Introduction
Paranoia has driven the king to madness. Conspirators hide among his closest advisers and he will take no chances. By order of the king, his entire court is condemned to death!
But the conspirators are cunning! Saboteurs have smuggled pardons and other powerful contraband into the gallows. Should the crown be seen executing a pardoned nobleman, the kingdom would descend into violent rebellion. Perfect cover for the mutineers to seize power!
Among the prisoners, some remain loyal to the king, and will share in the riches of their deceased counterparts. But their own heads are on the line too! Just like the saboteurs, they will need to bargain, deceive, and lie to save themselves!
The fate of the realm rests in the ever-faithful though greedy hands of the Executioner! Each execution will bring him greater wealth and reward but one fatal mistake could doom the crown itself. He must decide carefully which prisoners deserve the axe and which must be spared or else he might find his own head rolling at the feet of a usurper-king!
OBJECTIVE
The Executioner must execute as many players as possible by deducing what items players have and avoiding players with powerful items. Especially pardons.
Among the prisoners are Loyalists who must survive, potentially lying to do so, while also helping the Executioner avoid killing players with pardons. Among them, the Princess, must be spared or everyone will suffer the King’s wrath!
Saboteurs are seeking to sabotage the kings reputation by getting a prisoner with a pardon (or the Princess) executed, sullying the crown’s reputation and justifying rebellion!
Finally, the Jester is a sad clown seeking the simple mercy of death!
1. SETUP
The first game you play, give each player 1 guide card, 2 coins & 1 gem. Guide cards can be looked at any time, containing useful information about roles and items.
1 card is unique - the Executioner. Attach it to the card stand and give it to the player who has the most experience playing social deduction games! All other players are prisoners!
Separate the remaining cards into 3 decks according to card backs: Gallows, Roles, and Items. Shuffle each deck.
Give the Gallows deck to the Executioner.
Draw role cards = number of players.
Draw item cards = number of players.
Lay these cards out, face up, so everyone can see them. These are the active cards this game. There should be at least 1 Pardon among the items.
If not, replace the last drawn item card with a Pardon from the deck.
In smaller groups, impossible games can occur. There should always also be at least 1 of the following items: A Nice Hat, Golden Chalice, Cheese, Dummy.
If there is not, the Executioner may remove an item of their choice and redraw until one of these items appears.
Shuffle role and item cards separately and distribute 1 item and 1 role randomly to players. The Executioner does not receive any item or role card.
The extra role card is discarded and the extra item card is placed face-down at the centre of the table - this is the “centre card”.
Prisoners are allowed to look at their role card for the rest of the game; it cannot be switched at any point.
Once prisoners have noted their item card, it is placed face down in front of them and cannot be viewed again.
2. ACTION
During this phase, the Executioner must deduce what cards prisoners have by observing players’ behaviour. They may stop the game any time to conduct ruthless interrogations. Loyalists should help the executioner but claim to have powerful items (such as pardons) to avoid execution. Saboteurs must try to get players they think have a pardon, or the princess, executed! Just remember, players are always allowed to lie!
1. Draw a Gallows Card: The Executioner should draw this card and display it to all players. This card will trigger a special event which happens immediately unless stated otherwise.
Note: If prompted to “select” a player, the Executioner is always excluded from selection.
2. Take an Action: The Executioner chooses the order in which all prisoners either:
• Switch any 2 item cards.
• Peek at any item card.
Clarifications:
Players can switch their own item or 2 items which are not their own.
Players can peek/switch the centre card.
Players can peek at their own item.
Players cannot look at the item cards they switch, which remain face down.
3. Draw another Gallows Card: Once all prisoners have taken an action, the Executioner draws and reveals a second Gallows card triggering another special event or rule.
EXAMPLE
After revealing the first Gallows card, the Executioner chooses player 1 to take an action. Player 1 switches their item with player 2 without looking at their new card. The executioner next chooses player 2, who peaks at their new card and claims it’s a pardon. Finally, Player 3 switches with Player 2.
Player 1 does not know what item they have. Player 3 thinks they have a pardon. Player 2 does not know what item they have, but knows player 1's card. A 2nd gallows card allows Player 1 to take an additional action. Player 1 chooses to switch their item with the centre card. Player 1, nor anyone at the table, knows what card it is but Player 2 knows the centre card - their original card.
3. EXECUTION
The executioner must now execute at least 1 prisoner! They can stop executing players at any time but more executions = more reward! But beware, If a player with a Pardon or Princess is killed (via execution or item), the game ends immediately in a Saboteur victory and the Executioner loses -1 crown. Sometimes, players survive executions. Survivors cannot be executed again (they escaped!).
An execution is only complete with an “execution gesture”: karate chopping an open palm - like the falling of a guillotine on a neck!
Dead players lose -1 crown and remain quiet until the game end. They reveal only their item unless they were the Princess/ Jester who show their role too.
EXAMPLE 1
The executioner executes a player, chopping their hand in their direction. They reveal they were not the Jester or Princess, and that they had a nice hat, losing -1 crown. The executioner executes a second player, they reveal they were the Jester, and steal a crown (1 coin) from each player. The Executioner could stop and earn 1 crown, but instead executes a third player. They reveal they had a pardon. The game ends and all living saboteurs receive 3 crowns (1 gem). The executioner loses -1 crown, and the surviving loyalists are left with nothing!
