Stats:
No. of players: 3-4
Amount of time to play: 60 min
Age requirements: 12+
Set-up time: minimal

The Revolution is under way and you plan to be on top once the dust settles. You’ll use force, blackmail and bribes to gain the support you need to win. Can you outwit your rivals and win the most support?

Revolution Rules Description:

Revolution is an auction game combined with an area control game. You bid to influence different characters that each controls a region on the board.

There are three types of persuasion tokens in Revolution: Force, Blackmail and Gold. You start the game with one Force, one Blackmail and three Gold. Each round you bid all your tokens and may earn more based on which characters you bid on. Force trumps Blackmail which beats Gold. One Force and two Gold beats one Force and one Gold, but not one Force and one Blackmail. If you tie in your bid for a character then no one wins that character. There are two limitations on bidding. Some characters are immune to certain types of persuasion and you may only bid on up to six characters.

Your bids are placed on your bid board that is hidden behind your screen. Once all players have placed their bids, the bid boards are revealed and resolved. Some characters allow you to place an influence cube on their region (if it is not full), other characters add to your support (support equals VPs), some of the characters get you bidding tokens for the next round and some give you a combination of these things.

The Spy and Apothecary are a bit different. The Spy allows you to remove one influence cube from the board and the Apothecary lets you switch the position of two cubes on the board.

You may gain Patronage at the end of each round. After all bids have been resolved you count the number of tokens you have. If you have less than five you gain Gold to make up the difference.

The game ends once all influence spaces on the board are full. You add bonuses for your remaining persuasion tokens. Each region on the board scores next. Whoever has the most influence cubes in a region gets its support value added to their score. Regions that are tied do not score. After all this the player with the most support wins.

Quick Review of Revolution:

Revolution is a medium-weight auction game which requires you to pay attention and take advantage of your opportunities. Each round you’ll know what tokens the other players have and where they have been gaining influence. You have to use that information to figure out how to bid low where no one is bidding or bid high to ensure you win the characters you need to.

The rules and components for Revolution are excellent. Everything looks great and the rules are clear and quick. You should be able to play this game within minutes of opening it.

One of the interesting things in this game is the shifting value of the characters. Early in the game not many players bid on the Spy or Apothecary, but later on they can be game changers and are more valuable. Some characters will hold their value even after their region on the board is full. For example the General still grants valuable Force tokens and will hold his value throughout the game.

There is a bit of “take that” in this game and some players will be frustrated when their attempts to win certain characters are thwarted. This game is can also be very influenced by table-talk. Those adept at playing the other people at the table will find it easier to win. If you do not like these mechanics you might not want to pick Revolution up. That said, most anyone else should enjoy this game and if you are looking for an auction game you should try Revolution out.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 4 out of 6
Luck 3 out of 6
Player Interaction 6 out of 6
Replay Value 5 out of 6
Complexity 3 out of 6
Fun 5 out of 6
Overall 5 out of 6