Some games allow for some vicious play where one player can really harm or even eliminate another players strategies or chance at victory. Then there are games that have very little strategy, they are just plain ol' vicious. They are almost like their own little subgenre: backstabbing games. The three I've played are Nicht Die Bohne!, Rette Sich Wer Kann, and this little game, Intrige. You either like or hate these kinds of games. If you enjoy chances to K.O. each other, and don't carry a grudge very easily, then you may enjoy this, but take it personally and it could sour your whole game night.

Play is not too complicated as players have little mats in front of them depicting an estate that has five paying positions up for grabs. Players also have 10 disks representing relatives looking for work, 2 each in five different professions. All players are doing on their turn: collecting money for any of their relatives currently in salaried positions at other players' manors, taking two of their own relatives and sending them to other players' estates, and then trying to get jobs for their relatives by bribing other players.

The salaried positions are $10k, $20k, $30k, $50k, and $100k. Only one chip can occupy a positions so positions are at a premium, and obviously the $100k space is a dandy. If I accept a certain profession into a salary range (say, a knight into the $30k slot) I can only ever put other players' knights in the $30k slot. Where the game gets really fun is that players will be trying to oust each other from salaried positions in the various estates. So Al has a knight in my $30k, then Bob sends a knight to me. Either Al's knights stays, or Bob's knight displaces Al's. Bob bribes me first with cash (and future consideration?) then Al defends with a bribe. I keep ALL the money and decide who gets the position. Nasty, nasty little game.

It's not much more complicated than that and the game can be a bit player-chaotic, so this game definitely falls into the play-to-have-fun camp. And if you can't fun playing this type of game, you will be miserable for the next 45-minutes. I actually enjoy playing this game quite a bit, but give it only 3 stars because it is very chaotic, and though it says 3-5 players, it is really only a 5-player game, in my opinion. The graphics are workable if a bit drab (and hard to tell apart with two of the colors) but pulling this out once in a while with 5 people can be a lot of fun.