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Intrigue is a negotiation game by Stefan Dorra, recently reprinted by Amigo and Mayfair Games.
Players: 3-5
Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: 2 (of 10)
The Components
 Intrigue comes with:
- 5 palaces
- 1 island
- 40 scholars
- money
- 1 rulebook
Palaces: Each of the five palaces is actually made out of four cards, which you butt together. There's one for each salary within a castle ($1,000, $3,000, $6,000, and $10,000). It's altogether not the most elegant solution, but laying out the palaces in this manner allows the game to be distributed as an inexpensive card game.
The cards are medium weight and glossy, but not textured. Each set of cards is color coordinated (green, yellow, red, blue, or purple) and also features its own unique castle or manor house, which is a nice touch.
Island: A linen-textured cardboard island, used to hold banished scholars. It's not really large enough for all the scholars who'll end up here by the end of the game, but does act as a focal point.
Scholars: 40 scholars, 8 each in the 5 player colors. Each one shows one of four professions (scientist, clerk, priest, doctor) with relatively simple iconography. They're printed on linen-textured cardboard
Money: Flimsy paper money in three denominations (1,000, 5,000, or 10,000) and also three colors to help differentiate them. On the plus side there's a large stack of this money: plenty for the game without really having to worry about changing out very often. On the minus side, as with most paper money, it really takes a beating when you play.
Rulebook: A 12-page full-color rulebook. I found the length of the rulebook slightly intimidating, which is ironic because this is a really simple game. The rules are padded out by lots of extensive examples, some pictures, and a rules summary--all good things.
Box & Tray: This game isn't a very good fit for the small cardgame format that Amigo and Mayfair produced it as. In the box there's a card-sized tray, and the cards and the money fit into it fine, but you have to wedge the island in and you have to very carefully stack the scholars to make sure there's enough room.
Overall the components run the gamut from fair to good. The tokens are relatively plain while the cards are attractive. I generally give Intrigue an average "3" out of "5" for Style.
The Gameplay
The object of Intrigue is to earn the most money by the end of the game. This is done through careful negotiation ... and careful backstabbing.
Setup: Each player chooses a color and takes the four-part castle and the eight scholars in that color. Each player also takes $32,000 starting cash (which is cleverly two of each bill).
A start player is selected.
Order of Play: On his turn a player:
- Collects Salaries
- Considers Applications
- Sends out Scholars
Collect Salaries: Eventually your scholars will (hopefully) end up in the palaces of other players, each one located on a $1,000, $3,000, $6,000, or $10,000 space. At the start of your turn you will collect the salary for each of these scholars.
Clearly this won't happen on the first turn.
Consider Applications: Other players will place their scholars in front of your palace in order to petition for positions at your court. Each of these scholars will be of one of four types: scientist, doctor, priest, and clerk. On your turn you must consider what to do with each scholar that's been sent to you.
Some scholars will be uncontested. This means that there is no other scholar of the same type either currently at your palace or applying for a position. In this case the petitioning player talks with you about what salary he'd like, and pays you a bribe of at least $1,000. You then place the scholar on an open position in your palace (e.g., not somewhere where there's already a scholar).
Next you resolve external conflicts. This is when more than one scholar of the same type is applying at your palace at the same time, but you don't have anyone currently in that position. Each player explains why you should take his application and bribes you at least $1,000. You then choose one of the scholars, place it in an open position in your palace, and banish the other contestants for the same position to the Island of Misfit Scholars.
Last you resolve internal conflicts. This is when you have one or more scholars applying for a position and you already have a scholar of that type serving at your court. Each player, starting with the "defending" player (who currently has the position) explains why you should take them, and bribes you at least $1,000. You then choose one of the scholars to keep, possibly the scholar currently in the position or possibly one of the "new" applicants, and he takes the same position (and salary) that you'd previously applied to that type of scholar (e.g., one you decide to give a doctor a $6,000 salary at your palace, doctors will always take the $6,000 position at your palace, if you keep that original doctor or not). Everyone else goes to the Island of Misfit Scholars.
Send Out Scholars: You finish up your turn by choosing two of your scholars and sending them to other palaces, to apply for positions.
Ending the Game: The game is played out in five rounds of play: four during which scholars are sent out, and a fifth during which any final applications are considered. After the last round of play a final round of income is given to all the players. Then the player with the most money wins.
Relationships to Other Games
Intrigue is a hard-ball negotiation game that's also an exercise in pure logistics.
As a negotiation game, Intrigue (1994 & 2005) fits in with many classics, such as Traders of Genoa (2001) and Quo Vadis? (1999). However, unlike those games Intrigue really actively suggests backstabbing, and thus could be nearer in feel to A Game of Thrones (2003) or classic Diplomacy (1959). Like them, Intrigue should be labelled "Don't play this game with your friends".
Intrigue is logistical by the fact that you're trying to figure out how to spend money to make money. However this gameplay is largely subsumed by the negotiation element which determines whether any expenditure is successful or not.
Intrigue is also, notably, the first game produced by Mayfair in conjunction with Amigo. Amigo has done a lot of good games over the years, and I'm excited to see an American company picking up more of their output.
The Game Design
Intrigue is overall a pretty simple freeform negotiation game. The game introduces a conflict (which position to give a scholar? which scholar to take of several?), then outlines a method for negotiating that conflict. It'd be tempting to say there isn't much in the way of mechanics here.
However, what's impressive about Intrigue is how well it encourages people to cheat and backstab in these negotiations. Frankly, I think that's a hard trick to pull off, because most people don't want to, but Intrigue manages it.
Intrigue encourages players to choose between multiple options, and requires people to speak in a specific order. This insures that the selecting player will have a hard choice, and also insures that the first negotiators don't have a chance to respond, when their "deal" is suddenly undercut by the next player up. By putting the defender first in "internal conflicts", Intrigue thus puts them at this precise disadvantage, and so makes it more likely that a player will switch sides, cutting out his previous partner for a new one.
Me, I'm one of those people who doesn't like to backstab, and as such I doubt I'm going to play Intrigue again when I'm done reviewing it. However, for anyone who doesn't mind such a game, this one does an excellent job of encouraging deceitful gameplay.
There's not much else to say about the gameplay, because the mechanics are pretty simple. The game can be pretty chaotic, because victory can swing a lot based on the success of a single negotiation. I also think the way the rounds are structured, with the game's slow spindown at the end, as the last scholars are accepted or rejected, can be a bit confusing for first-time players.
However, overall Intrigue is an excellent, light example of pure negotiation gameplay. I give it a solid "4" out of "5" for Substance for those who like games of this sort.
Conclusion
Intrigue is a fine game of negotiation--a "fun version of Diplomacy" to paraphrase one of the players in my game. It's light, it plays fast, and it actively encourages backstabbing and doubledealing. If you like this sort of gameplay, Intrigue should without a doubt be in your collection.
Just don't play it with your friends.
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