Guillotine

by Wizards of the Coast

Product Features

• 110 playing cards, rules
• Plays in 30 minutes
• Fast-paced and fun
• Tons of replay value
• Easy to learn

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.9 x 0.9 inches ; 8.5 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000ARTT7S
• Item model number: 5510919
• Our recommended age: 12 years and up
• Manufacturer recommended age: 12 years and up
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,017 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
  • #27 in Toys & Games > Games > Card Games
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (78 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

This irreverent and humorous card game takes place during the French Revolution. Players represent rival guillotine operators vying for the best collection of noble heads over three rounds. You want top bragging rights, so you’d better collect the most prestigious noggins. Will you be skillful enough to bribe the guards and collect Marie Antoinette? Or will you lose points for beheading the Hero of the People.

Product Description

The revolutionary card game where you win by getting a head. This irreverent and humorous card game takes place during the French Revolution. Players represent rival guillotine operators ving for the best collection of noble heads over three rounds. Each round twelve nobles are lined up for the guillotine. The nobles are worth varying points depending on their notoriety. During your turn you play action cards to change the order of the line so you can collect the best nobles. The plater with the most points at the end of the game wins. Will you be skillful enough to bribe the guards to collect Marie Antoinette? Or will you lose points for beheading the Hero of the People? Heads are going to roll!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Single handedly the best gaming investment I've ever made., March 28, 2009

By 

Alan R. Tuckwell Jr. "Strider" (Tulsa, OK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:4.0 out of 5 stars 

As the title of this review says, Guillotine is single handedly one of the best investments I've made. I originally bought the game when I was 16 at my friend's request, as he'd played it before and insisted that it was a fun game to play. [...]

Wow, was he ever right, and I've thanked him probably 10 times between then and now for bugging me to get it.

Anyone can learn this hilariously fun and competetive game in about 5 minutes or less, and it has one of my favorite features of any game: everything you ever need to play the game from now until the day you die comes with the set. There are no expansions, no optional add ons, just everything under one box.

I don't need to describe the game here, as that is done in the product review. I've owned the same boxed set since I was 16, and I'm 27 now. I still get just as much of a kick out of it now as I did then, and this set still has a lot of miles yet to go before I need to purchase another. What I love about this game is that not only can it be played as a "for the fun of it" game, but it is also a multi-faceted game with which various stragegems can be employed to gain the highest score over your opponent(s). In other words: it isn't just for kids. Adults can have a blast with it, too.

Since 1-4 players can play, this can easily be a family game night game, party game, or fun travel game. I HIGHLY recommend Guillotine to anyone who wants a fun card game that can be learned easily (I've taught 7 year olds to play it), and played start to finish in about 25 minutes.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good, easy to learn, fun to play, and the whole family can join in., January 17, 2009

By 

Alan Holyoak (The Shadow of the Tetons) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

In this game players are competing executioners during the French Revolution. Well, it's not as grim as it sounds :-)

As you may know, during the French revolution royalty, clergy, military, and civic leaders that were in power before the revolution were rounded up and executed.

In this game, each player competes to collect cards representing different nobles (like those listed above).

FYI - game play proceeds as follows:
1) A small cardboard piece representing a guillotine is set up at one end of the table, and twelve cards representing different nobles are laid out in a line. Nobles' cards have values ranging from +5 to -3 points.
2) Each player in the game (and we have played with up to 8 players, though the game works best as a 2-5 player game) is dealt 5 action cards. Action cards are cards that allow you to manipulate the order of the line. You use them to try to acquire the nobles' cards that have the highest values and set up the line so that your opponents can acquire only lower valued cards.
3) One game consists of three rounds (called days), each day being comprised of at least twelve nobles' cards lined up by the guillotine.
4) The game usually ends when all nobles' cards have been collected.
5) A winner is determined when all of the players in the game count up the total number of points they have accumulated.

This is a great little game. You can play an entire game in under 30 minutes, and even younger players (but old enough to read - maybe 8 to 9 years old at the youngest) can play.

This is a fun game that is highly recommended.

I gave it 5 stars because it is fun and has some educational value as well.

Check it out. I think you'll be glad you did!

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars revolutionary game where you win by getting a head, September 4, 2008

By 

Objective Reality "-enjoy" (California, USA) - See all my reviews

= Durability:2.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Guillotine (Toy)

Guillotine is a card game with a French Revolution theme. That sounds kind of grim but actually the presentation is so comical that it is light hearted and amusing black humor. The cartoony illustrations are fantastic and the cards themselves are bright and sturdy.

Players are rival executioners trying to get the most points by beheading nobles with the most notoriety. simple.

I'll briefly describe how it is played:

The game has two decks of cards, an Action Deck and a Noble Deck.
The nobles are shuffled and lined up before the Guillotine (cardboard Guillotine- included)

Each player then takes a turn-
First they play an action card from their hand if they wish. action cards do all kinds of things but usually they involve moving the position of one or more nobles in the line.

Next the player takes (beheads) the noble in the front of the line. They put this Noble Card in front of them along with other nobles they may have collected. this noble has a point value.
There are some nobles however that are actually worth negative points, you don't want to behead The Hero of The People or the Tragic Figure for example.
Some nobles have special traits listed on their cards that make them worth more in some circumstances or even effect the line of nobles they are in. The Master Spy, for example, moves to the back of the line every time an action is played and if you collect both the Lord and the Lady, each are worth two more points.

Then the player takes a new action card and it is the next players turn.

The game is quick and light, it is also very easy to learn. It involves quite a bit of random luck but there is an element of strategy as well. Often a skilled player can make good use of a bad hand.

Usually when I play this game it becomes a warm up for some bigger game because this game is so simple, fun and fast, it leaves players ready for something meatier.

Really the game is charming and entertaining, not really enough for a hard core card gamer but just right for breaking the ice or relaxing with the family.

Some more stringent parents may find the subject matter too violent for their young children. However, The game can be a great lead in to teach children about the French Revolution. It is as offensive as the song London Bridge is falling Down or Ashes Ashes (if you are aware of their historical meaning) so I wouldn't be too shy about it.