Week 1 – The Resistance Avalon

The first game we played in this course was the Resistance Avalon; a card based game similar to Mafia or Werewolf, combined with the elements of team dynamics/voting, that also has it own unique approach. While I was familiar with the concept of the game, I found Resistance Avalon particularly interesting because of the slight twist it incorporates at the beginning of the game. This twist involves the characters Merlin, Morgana and Mordred. On the first night Merlin is granted the ability to learn about all but one of the Evil Players (Mordred) and is also faced with challenges during the game of a player that can “act” as Merlin with Morgana. In one of my first games, I was randomly given the role of Merlin, in which I had to navigate these challenges, while helping my team. The most difficult part of playing as Merlin definitely arose when it came time to approving missions, as well as whether to reveal the information I knew to other players at the table. While I found trusting others and the decision to disseminate information challenging, I really enjoyed playing this game. I would definitely recommend this game to some of my close friends, as there is a lot of tension that develops and I believe it would be more fun to play with people that I know well and can trust. If I was to play with close friends I would also be able to pick up on queues of times they may have been deceiving me.

As for leadership topics covered in this game, I believe the game does a great job of demonstrating the need for communication and listening skills. It is extremely important in this game to not only voice your opinion but listen to other players verbal suggestions and watch their actions to see who they propose for missions. Doing so can help you determine if they are working in cahoots with other players. These skills are vital for leadership because a good leader should be able to communicate with others, listen to others opinions and use those to help make decisions that are beneficial to the team as a whole!