Off With Their Heads!

The French Revolution is a period where one can typically find little to laugh about, unless the mass slaughter of tens-of-thousands of people tickles your historical fancy or massages your deep-seeded hate for European aristocracy. The bloody period did much to shape modern world politics, abolished slavery in French-held territories and opened the door to the rise to Napoleon Bonaparte, but the popular symbol that lingers in most people’s minds is the guillotine.

Developed as an efficient and humane manner of execution, the guillotine was a perfect symbol for the Age of Enlightenment-fuelled violence of the French Revolution — a combination of vicious violence and modern invention. Executions of King Louis XVI, Queen Marie Antoinette and countless other nobles and members of the ruling class were public events during the Reign of Terror of the Revolutionary period. Ironically, Maximilien Robespierre, one of the architects of the Reign of Terror would also meet his death at the guillotine when public sentiment turned against the violence of the era. Beyond the French Revolution, the guillotine would remain a prominent mode of execution for prisoners worldwide and a mode of terror for governments such as the German Third Reich well into the late 20th-century.

In Guillotine, you will take on the role of rival executioners competing for the public's favor during the French Revolution.The mechanics mirror the chaotic, unpredictable nature of the historical Reign of Terror (1793–1794). During this period, the political winds shifted so violently that a faction leader could go from directing the executions to being executed themselves the very next day. The game captures this through "Action" cards that represent bribes, shifting crowd moods, and sudden bureaucratic interventions that arbitrarily change who is next on the chopping block.

1. What did the game suggest about the relationship between power and survival?

2. How did the game demonstrate that people can manipulate a system without changing the rules themselves?

3. What was one important difference between the game and the real French Revolution?

4. Why did the Reign of Terror eventually turn against people who had supported the Revolution?
Final Question

5. How can a revolution that begins by demanding liberty and equality end up restricting people's freedom?