Swan Lake

Overview

Swan Lake is a game of intrigue and strategy where players take on secret roles as swans. Most players are White Swans competing to become the Swan Queen, but one is secretly a Black Swan seeking power through hidden means. The White Swans must uncover the Black Swan's identity to prevent them from winning, while the Black Swan aims to deceive the group and claim victory. 

This game is based on the famous ballet play named the same, and has a lot of similarities with the original story. In the original Swan Lake, Odette, a girl who has been transformed into a White Swan due to the curse of evil Rothbart, has to win the love of the prince in order to break the spell and become a woman again. Similarly to the game, in the ballet there’s a Black Swan, Odile, who, disguised as a White Swan, tries to steal the prince from Odette. 

In this table top game, either the aesthetic and the names and functions of the different cards and mechanics are based in the original Swan Lake. 

Target audience: Age +10 players. 

Estimated duration: 15-20 minutes.

Number of players: 4-8 players

Topic: Deception, role playing, collecting

Swan Lake: Quick Play Instructions

Goal

    White Swans: Collect 4 White Feathers

    Black Swan: Collect 4 Black Feathers

Setup

Deal Roles: Shuffle and give 1 secret Character Card to each player. If the players are les   than six, deal only one black swan card.

    Prepare Deck: Shuffle Feather and Action Cards into one pile.

    Start Hands: Deal 3 cards to each player.

How to Play

Each Turn:

    Play or Discard:

        Use an Action Card

        or discard 1 card facing down

        Max Hand: 5 cards. Discard extras.

    Draw a Card: Take one from the deck.

    Check winner: if some swan got 4 feathers of its color, that player wins.

    Action Cards:

        Odile’s Deception: Steal a random card; keep or return it.

        Unmasking Waltz: Pick a player—they reveal & discard 1 card.

        White or Black Feather: Acts as either Feather type.

        Foresight of the Lake: Peek at the top 3 cards; rearrange them.

        Rothbart’s Greed: Take 2 turns in a row.

        Odette’s Reflection: Copy the last Action Card.

        Finale Act: Swap your whole hand with another player.

        Accuse: Play an Accusation Card to guess the Black Swan.

         Right? Black Swan loses, she dies

        Wrong? You die and lose all the cards

Winning

    White Swans Win: 4 White Feathers collected

    Black Swan Wins: 4 Black Feathers collected

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