Coup

1 Overview

Coup is a bluffing card game for 2–6 players that plays in 15 minutes. Set in a dystopian future city-state, players are government officials vying for power. You have 2 influence cards (face-down) representing characters with special abilities. The last player with influence remaining wins.

The critical rule: you can claim to be any character at any time: whether you actually have that card or not. If no one calls your bluff, the action succeeds. If someone does, one of you loses influence.

Coup is pure psychological warfare in a card game. It's the best 15-minute game you can own.

2 The Five Characters

There are 3 copies of each character in the deck (15 cards total for 5 characters). With only 3 copies in the deck, if you claim to be a Duke and one player actually has both copies of the Duke, they know you're probably bluffing.

3 Setup

1. Shuffle all 15 character cards. Deal 2 face-down to each player: these are your influence cards. Keep them secret.
2. Each player takes 2 coins from the treasury.
3. Place remaining cards in a face-down deck in the center.

4 Actions

General Actions (No Character Needed)

• Income: Take 1 coin. Cannot be blocked or challenged.
• Foreign Aid: Take 2 coins. Can be blocked by the Duke.
• Coup: Pay 7 coins, force a target to lose 1 influence. Cannot be blocked. Mandatory if you have 10+ coins.

Character Actions (Claimable: True or Bluff)

• Tax (Duke): Take 3 coins.
• Assassinate (Assassin): Pay 3 coins, force a target to lose 1 influence. Target can block by claiming Contessa.
• Exchange (Ambassador): Draw 2 cards from the deck, look at them, return any 2 (keeping your total at 2).
• Steal (Captain): Take 2 coins from any player. Can be blocked by Ambassador or Captain.

5 Blocking & Challenging

After any action is announced, any player can respond in one of two ways:

Challenge

Call a player's bluff. If they claimed a character to take an action or block, you can challenge them. They must reveal one of their influence cards:

• If they have the character: You lose 1 influence. They shuffle that card back and draw a new one.
• If they don't have the character: They lose 1 influence. The action is cancelled.

Block

Claim the blocking character to stop an action. The original player can then challenge your block (same rules as above), or accept it and take a different action.

6 Losing Influence

When you lose influence, you choose one of your face-down cards to flip face-up permanently. That card's character is no longer available to you. When both cards are face-up, you're out.

Important: You choose which card to reveal: so if you have one card you actually have and one bluff card, losing to a challenge means you reveal the bluff card (exposing you) or reveal your real card (losing a valuable character). This decision is itself strategic.

7 Winning

Last player with at least one face-down influence card remaining wins. The game typically ends in 15–20 minutes. Most groups play multiple rounds.

8 Strategy Guide

The Duke Is King

Tax (3 coins) is the best economy action in the game. Everyone claims Duke constantly because the math is right: 3 coins vs 2 for foreign aid or 1 for income. If you actually have the Duke, play it every turn. If you don't, bluff it anyway early game when people are less willing to challenge.

Coin Timing Is Everything

Coup (7 coins) cannot be blocked. The threat of Coup is your ultimate leverage. Once you hit 6 coins, players start offering you deals. At 7, you're dangerous. At 10, you must Coup. Build to 7 and threaten before spending.

Challenge Economy

Don't challenge randomly: you're spending influence to potentially catch a bluff. Challenge when: (1) you know statistically the card is unlikely, (2) the action would devastate you, or (3) you have 2 influence and can afford the risk. Don't challenge when you're on 1 influence.

The Ambassador Refresh

If you have a card you don't need (exposed or weak), claim Ambassador and exchange both cards for a fresh draw. This is also a powerful bluff-detector: if someone challenges your Ambassador claim, they're risking influence on a very common false tell.

Reading the Table

Track what characters people have claimed. If a player claims Duke every turn unchallenged, they probably have it. If someone claims Contessa to block an assassination early in the game, they might actually have it: don't assassinate them again.

9 FAQ