Review of Guillotine

Guillotine is a  2-5 player card game designed by Paul Peterson and published by numerous gaming companies, including Hasbro. For those of you who do not know, a guillotine was a device used to execute people by decapitation.

At first I looked at this game and was shocked that it’s premise is about chopping off various noble’s heads for points. Gory, right? And how about inappropriate? Maybe a little. But it was already purchased and brought home, so I gave it a chance as I do with all games. The game’s premise is comedic, and not actually meant to offend anyone. It is for ages 12 and up due to its theme, although I think a mature enough 9-year old could play.

Guillotine happens to be a clever and competitive card game that’ll make you laugh. The game-play is not difficult, and not long. You have character or noble cards lined up, waiting to be executed. At the end is the guillotine. The characters are worth different amounts of points, based on their popularities. The goal is to score as many high ’noble heads’ that you can to win. There are also cards with negative points as they may have been innocent! Since the guillotine was used during the French revolution, the comical characters in this game are all from that era and area. For example, a high in card is the lovely Marie Antoinette.

The game also has another deck of cards which changes how the game is played. You may scramble the characters in line, move better ones forward, or ruin your opponents chances by attacking them, or stealing cards from them.

The game mixes both strategy and luck, although is weighed more on the luck side, since good cards can make all the difference. The game is different every time, and with varying numbers of players, the outcomes are also always different. I have yet to play with 5 players, but have played with 2, 3, and 4, and all games have been very amusing.

I enjoy 2-player games because they are very useful for couples when you are bored of your routine, and want something different. Plus, it’s always great to beat your spouse at anything. Guillotine is by no means difficult to learn, and only takes around 30 minutes to play.

Enjoy!

~Darleya~