Guillotine Game

Other products by Wizards of the Coast

Product Features

• Ages 12 and up
• 2 to 5 players
• 30 minutes
• 110 playing cards, rules

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 8 x 1 x 4 inches ; 12 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B000Z7O4P0
• Manufacturer recommended age: 12 years and up
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,775 in Toys & Games (See Bestsellers in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)

Product Description

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 player 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

7 of 7 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.

4 of 4 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 (In the shadow of the Tetons) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 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!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great game, but rules could be clearer, December 6, 2009

By	Rossie Hutchinson - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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

I really like this game, it is quick, engaging and works the old noggin.

My complaint: the rules are a little bit incomplete. A number of the action cards refer to removing nobles "randomly" or rearranging them "randomly." To me, these instructions indicate that you've got to roll dice or shuffle or use a random numbers table--100% chance results. To a friend, this meant remove any nobles you want and rearrange the nobles as you want. Disputes ensued and consulting the instructions didn't help.