In EDL290T, we recently played a game called The Resistance: Avalon. It wasn’t the first time I played this game; Avalon was a staple of academic team game nights last year, and I usually enjoyed playing a round or two with my friends.

As usual, I found the hardest part of the game to be the element of deception that accompanies it. It is very difficult to play this game without some form of deception, and this is all the more apparent when playing on the red, or evil, team. When we played in class for the first time, I was saddled with being on the side of the subversive enemies of Arthur and his knights. I couldn’t wait for the round to be over. I didn’t even mind when we lost the game after failing to sabotage even one mission; being on the bad team just causes me that much stress.

Fortunately, I was on the good side for the next two rounds. In the second round, I was Percival, and I didn’t do a very good job of identifying Merlin. Evan’s Morgana was just way too convincing, I guess, so we lost. I was Merlin in the next round, and the assassin failed to divine my identity after the third successful mission, so we won! Kudos to our Percival, who did a stellar job of protecting my identity.

In terms of the leadership components of the game, a pattern that I notice when playing this game is that, inevitably, a table “leader” emerges.This is someone who shapes the discourse occurring within the context of the game, someone who is able to sway people’s opinions towards their own hidden agenda. Sometimes this person is the Merlin, Morgana, or Percival, but oftentimes I find that it’s just the person who isn’t afraid to take charge, regardless of their role. You hope that this person is on your team, or maybe you’re confident enough that this king-making position can be yours.

I think my mom would enjoy this game. She’s a fan of hidden-role games, so this would probably be right up her alley.