King and Assassin

Full rules

1. Overview
2. The cards
3. Setup
4. The rules of talking
5. Leaders
6. Rounds and hostages
7. End of the game
8. Tips for beginners
9. Variants

Overview

King and Assassin is a fast, loud party game for big groups, played in two rooms. Everyone secretly belongs to one of two teams. The red team protects the King; the black team has the Assassin. The game lasts only three short rounds. At the end of each round, each room sends a few players – the hostages – over to the other room. After the last swap everybody shows their card: if the Assassin is in the same room as the King, the black team wins; otherwise the red team wins.

Unlike Werewolf, there is no moderator and nobody is ever out. Everybody plays until the end.

• Players: 6–30; best with 10 or more.
• You need: one card per player from a standard 52-card deck (plus one joker for an odd number of players), a watch or phone as a timer, two small objects as leader tokens (a pen, a coaster …) and two rooms – or two corners of a big room or garden that are far enough apart that nobody can hear the other group.

King and Assassin is our own adaptation for an ordinary deck, inspired by Two Rooms and a Boom (Alan Gerding and Sean McCoy, 2013). The names and texts are our own; the rules follow the original basic game, with playing cards instead of character cards. It has not been playtested yet.

The cards

Take the K♥, the A♠ and then as many other red cards as black cards, so that there is exactly one card per player. With an odd number of players, add the joker.

Example: 11 players: K♥ and four more red cards, A♠ and four more black cards, and the joker – 11 cards.

Setup

1. Split into two rooms. Divide the players randomly and as evenly as possible (e.g. count off "one, two, one, two …"). Each group goes to its room.
2. Deal the cards. Shuffle the role cards and give everyone one card face down. Don't look at it yet.
3. Start the timer. Everybody looks at their card, and the first round begins.

The rules of talking

• Time is public. Anybody may keep an eye on the timer; everybody must know when a round ends.
• Stay in your room. You only change rooms as a hostage.
• No messages between rooms. No shouting, no listening at the door, no signs through the window.
• Your card is yours. You may show it to one player, to everyone or to nobody – but you must show the whole card, never just a corner or the colour. You may never swap or hand over your card. You may say anything you like, true or false.

Leaders

Each room has a leader, who holds the leader token and chooses the hostages. The leader can never be a hostage. A leader stays leader from round to round until they hand the token over or are overthrown.

• The first leader: at the start of round 1, any player points at somebody else and says "I choose you as leader!" That player takes the leader token. You can't choose yourself.
• Giving it up: a leader may hand the token to another player who accepts it. The old leader can't become leader again this round.
• Overthrowing the leader: while the round is still running, you may raise one hand and point with the other at the player you want as leader (yourself too). As soon as more than half of the players in the room point at the same player, that player becomes leader and gets the token.

Rounds and hostages

There are three rounds: 3 minutes, then 2 minutes, then 1 minute. During a round, players talk, show cards, make deals and argue about who should be sent away.

These are the hostages each room sends. When time runs out:

1. Each leader names the hostages – out loud, so the room knows. The choice can't be changed afterwards.
2. The leaders meet halfway between the rooms, without the hostages.
3. The leaders start the timer for the next round (not after round 3).
4. The hostages change rooms – the same number in each direction.
5. The leaders go back to their rooms.

After the third exchange, the game ends.

End of the game

If there is a Gambler (joker), they show their card first and say out loud which team will win – red or black. Then everybody shows their card.

• The King (K♥) and the Assassin (A♠) are in the same room: the black team wins.
• They are in different rooms: the red team wins.

Everybody on the winning team wins. The Gambler wins if their prediction was right, whoever else wins.

Example: 10 players. Room 1: Anna, Ben, Carla, Dan, Emil. Room 2: Eva, Finn, Frieda, Greta, Hugo. Carla has the K♥, Hugo the A♠. In room 1, Anna chooses Ben as leader. Carla shows Ben her card, and they agree to keep that a secret. Dan shows Ben a black 7, so Ben sends Dan across as the hostage. In room 2, Hugo quietly tells leader Frieda he is "red, honest", but won't show his card. Frieda doesn't trust him, but Hugo, Finn and Greta point at Hugo – three of five, a majority – and Hugo becomes leader. In round 2, Dan arrives in room 2 and tells Hugo that Carla showed her card only to Ben – she might be the King. Hugo can't be a hostage while he is leader, so he hands the token to Greta, who is also black, and at the end of round 3 she sends him across. The Assassin ends up in the King's room: black wins.

Tips for beginners

• Red team: the King should stay hidden, or show the card only to players who have shown theirs. Try to find out which room the Assassin is in and keep the King away from it.
• Black team: find the King. If the King is in the other room, the Assassin needs to be sent over – or the King needs to be brought across.
• Leaders decide everything. Getting your own team's player elected leader is often worth more than any argument.
• A player who won't show their card is not necessarily lying – but everybody will wonder why.

Variants

All optional – agree before you start.

• Showing colours (more than 10 players): you may also show only the colour of your card: cover it with your hand so that only one suit symbol can be seen.