Avalon

A practical, player-focused breakdown of Avalon’s mechanics, strategies, and player experiences

Avalon is a social deduction game that pits loyal players against hidden adversaries in a battle of trust, bluffing, and deduction. This guide dives into Avalon’s core mechanics, role interactions, setup, and winning strategies while sharing personal anecdotes and practical tips to help you play with confidence. Whether you’re a new player trying to understand who does what or an experienced player honing bluffing and deduction skills, this article gives you actionable advice and memorable examples from real game nights.

How Avalon Works: Setup, Roles, and Turn Flow

Ready to bring the court of Camelot to your table? 🏰✨ This isn’t just a game of chance—it’s a thrilling battle of wits where every whisper and glance matters. Before the accusations start flying and the sly smirks appear, you need a rock-solid grasp of the fundamentals. Think of this as your royal decree on how to play Avalon, from the initial Avalon setup to the final, nerve-wracking guess. Let’s get your first game started! 🎯

Game setup and materials

Getting your group into the world of Arthurian legend is delightfully simple. You don’t need a round table, just a regular one and the game’s components. For your Avalon setup, you’ll need:

• The Role Cards: These are the heart of the game. You have Loyal Servants of Arthur (good), Minions of Mordred (evil), and the special characters like Merlin.
• Five Mission Cards: One for each of the five missions you’ll attempt. They have a “Success” (👍) side and a “Fail” (👎) side.
• Voting Tokens: A set of “Approve” (✅) and “Reject” (❌) tokens for each player.
• The Trackers: The Quest Track (showing which mission is next and how many people go on it) and the Team Failure Track (recording how many proposed teams have been voted down).

First, decide on your Avalon player counts. The game is designed for 5 to 10 people, and each count changes the dynamics. You’ll choose your roles based on this number. Shuffle the corresponding role cards and deal one face-down to each player. Everyone looks at their card in total secrecy—this is the only time you get to see it! Then, all role cards are returned face-down to the center. This moment, where everyone knows their own secret but no one else’s, is where the magic begins. ✨

To make your Avalon setup quick and foolproof, here’s a trusted guide for which roles to include. I strongly recommend starting with just Merlin and the Assassin for your first few games to learn the core Avalon rules.

🛡️ Pro Tip: Designate a “rule keeper” for the first game—someone who can glance at the guide if a question comes up. This keeps the flow going and avoids frantic page-flipping!

Core roles and their abilities (including special identities)

Understanding the Avalon roles is understanding the game itself. Everyone is either a Loyal Servant of Arthur fighting for justice, or a Minion of Mordred working to sabotage the kingdom. The special roles add delicious layers of deduction and danger.

• Loyal Servants of Arthur: Your goal is simple: get three missions to succeed. You have no special nighttime knowledge. Your power is in your vote, your logic, and your trust. 🤝
• Minions of Mordred: Your goal is to see three missions fail. You know each other from the start! During the opening “eyes closed” phase, you get to meet your fellow schemers. This hidden alliance is your greatest weapon.
• Merlin: The most pivotal of all Avalon roles. The Merlin role Avalon players take on is a powerful one: you see all the Minions of Mordred at the start. But you must guide the good team subtly, because if you’re too obvious…
• Assassin: This is the foil to Merlin. The Assassin Avalon players control the game’s final twist. If the good team gets three successful missions, the Assassin gets one guess to identify Merlin. If they’re correct, evil steals victory from the jaws of defeat! 🔪
• Optional Roles (to add later):
  • Percival: A loyal servant who sees Merlin (but doesn’t know which wise figure is truly Merlin if there are multiple).
  • Morgana: An evil player who appears to Percival as Merlin, creating a brilliant identity crisis.
  • Mordred: An evil player unknown to Merlin, making the seer’s job much harder.

The dance between Merlin and the Assassin defines the entire experience. Merlin must help without being caught, and the Assassin must listen to every conversation to hunt their prey.

Round structure: proposing, voting, and resolving missions

Now, let’s walk through the turn flow. A round in Avalon is a cycle of diplomacy, suspicion, and secret votes. This is the practical heart of the Avalon rules.

1. The Leader and Team Proposal
The player to the left of the previous leader becomes the new Leader. I recommend a simple clockwise rotation for your first game—it’s the fairest Avalon setup for leadership. The Leader must propose a team to go on the current mission. The number of players required is shown on the Quest Track (e.g., for Mission 1 with 7 players, the Leader chooses 2 people to join them). They announce it to the table: “For this quest, I choose myself and Alex and Sam.”

2. The Group Vote
Here’s where the politics ignite! 🗳️ Every player, including those not on the team, secretly votes to Approve or Reject the proposed team using their voting tokens. This vote is not about whether you trust the mission to succeed—it’s about whether you trust this team to be sent. If the majority approves, the team is locked in and proceeds to the mission. If the majority rejects, the leadership passes left, the Team Failure Track advances by one, and the new Leader proposes a different team. If five teams in a row are rejected, evil wins instantly—so the pressure is on!

3. Mission Execution
Once a team is approved, the real secrets emerge. Each member of the chosen mission team gets one Success and one Fail card. They secretly choose one and pass them all, face-down, to the Leader. The Leader shuffles them and reveals them.

• For missions 1, 2, 3, and 5 (in a standard 7-player game): Only one Fail card is needed for the entire mission to fail. The evil players are trying to slip that one in unnoticed.
• For mission 4 (with 7 players): It takes two Fail cards to sink the mission, making it a critical and often tricky round for the adversaries.

The results are recorded, and the game moves to the next mission marker. This cycle repeats until one side has three mission results in their favor.

4. The Assassination Phase
If the Loyal Servants secure three successful missions, the game isn’t over! The Assassin Avalon player now activates. The evil team confers in secret (often just with nods and glances) before the Assassin points to one player and declares, “That is Merlin.” If they are correct, evil wins a stunning last-minute victory. This is why understanding the Merlin role Avalon is about survival, not just information.

👑 Keeping it Secret & Smooth: When passing mission votes, have everyone close their eyes and extend a fist. The Leader taps each fist, and players deliver their card on the tap. This prevents any sneaky peeking or card-swapping sounds!

A Moment at the Table: I’ll never forget my friend Clara, a first-time player dealt a Minion card. On the crucial third mission, she was on the team. The votes came in: two Successes and her one Fail. The mission failed. All eyes turned to the three of them. With perfect, calm conviction, she looked at the other two and said, “Well, one of you is a very good liar.” The table exploded into chaos, suspicion flew everywhere, and the good team never recovered. Evil won because of that flawless, brave bluff. It was a masterpiece! 🎭

Mastering this flow—the proposal, the public vote, the secret mission vote, and the tense finale—is your key to unlocking countless nights of deduction and drama. Remember, how to play Avalon isn’t just about knowing the steps; it’s about reading the room, weaving a story, and trusting your gut (even when it’s probably lying to you). Now gather your friends, deal those cards, and let the quest begin

Avalon rewards careful observation, consistent storytelling, and smart risk-taking; by mastering setup, learning role interactions, and practicing targeted drills you’ll become a more confident player. Use the recommended setups and strategies in this guide to tailor games to your group’s experience, keep sessions fun, and steadily improve. If you enjoyed these tips, try running a beginner-friendly session with the simplified role list suggested earlier and share your favorite table moment with other players.