"Guillotine" - The Executioner's Card Game Quiz

Answer: "Ignoble Noble"

The majority of action cards move nobles either forward or backward in line. Some action cards allow the player to choose how many spaces to move the noble (up to a certain limit). Others yet allow you to rearrange part of the line as you see fit. The objective of the game is to bring the highest-scoring nobles to the front of the line so that you can execute them before your opponents do!

Answer: Blue

Nobles are color-coded based on their affiliation. Blue nobles represent church figures, Green nobles are public servants, Red nobles belong to the military, and Purple nobles are the aristocracy. There are also Grey nobles, but they are quite different from the rest...

Answer: No player may play any action cards.

Some nobles have special effects, and this can be very important to pay attention to during play. The "Unpopular Judge" is really unpopular - everyone in the crowd is anxious for him to be guillotined, so once he's at the front of the line he's sure to be executed immediately.

If you're afraid that the next player is going to take a valuable noble out of the line (possibly a noble you want for yourself), you can try to position the judge so that it'll end up at the front of the line next turn. This means your opponent will have to execute the Judge, who is only worth +2 points.

Answer: Purple nobles

There are 15 purple nobles in the deck. They represent the aristocracy, and include "King Louis XVI" and Queen "Marie Antoinette". Although the king and queen are worth +5 points each, making them some of the most valuable nobles in the game, many purple nobles have "extra" effects which make them also worth picking up. Most important of these special nobles is "Robespierre".

Answer: The day ends.

A single game is separated into three "days". At the start of each day, 12 nobles are dealt into the queue, and the day ends when they have all been executed. When day #3 ends, the game is finished - the points are tallied and a winner is declared.
When "Robespierre" is executed, the current day ends immediately. If this happens, any nobles remaining in line are discarded. If you're leading in the score and there are no nobles in line that you wish to pick up specifically, it may be a good idea to try and execute "Robespierre". Otherwise, try to keep him away from the front of the line!

Answer: "Indifferent Public"

Grey nobles include the "Martyr" and "Innocent Victim", amongst others. They are worth NEGATIVE points, so you should try to avoid executing them. Things get worse if you execute the "Tragic Figure" noble, because he is worth -1 point for each Grey noble you've executed (including himself)! The "Indifferent Public" action card can remedy this - as long as it's in play, all your Grey nobles are worth exactly 1 positive point.

Answer: 5

Palace Guards are a special kind of Red noble. They don't have a set value - instead, each palace guard is worth a number of points equal to the total number of "Palace Guards" you've executed so far. If you've executed just one guard, it's worth 1 point. Execute two guards, and each of them is worth 2 points for a total of 4 points. If you have three guards in your score pile, each is worth 3 points for a total of 9 points. If you can execute all 5 guards, you're unlikely to lose the game. Of course, a savvy opponent will try to prevent this from happening at all costs!

Answer: Being the first player to start the day while "Master Spy" is at the front of the line, and not playing any action.

Cards like the "Master Spy" are what makes this game so much fun. The spy is a red noble worth +4 points, and after every action that is played he is immediately moved to the end of the line. This makes it exceptionally difficult to execute the spy. The only normal methods to execute him are either at the very start of the day (by not playing an action and simply taking him, assuming he is first in line!) or by waiting until he's the only one left in line.

There are other methods to execute the "Master Spy", of course, but they require very specific combinations of cards and nobles in line.

Answer: Purple

Blue, Green and Red have the "Church Support", "Civic Support" and "Military Support" cards (respectively) which increase the value of all nobles of that color by one point. Grey has "Indifferent Public" which increases the value of all Grey nobles to one point each (they are normally negative points). Purple has "Foreign Support" which works differently - it doesn't change the value of Purple nobles, but instead every time you execute a purple noble, you draw an extra action card. Naturally this is useful to play at the early game, before any purple nobles have been executed.

Answer: "Callous Guards"

Once "Callous Guards" has been played, action card that changes the order of the nobles in the line become illegal. This includes moving nobles about, removing a noble, adding a noble, etcetera. Whoever played the "Callous Guards" can decide to remove it from the table at any time.

This card effectively freezes the line as it is, forcing each player to take a noble in sequence. About 75% of the action cards become useless when this is in effect.

Answer: 2

The "Tax Collector" is a green noble with a value of +2. Most Green nobles have no special effects, and there aren't many of them either. Due to their relatively low value, a sneaky player can execute all of them and play the "Civic Support" card which increases their values by +1 each.

Answer: An opponent must choose 2 action cards from his or her hand and discard them.

Discarding cards from your opponent's hand is a good way to ensure that he or she doesn't mess with the order of the line, and so can't screw with your plans. At the same time, you should try to increase the number of cards in your hand so that you have a good variety of possibilities as the game progresses. Of course, if an opponent ever gets hold of a card called "Information Exchange", you may quickly find all your great cards in her hand, while her few lousy cards are suddenly in yours!

Answer: "Friend of the Queen"

"Let them Eat Cake" is the strong one here, because it can move the queen (and only the queen) to the front of the line from wherever she may be. "L'Idiot" can be used to push her forward two places, and so can "Majesty" (it only affects Purple nobles, which she is). Friend of the Queen is the odd one out, as it can move any noble up to two places backwards - not helpful in this case.

Answer: Yes

Normally, you are only allowed to play one action card during your turn. You can choose not to play any action cards, of course, and simply execute the first noble in line. However, the action card "Trip" is special - it moves any noble 1 space backwards in line, and then lets you play another action card. Since there are two "Trip" cards in the deck, the potential maximum amount of actions that can be played in one turn is 3.

Answer: "Hero of the People"

"Hero of the People" is a Grey noble worth -3 points, and is the least valuable noble in the game. Of course, the "Tragic Figure" can easily be worth even less (down to -7 points!) if you also have a lot of grey nobles in your score pile.