2022Jim DiCamillo, Patrick Marino
- Videos
- 53
- Creators
- 42
2 - 4 players45 - 60 minLight weight

2026Joeri Hessels, Wouter Moons
Mostly how-to-play and reviews. Council of Serpents is covered on BoardGameVideo.com by 3 reviews, 5 how-to-play guides, 1 recorded sessions, and 1 unboxings.
From BoardGameGeek
Council of Serpents is a manipulative tug-of-war game with hidden objectives. Three noble Houses are vying for power, but you are not one of them... You are a member of the Council of Serpents, and manipulate these Houses to achieve your own ambitions. You scheme to orchestrate the triumph or collapse of one of these great Houses by manipulating their three attributes; the strength of their army, the amount of gold in their coffers and their popularity with the people. If one of these attributes ever reaches the top of its track, the game is immediately over, and that House triumphs. Whereas if an attribute reaches zero, the game is also immediately over, and that House collapses. You achieve this by playing Influence cards to cause Conflicts, escalate Conflicts into Wars, prepare for these Wars by playing facedown Intrigue cards, make Peace and orchestrate support from powerful Guilds. After playing an Influence card, you enact the top card of the timetrack, often causing the Houses themselves to act. When the timetrack runs out of cards you collectively build it anew, shaping the plans of the Houses for the turns to come. -description from the publisher
Council of Serpents has 10 videos from 9 creators: 3 reviews, 5 how-to-play guides, 1 playthrough and 1 unboxing. They date from June to October 2026.
To learn the rules, start with "Council of Serpents - How to Play in 7 minutes - BoardgameNinja - Explainer" by BoardgameNinja, which runs 7 min.
For an opinion before you buy, start with "The Hungry Gamer's Council of Serpents Mini Preview" by Hungry Gamer. 3 creators have reviewed it. To see it played, watch "Council of Serpents (Essen 2026)" by Ready Steady Play.
If you like it, try Mountains out of Molehills, Tiny Epic Vikings, The Rocketeer: Fate of the Future or Hidden Leaders, which share several of its mechanics. It appears in convention videos from Spiel Essen 2026.
8 of 9
2022Jim DiCamillo, Patrick Marino
2 - 4 players45 - 60 minLight weight
2023Scott Almes
1 - 4 players45 - 60 minMedium weight
2021Matt Christianson, Prospero Hall, Brian Kirk
2 players45 minMedium weight
2022Andreas Müller, Markus Müller (II), Raphael Stocker
2 - 6 players20 - 40 minLight weight
From BoardGameGeek:
Council of Serpents is a manipulative tug-of-war game with hidden objectives. Three noble Houses are vying for power, but you are not one of them... You are a member of the Council of Serpents, and manipulate these Houses to achieve your own ambitions. You scheme to orchestrate the triumph or collapse of one of these great Houses by manipulating their three attributes; the strength of their army, the amount of gold in their coffers and their popularity with the people. If one of these attributes ever reaches the top of its track, the game is immediately over, and that House triumphs. Whereas if an attribute reaches zero, the game is also immediately over, and that House collapses. You achieve this by playing Influence cards to cause Conflicts, escalate Conflicts into Wars, prepare for these Wars by playing facedown Intrigue cards, make Peace and orchestrate support from powerful Guilds. After playing an Influence card, you enact the top card of the timetrack, often causing the Houses themselves to act. When the timetrack runs out of cards you collectively build it anew, shaping the plans of the Houses for the turns to come. -description from the publisher
Designers
Joeri Hessels, Wouter Moons
Artist
Joost Das
Publisher
Wulfhorn Games
Categories
Mechanics