The Council of Colbridge

Description from the designer:

On the surface, Colbridge is a thriving medieval city, ruled over by a council of three wise nobles. But beneath the calm façade the council is locked in a deadly battle for mastery. Your reputation for resourcefulness has seen you hired to help elevate one of the councilors by acts of charity, bribery, or violence. The only problem is that the agent who hired you was recently found stabbed under a hedge, and hadn't yet got around to mentioning which of the three councilors is paying you. Can you use your wits to deduce who your patron is and elevate him or her to rule the city?

The Council of Colbridge is based on a unique combination of imperfect information, deduction and constrained action. Each player knows the patron of at least one other player, but not their own. Each turn players select actions (charity, bribery or violence) and how these balance with the previous actions of the other players determines which councillor advances in power. By watching and analysing the actions of others, players may deduce who their patron is and push them to power. But what if someone was bluffing? The resulting atmosphere of calculation and suspicion is reminiscent of a political thriller.