benefits are gained when there is a tie in a bid). Sometimes, players might all target different boxes and key regions to influence, resulting in a rather peaceful game. In other games, everyone might be trying to bribe the Priest and gain influence in the Cathedral, leading to intense bidding, backstabbing, and frustration (and one happy priest)!

Revolution is an enjoyable and thrilling game, although simple in terms of gameplay mechanics. It works best as a casual party game or as an introduction to more complex strategy board games. The game has also been expanded by the Palace expansion, which introduces a new building, unique bid boxes, new mechanics, and allows for up to 6 players. You will likely enjoy Revolution! if you like bidding games such as Vegas Showdown and less complex games like Ticket to Ride.

Manuel Marino

Manuel Marino is a seasoned Senior Producer, Music Composer, and Artist with over a decade of experience. He specializes in branded entertainment across various mediums, including video games, films, and advertising campaigns. With 20+ years as a game music composer, Manuel has worked on numerous platforms, creating diverse orchestral soundtracks. HIRE ME