Coup – with a regular deck of cards

Goal

Be the last player with at least one “influence” (card) remaining.

Equipment
15 cards
a bunch of coin or tokens


Setup

  • Players: 3–6
  • Deck: Standard 52-card deck (remove Jokers)
  • Influence Cards: Assign specific ranks/suits to represent Coup roles. You’ll need 3 copies of each role. For example:
RoleStandard Card Equivalent# Copies
DukeKing3
AssassinAce3
CaptainJack3
Ambassador103
ContessaQueen3
  • Extract these 15 cards from the deck. Shuffle them.
  • Each player gets 2 cards face-down (their “influence”) and 2 coins.
  • The rest form the Court Deck.

Card Roles & Actions

ActionEffectRequires Role
IncomeTake 1 coin from the treasuryNo
Foreign AidTake 2 coins (can be blocked by Duke)No
CoupPay 7 coins to force another player to lose one card (cannot be blocked or challenged)No
TaxTake 3 coins from the treasuryDuke
AssassinatePay 3 coins to try to kill one card of another player (blocked by Contessa)Assassin
StealTake 2 coins from another player (blocked by Captain or Ambassador)Captain
ExchangeSwap your cards with the Court Deck (draw 2, return 2)Ambassador

Turn Structure

  1. On your turn, declare one of the actions above.
  2. Other players may:
    • Challenge: Force you to prove you have the necessary card.
    • Block: Declare a role that blocks your action.
  3. Resolve the challenge or block.
  4. If not challenged or blocked, the action succeeds.

Challenges

  • If you’re challenged and have the correct card:
    • Show it.
    • Challenger loses a card.
    • You shuffle your revealed card back into the deck and draw a new one.
  • If you’re challenged and don’t have the correct card:
    • You lose a card.
    • Action fails.

Blocks

  • If your action is blocked and you challenge the blocker:
    • If they’re bluffing, they lose a card.
    • If they’re truthful, you lose a card.
  • If the block stands unchallenged, your action fails.

Losing Influence

Whenever you lose an influence (card), choose one of your face-down cards and reveal it permanently. Once both are revealed, you’re out of the game.


Winning

Last player with any face-down cards remaining wins the game.

Video instuctions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBIzEOW49JQ