Customer Reviews

Guillotine

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

In the game Guillotine players are competing executioners in revolutionary France that vie to see how many heads they can collect. Sound gritty? It's not that bad.

Game play proceeds like this. The game is divided into 3 "days." A "day" consists of 12 cards (nobles) laid out, face up, in a row. At one end of the row is a cardboard piece representing the guillotine. Players then take turns using action cards they hold in their hands to manipulate the order of the line of nobles, or increasing their chances of tallying the highest number of points by benefitting themselves or by slamming an opponent. Once an action card's effect has been determined the player takes the noble at the front of the line and play progresses to the next player. Play continues in this fashion until all of the nobles in line are collected, and a day ends. Three such "days" make up one game. At the end of the game each player counts up their point total, and the high score wins.

We have a closet full of games, and Guillotine is chosen frequently by our crew (children ages 17, 15, 13, and 8) to play as a family or with friends. The game does not require heavy duty strategic thinking or lots of negotiation. No trivia questions are involved, and play proceeds quickly.

Guilloting works well as a 2-player game, and though the rules indicate that up to 5 people can play, I've played successfully and happily with as many as 7. Admittedly though, play proceeds more smoothly and the fun factor is higher with 5 or fewer players.

All in all this is a great little game. The cardboard guillotine piece is not very durable - its support tends to bend easily, but that's a minor issue. The fun cartoonish drawings on the noble cards and action cards keep things light and fun. When we first got this game a number of years ago we bought several copies and shared them with family and friends.

Though our 8-yr old has played this game, it's probably a better seller with players 12 and older. Teenagers especially seem to like Guillotine!

From a long-time gamer...5 stars all the way for family fun!

Guillotine is great family game, although some parents may find the premise a bit gruesome for young kids. The characters (from the French Revolution) on the cards are all drawn tastefully, and other than the premise that they are all waiting in line to be beheaded, there is no overt blood or gore invovled. I noticed that the recommended age is 12 and up, but my 8 year old has no trouble understanding the fairly simple rules and strategy to play this game. Another advantage of this game is the short playing time. For two people a game takes about 10-15 mintues, and gets about 5 minutes longer for each additional player.

Guillotine is an easy game to learn and people I have taught took only a few minutes to understand the game. Most Action Cards are unique (there are only a few that appear twice), so a beginner will have to do a lot of reading before he'll feel fully comfortable. But since the effects of each Action Card are clearly written on the cards themselves, very little explanation is necessary before you can start play.

Game are also very quick, usually lasting between 10 and 30 minutes depending on the size of your group and each player's familiarity with the game. I have played with between 2 and 5 people and have found the game fun with any size. It's not common to find a game that works well with only two players, but Guillotine does.

The strategy is very simple and basic, so more hardcore board game and card game fans may find themselves bored after a few games. The fun art and game setting, though, helps to keep players' attention for those occasional quick games. It's one of my go-to quick and easy games that are almost always fun.

Unfortunately, laying out the nobles takes a bit of space, so playing in a plane, train or car would probably be difficult. Nevertheless, if you have the space and a friend or two, Guillotine is a great way to pass the time. It's the perfect time-filler in between longer or more complex games.

Guillotine is a fantastic card game for three or more players. We often found that you have a surplus of action cards and very few opportunities to play them (you can only play one, optionally, at the beginning of your turn, and you always draw one; sometimes you draw extra ones depending on what happens). It was far more interesting to allow each player to play *up to two* action cards at the beginning of their turn, but still only draw one. I highly recommend trying this variation.

What a great game! What I love about Guillotine is that it can be played by people of different ages at different levels. It is my 6-year-old son's favorite game and the two of us play it often (good for problem solving and teaching strategy). I also enjoy playing it with adults when it can become a bit more cut-throat, especially if there are three or more players. It is small - just two decks of cards in a flat box - so we end up taking it everywhere (we just put a rubber band around the box).

This is an ok game. No skill needed (or thinking). Played with my kids ages 12-15 and they thought it was boring. Pro's were, easy to learn, quick to play.

We have a number of "serious" gamers in the family, so rules are usually a huge barrier to playing together -- no new people want to join because the gamers would take advantage of those just trying to learn, and chase them away. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the rules are concise enough to fit in the description on the back of the box! We handed the box around the table while we were shuffling at a recent family gathering, and everyone was up to speed right away. This game had a nice balance of strategy, luck, and simplicity. Even the kids were able to join in, with limited coaching.