Kishkumen, the Game
Based on the open source party game, Two Rooms and a Boom by Tuesday Knight Games, I created a Book of Mormon version with Freemen versus Gadianton Robbers I am calling Kishkumen.
It is a social game with hidden roles and agendas. Divided randomly into 2 different rooms you must find your teammates, establish trust, and exchange hostages. The Freemen hope to save the Chief Judge while the Gadianton Robbers attempt to place Kishkumen in time for the assassination.
An Overview
6 to 30 players
7 to 20 minutes
ages 8+
How To Play
In Kishkumen there are 2 teams and 2 rooms. The 2 teams are the Blue Freemen and the Red Gadianton Robbers. The Freemen have a Chief Judge and the Gadianton Robbers have Kishkumen. Players are equally distributed between 2 separate playing areas (where you can’t hear each other) and are randomly handed a face-down character card.
Each room has a room leader selected by the players in that room. The room leader chooses “hostages” (players that will be sent to the other room at the end of each round).
The game consists of 3 timed rounds. Each round is shorter than the previous round. At the end of each round the hostages selected by the leaders are traded to the other room. (The number of rounds, length of each round, and the number of hostages traded each round can be modified based on number of players and how complicated the character cards you have chosen to play with are.) The game ends as the moment the last hostage exchange is made after the last round. If Kishkumen is in the same room as the Chief Judge the Gadianton Robbers win, otherwise the Freemen saved the Chief Judge and they win.
Your First Game
The Basic Setup
A basic game is best for newer and fewer players. Play in 3 rounds, with the 1st round taking 3 minutes, the 2nd round taking 2 minutes, and the 3rd round taking just 1 minute. I suggest not taking long to establish the room leader, usually just let the first person nominated take the job. Use something to distinguish the room leader, such as a hat, wrist band, etc. Don’t do any card sharing until the room leader is decided upon.
The Chief Judge card and the Kishkumen card must be dealt. Other than that you are free to choose which characters you want. I suggest starting with the Shy Guy and Fool. The Shy Guy gives some cover to the Chief Judge and Kishkumen, who may be a bit shy about sharing at first. And, the Fool ensures that at least one person is willing to share. In your very first game let the rest be normal Citizens and Robbers. Once the mechanics are understood you will quickly want to try other characters though.
Room Leader
The room leader may abdicate his position at anytime and assign his successor. This is usually done if he wants to be one of the exchanged hostages. If the chosen successor does not want the position, the the original room leader stays in his position. If the chosen successor accepts he may not abdicate until the next round.
A majority vote can also oust the current room leader. If a majority of players choose a different leader, that person becomes the leader immediately. This can happen anytime during the game.
Card Sharing
Unless your character card restricts sharing, you can share privately or publicly part or all of your card, as you choose. You can also lie (and some characters actually MUST lie) about your card.
Generally you will want to Color Share first to know if you can trust them. But it is your decision.
Hostage Exchange
At the end of each round, the room leader chooses the hostage, or hostages, to move to the other room. It is important that one room does not see who is being sent to them before their leader makes his choice. So, the game moderator needs to ensure hostages either stay put until both rooms are ready, so all can be sent simultaneously, or a hallway or other dividers need to be in place to keep the hostages hidden until the other room is ready.
Other Important Rules
- Stay in your own room or designated playing area. You cannot wander between rooms (unless your character has that power)
- There is NO communication between rooms.
- You cannot trade character cards. You can do anything else with it you want. You can hide it in your pocket, put it on your forehead, show only the color, lie about what your card is, etc. You just can’t trade it.
Winning
In a Basic Game, winning is simple. If you are a Freeman, if you can ensure the Chief Judge and Kishkumen are in different rooms when the game ends, at the moment the last hostages are exchanged, then you win! If you are a Gadianton Robber, if you can arrange Kishkumen to be in the same room as the Chief Judge when the game ends, then you win!
Advanced Games
If you play with many players and/or add complicated characters you will need to modify the number of rounds and/or the number of hostages. It is important the last round remains 1 minute and exchanges only 1 hostage though.
For an increased number of players I suggest the following general guidelines, although you should figure out what works best for your group.
| Players | 1st Round | 2nd Round | Last Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 to 10 players | 3 minutes 1 hostage |
2 minutes 1 hostage |
1 minutes 1 hostage |
| 11 to 21 players | 4 minutes 2 hostages |
3 minutes 1 hostage |
1 minutes 1 hostage |
| 22+ players | 5 minutes 3 hostages |
3 minutes 2 hostages |
1 minutes 1 hostage |
You can also add additional rounds for larger groups, although I don’t think it is usually necessary unless you add the special Helaman’s Servant and Gadianton cards.
Special Characters
Each character card should describe any limitations or powers of that character, but some need extra explanation.
The Gadianton and Helaman’s Servant cards should be played together. When used, Kishkumen and Gadianton must card share before last hostages are exchanged and the game ends. Otherwise Kishkumen’s plan to assassinate the Chief Judge will be flawed without Gadianton’s mastermind, and the assassination attempt will FAIL, and the Freemen win. If Kishkumen and Gadianton successfully meet up their plan can still be thwarted by Helaman’s Servant. If Helaman’s Servant and the Chief Judge card share AND they are in the same room as each other at the end of the game, then Kishkumen’s assassination attempt fails regardless, and the Freemen win. This adds some more strategy to who gets sent as hostages in the first rounds and requires the strategic placement of 3 people for the final round. It also encourages Kishkumen and the Chief Judge to participate more in card sharing.
The Gambler is useful when playing with an odd number of players. The Gambler is not on any team, but before the final hostages are exchanged he announces who he thinks will win. If he is correct, he also wins. If he is wrong, he loses.
Some character cards are useful to encourage more sharing. Characters like the Fool, the Agent the Dealer, and the Interrogator all force people to share. Sometimes groups are TOO sharing though and need to be encouraged to be more discreet. Cards like the Shy Guy, and the Coy Boy, and the Criminal all force or encourage less sharing. The ultimate card to discourage too much sharing is the Death card. If ANYONE shares with Death, that person wins immediately and both the Gadianton Robbers and Freemen all lose.
You will find that some characters work well with others and others don’t. For example, unless you have a very large group, the Fool is too easily found out to be the Fool and not another character CHOOSING to be discreet when an Agent or other forced-revealing character is in play. Also, generally you will want each team to have corresponding characters (so each team has an Agent, etc.), but you can also try making it fully random. Some tinkering may need to be involved to ensure an equilibrium though, and you will need to ensure the essential cards (Chief Judge and Kishkumen) are in play also.