Guillotine

You better start a choppin’ because its heads we are a loppin’. Yes folks Guillotine lets you take on the role of the dreaded executioner on the streets of Paris. It has been decreed that 3 days of beheading will take place in the market square and anyone is fair game. 

Guillotine consists of 2 decks, a noble deck and an action deck. The play begins with each player receiving 5 action cards and then 12 heads (nobles) are placed in a line in the centre of the table. This line represents the first day’s carnage. When the line is exhausted the day ends and another 12 heads are placed in line for day two. At the end of the third day it is the player with the most points that is declared the winner. Points are earned by collecting heads as each noble card has a point value. The value of each head ranges from –3 up to +5. You really want to avoid the negative nobles and gobble up as many 5, 4 and 3 point nobles as possible.

The game play is fiendishly simple. A player begins their turn by playing any 1 action card from their hand, although in rare cases they may choose to play no card. Most of the action cards allow the players to alter the line-up of nobles in some way. These include moving the noble at the front of the line back a number of spaces in the line or reversing the order of the line. 

Other action cards may allow the players to swap beheaded nobles with another player, draw extra cards, or give bonus points for collecting certain types of nobles. After the action card has been played and satisfied the player must behead the noble at the front of the line. This is why it is so important to alter the line if a low score is at the front, or it is possible to gain a higher valued noble sitting just a few spaces back. After beheading the poor sap at the front of the line the player then draws 1 action card and ends their turn.

The game is as simple as that and this makes it possible to finish a game in under 20 minutes. There are of course a few other elements that make the game extremely engrossing. As well as having point values, each noble card will also be of a certain colour. Several action cards will earn bonus points for each noble collected of a certain colour, whilst other cards will allow the players to alter the line, but only by moving a noble of a certain colour. One set of nobles is called the Palace Guards and they have no value listed. Collecting 1 of them will earn 1 point, but if 2 are collected they are both worth 2 points etc etc. It is little touches like this that give the players plenty to think about as the game progresses. 

Guillotine is an extremely fun and entertaining game that fits a short time span perfectly. The rules are well written and the artwork is fantastic as it matches the theme very well and injects a large dose of humour.

Guillotine is not meant to be taken seriously and it does a great job of taking the ‘mickey’ out of itself. If you have friends or a partner that are reluctant to play games, then Guillotine may just be the title that helps them turn the corner! Great game, great price….what are you waiting for?

Guillotine is for 2 to 5 players aged 12 and up and plays in about 20 minutes

Available in The Games Capital's Online Store 

Game Review by Neil Thomson 

The Games Capital