A Social Game of Deception and Intrigue
The King has been assassinated in an act of treason. The King had no son nor daughter, leaving no clear succession to the throne. The Kingdom begins to splinter with factions forming behind each new contender. Just as the Kingdom starts it’s descent into chaos, rumors begin surface that the King has an Heir - a child born of a secret affair.
The child now grown is hidden in plain sight among the members of the court. The Royal Advisors of the King’s Court dare not trust one another. Each one claiming they are loyal to the Kingdom. The Heir will be found and the Kingdom saved with careful words and actions. Will the Heir survive to rule, or will they suffer their father’s fate?
Players take on the role of Royal Advisors tasked with running the Kingdom in the wake of the Kings death. The Royal Advisors must try to find and eliminate the Traitors in their midst before the Kingdom falls apart. Players will scheme, deceive and persuade in order to seek out and eliminate the Traitors and safely return the Kingdom to its rightful ruler, the Kings Heir.
Act of Treason is inspired by games like Mafia, Werewolf and Battlestar Galactica. It takes many aspects of these games and seeks to amplify what makes these games so much fun - the deception, the intrigue, and the social interaction. If you can successfully deduce who is who, convince, deceive and persuade, then you'll be able to win every time. However, that task is much harder than it sounds!
The expanded rules for Act of Treason will be revealed here on the website sometime after release. Until then, please feel free to check out the sample below. In addition, the online rulebook will explain individual cards and situations in greater detail. To help
First Edition // Official Rules
Players take on the role of Royal Advisors tasked with running the Kingdom in the wake of the Kings death. The Advisors must try to root out the Traitors in their midst before the Kingdom falls apart, and return the Kingdom to its rightful ruler, the Kings Heir.
There are two teams - the Loyals and the Traitors. Each player will receive a Loyalty card which determines which team they belong to. Loyalty is secret and players should not show their Loyalty card to anyone else.
| The Heir and Loyals win when: | The Traitors win when: |
|---|---|
| All Traitors have been eliminated | The Heir is eliminated |
| OR 6 Events have been successfully completed | OR Kingdom Strength is reduced to ‘0’ |
1. Place down the game board
The round sequence displayed on the left of the game board shows the order of phases within a game round. The Kingdom Strength displayed on the right of the game board tracks the strength of the Kingdom. Place the Kingdom Strength on ‘4’ for the start of the game.
I've received a lot of praise from people over the years about Act of Treason. At the time I rarely took down formal notes or saved the messages I'd received, which is rather unfortunate. Below is a showcase of some of the more candid responses I've received that I managed to save, as well as some of the more traditional feedback that I receive from surveying player responses.
Shem Phillips of Garphill Games
“Act of Treason does a great job of blending simple, intuitive mechanics with a free flowing social experience. Expect a lot of tension and second guessing of those you thought you could trust.”
Toni
"So I played Act of Treason with Tyson and some people from work last night and it is EPIC. Like I forgot how great it is!!!"
Cameron
“Just putting it out there but I am pretty keen for some more AOT.. Really enjoyed it and now that I understand the game play a lot better think I could give it a better go :) … Ha! And I'm not saying it to boost your ego either.. Was really cool! Even though you tried to kill me lol”
Chris
"I just want to say congrats for sticking with the concept, and I can verily say that the game is excellent."
Sunny
"I really love this game. It's always good fun to play! It's way better than Avalon and has more dimension. I highly recommend it!"
Josh
"I think I would go as far as to say it is my favourite of that genre"
Chris
"Act of Treason is by far my favourite board game. You need to influence, beg and even force people to align with you. Then just when everyone trusts you and is in alignment, you blind side them as a Traitor. That is AoT."
I wouldn't have made it without the support of the fans of Act of Treason - You guys gave me the motivation to push forward when the going got tough. I know there are some I've missed. If you want to be mentioned, please reach out! A big thank you to the following people:
Josh, Ry, Lex, Tegan, Sarah, Brin, Logan, Todd, Cameron, Richard, Tim C, Chris S, Lindsay, Steve, Tim U, Karina, Phil, Walter, James H, Amelia, Liss, Toni, Sunny, Amy, Pete, Katie, Hanna, Mark, Andrea, Tremaine, Ben, Kelvin, Keith, Leanne, Joel, James S, Simeon, Jason, Josh C, Anna, Elliot, Campbell, Lucy, Oli, Fiona, Dan, Dipali.
Thank you for your help and advice: Daniel Haddock, Christopher Paulin, Jeannette, Isaac White, Shem Phillips.
Want to get in touch. Please feel free below. Or if you've played Act of Treason, please leave your feedback using the button below. All feedback goes towards improving the game.
