Hey folks, today we’re going to don a black hood, step up to the platform, and preform! We’re going to be executioners and we’re looking to be ahead of the competition running the lever. I’m bringing it to the block, and reviewing Guillotine. This is a take that card game. Where players will try for the best noble and mess with the other players plans. Now, don’t sever ties with friends over this game. It’s all for fun.
What’s in the box? A guillotine of course! No, really. A guillotine cut out acts as the end of the line for this game. There’s also 2 decks of cards totaling 110 cards. The first deck is made of 50 noble cards and the second deck is made of 60 action cards. The game plays 2-5 players and takes around 30 minutes to play.
This game is played in three rounds or “days” as the game calls it. Each round, you’ll line 
up 12 nobles face up from the noble deck behind the guillotine cut out. Everyone is dealt 5 cards from the action deck and then play begins. A player has 3 steps before ending their turn. They can play an action card following the test on it. They then must take the first noble in line. Then lastly they must draw a card. Then play goes on until all nobles are drawn.
Nobles come in different colors and points. They are Blue, Red, Purple, Green and Gray nobles. Grey nobles are all negative points, while the rest are set points 1-5 points. Some nobles have effects when you collect them. Guards are scored a little differently. Each guard you have changes the value of each one. One guard is one point. Two guards are four points. Three guards are nine points and so on.
Action cards vary in what they do. Some cards you play in front of you and they add a bonus for certain colors when scoring at the end of the day. Other cards let you change the order of the line by either moving a noble forward or backwards. Some cards say up to X spots while others say exactly X spots. There’s even some cards that add more nobles to the line or end the day after you take your nobles. You don’t need to play an action card on your turn as it’s optional. You always draw an action card at the end of your turn.
After three rounds, or days, the player with the most points wins the game. I like lumping all the like colors together when totaling my nobles. There are some cards you play that add to certain color cards, so this makes it easier to keep track of them.
My grandma was able to play this game. She understood that you wanted to get the highest points at the end of the game. Then she also enjoyed moving the line around to benefit her while screwing other people. Like moving the line around to get the higher point card while making a negative point card next in line for the next player. She would often ask what an action card does while playing it, but I believe she knew what they meant as she smirked while playing them. Often targeting another player to negatively effect them. She like this game and didn’t mind the theme at all. I think when you’re playing the game, the theme isn’t there as much as it is just getting points.
I don’t want to get a head of myself, but despite the theme of the card game it’s actually a blast to play. I like the line on the table and the cards that can effect it. People might be counting down the line, planning future moves out, and you can ruin their day by moving it around. The art on the cards are cartoony, so I feel like it doesn’t drive home the morbid theme. In this case, I believe it helps the game. I would recommend this to anyone that likes take that games and card games. Is it family friendly? I’d say it’s moderately family friendly. Can you pull this out and play it with anyone? Probably not just anyone. I can see some people getting offended with the theme. With that said, it’s a fun game play with an interesting theme. I’d recommend this game to anyone that likes take that games and card games. It’s easy to teach, fun to play, and grandmother approved.
Everyone and their Grandmother Games 