EXAMPLE 2
The Executioner decides to execute player 1, who has a shield allowing them to execute a player beside them instead. They execute Player 2, who had a dummy. This item counts as a dead player, despite Player 2's survival. The Executioner decides to stop executing players, remembering that there are 2 pardons in the game, hence one must be in the middle and the second must be with player 3. Players 1 and 2 were both Loyalists so they earn 1 crown for 1 successful “dead player”. The Executioner also earns 1 crown. Player 3, a saboteur, earns nothing.
4. Rewards
Once the executioner is happy with their number of executions or has executed a player with a Pardon or Princess, the game ends and rewards are distributed.
TREASURY: Gems and coins that are not in play are stored in the “treasury”. This is a pile of treasure anywhere which players can give or take components from. Unless stated otherwise, rewards are always taken from the treasury and players who lose money from dying give their losses to the treasury.
Rewards:
Note: Dead players: includes players who have died from executions & items!
• Executioner: Receive +1 crown for each dead player. Lose -1 crown if a player with a Pardon/Princess dies.
The Jester does not count as a dead player.
• Loyalist/Princess: If you survive, receive the same reward as the executioner: +1 crown/dead player. 0 if a Player with a Pardon/Princess dies.
• Saboteurs: If you survive, gain +3 crowns if a player with a Pardon or the Princess dies.
• Jester: Die! Immediately steal +1 crown from each player (including the Executioner) if you die.
If a player has 0 crowns, take a crown from the treasury instead.
5. play again
Once the game has ended, players should keep their crowns and gems, whether they’ve lost crowns or gained them. The Executioner chooses their successor, who takes the Executioner card.
Play again as many times as you like and then count who won the most crowns! They are the overall winner. We suggest letting everyone play as the executioner once or play until the treasury is empty! Or just play however long feels right. We’re not the boss of you!
Q&A
This page is updated regularly. If you have a question or need a rule clarification, feel free to email us: loosejawgames@gmail.com! We'll try to get back to you ASAP and, if appropriate, we'll add your question/clarification to the Q&A.
• What happens if the Jester dies with a Pardon? If the Jester dies with a pardon, the Jester and Saboteurs both win. The Jester steals 1 coin from each player BEFORE the Saboteurs win and take their prize. That means if a saboteur has 0 coins, the Jester would take a coin from the Treasury and then the saboteur would receive their full prize of 3 crowns.
• What happens if we tie/draw? If you get to the end of the game, and two or more players have the same amount of money, you both win! Good for both of you, you're really good at killing and deceiving your friends... If that's not satisfying enough, each of you play once more as the Executioner and then count again! If you don't want to play any more times, you really hurt our feelings, good job! Now I have to go console the game designer.
• What happens if a player dies from the Parasite? If a player dies from the parasite, they count as a dead player at the end of the game, and the Executioner receives 1 crown for their death! If the executioner executes them, the player survives, can collect rewards, and the executioner receives nothing for their execution! The jester gets to steal 1 crown from each player if they die from the parasite. If a player has a mimic, they can still die from the parasite if it's the centre card.
• How does the Dummy work? If a player with a Dummy is executed, the executioner receives a crown for their death, like a normal, successful execution, but the executed player can still collect rewards (including +1 for their own execution if they're a loyalist). If the princess is executed with a dummy, the saboteurs do not win (because she's alive!).
• How does the Shield work? If a player with a shield is executed, that player (not the Executioner) must execute a player to their left or right. If the player is a saboteur, they ideally will kill the player they most likely think has a pardon or is a princess. If they are a loyalist, they will choose a player they most likely think doesn't have a pardon and is not the princess.
• What if the Princess dies from a parasite? If the Princess dies from a parasite, saboteurs win, the same as if she were executed.
• How does the Cheese work? If the Jester is executed with the cheese, the executioner receives 1 crown, as though the Jester is a regular player. But if the Jester survives, he gets the regular reward for a Loyalist. An optional rule variation instead: "If the Jester has the Cheese, he may be executed like a regular player but if the Jester survives with the cheese, he steals 2 crowns from each player!" This was our original idea for the cheese but it completely broke the game. So have fun with that!
• I received an Item card through a Gallows Card event; can I look at it?
Players can never look at a card they receive unless directly instructed to by a Gallows card or through a peak action. Rule of thumb: unless a card says you can peak, I can't.
• How does the Mimic Work? The Mimic is best thought of as a player possessing the centre card. If the centre card is a pardon, the player with the mimic has a pardon. If that player is executed, the saboteurs win. If the centre card was a parasite, that player will die from the parasite unless they get executed.
• We ran out of coins and gems. What do we do? Wow! Running out of money is rare! We put a lot of gems in that game box. But if you do run out of money, the game ends, and whoever has the most money wins. If you REALLY don't want the game to end, maybe use tokens from another games to represent "5 crowns". Or use random items from your pocket (like the 9 pieces of 8 in Pirates of the Caribbean). Or use real money and start cutting off fingers (please don't. We don't condone gambling or physical harm, don't sue us - our legal team).
Credits
Game Designer: Oscar Kelly
Game Designer: James Middleton
Illustrator: Johnny Greenteeth
TikTok Marketing: Sara Axelsson
Primary Game Testers: Sara Axelsson, Kelly Ta, Sean Wade, James Sharkey, Aoife Supple, Delia Manser, Johan Sultan Sjöqvist, & Olof Sultan Sjöqvist.
There are many more who volunteered their time as game testers and for that we are incredibly grateful.
