Secret Hitler vs Avalon (Which Hidden-Role Game Should You Buy?)

By Eric Published October 3, 2026

Buy Avalon first. The Resistance: Avalon is shorter, nobody gets eliminated, and the King Arthur theme won’t cause an argument before the game starts. Buy Secret Hitler if your group wants a random policy deck to hide behind and presidential powers that shake up the table, and everyone is fine with the name.

Some links below are Amazon affiliate links — as an Amazon Associate, King Panda Games earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure.

Both are hidden-role games for 5 to 10 players in which a secret minority tries to fool the majority. We rate Secret Hitler 3/5 Bamboo and 4/5 Pandas, and Avalon 3/5 Bamboo and 5/5 Pandas. We’ve played Secret Hitler a few times. The comparison below is built from both games’ official rules and BoardGameGeek data.

Ratings and poll results come from the BoardGameGeek pages for Secret Hitler and The Resistance: Avalon, read on October 3, 2026.

The Core Difference Is Luck

Secret Hitler has a random deck and Avalon doesn’t. Almost everything else follows from that.

In Avalon, a team goes on a quest and each member secretly plays Success or Fail. Good players have to play Success. So if a Fail card turns up, someone on that team is evil, with no other explanation.

In Secret Hitler, the President draws three tiles from a deck of 6 Liberal and 11 Fascist policies. A Fascist policy can come from a lying President, a lying Chancellor, or just a bad draw. At the start of the game, an honest President draws three Fascist tiles about 24% of the time.

That makes Avalon the purer deduction game. It makes Secret Hitler the better game for players who need cover. A new player dealt a Fascist role has an excuse ready. A new player dealt an evil role in Avalon has to lie with nothing to hide behind.

Check The Resistance Avalon price on Amazon →

Nobody Sits Out in Avalon

Avalon has no player elimination. Every player votes and argues until the last quest.

Secret Hitler does. The fourth and fifth Fascist policies each make the President execute a player, and the official Secret Hitler rules say executed players “may not speak, vote, or run for office.” Up to two people can be out before the game ends.

If someone in your group hates sitting out, that settles it. Buy Avalon.

Avalon Has Merlin, Secret Hitler Has Powers

“Which one has more going on?” They add depth in different places.

Avalon gives the good team one informed player. Merlin knows who the evil players are from the start, but if the good team wins three quests, the evil team’s Assassin gets one guess at who Merlin is. Guess right and evil wins anyway. So Merlin has to steer the table without being obvious. Optional roles like Percival, Morgana, Mordred and Oberon change who knows what.

Secret Hitler’s Liberals know nothing. The depth comes from presidential powers that become available as Fascist policies pass:

• Investigate Loyalty. Look at one player’s party card, then tell the table whatever you like about it.
• Call Special Election. Choose the next presidential candidate.
• Policy Peek. Look at the top three tiles of the deck.
• Execution. Remove a player from the game.

Which powers appear depends on the player count. Our Secret Hitler rules guide has the full table.

Which Is Easier to Teach?

They’re about equal, and we give both 3/5 Bamboo. BoardGameGeek users rate their complexity at 1.73 and 1.74 out of 5.

Avalon’s basic loop is shorter to explain: propose a team, vote on it, play quest cards. The special roles are what take time, and you can leave most of them out for a first game.

Secret Hitler has more steps in a round, plus term limits and the rule that Hitler wins if elected Chancellor after three Fascist policies. It does have fewer roles to remember. Everyone is a Liberal, a Fascist or Hitler.

Length, Theme and Price

Avalon is the shorter game: 30 minutes on BoardGameGeek against 45 for Secret Hitler. Avalon also ends the same way every time, after three passed or three failed quests. Secret Hitler can end suddenly, the moment Hitler is elected or executed.

On theme, Avalon is knights and Arthurian legend, and it’s rated 14 and up on its publisher’s page. Secret Hitler has the name it has. Some groups will say no to it, and you should know which kind of group you have before you buy.

On price, Secret Hitler’s official store lists it at $50. Avalon’s publisher doesn’t show a list price on its site; one US game store lists it at $26.99. Check both on Amazon before deciding.

Check Secret Hitler price on Amazon →

So Which Should You Buy?

1. Your first hidden-role game: Avalon.
2. Anyone in the group would object to the theme: Avalon.
3. Someone hates being eliminated: Avalon.
4. New players who are nervous about lying: Secret Hitler, because the deck gives them cover.
5. A group that already owns Avalon and wants something with more twists: Secret Hitler.
6. Fewer than five players: neither. Try Coup, which plays two to six.

Owning both isn’t redundant. One is a pure deduction game and the other has luck and powers, so they don’t replace each other.

For the full picture on one of them, read our Secret Hitler review. For bigger groups in general, see our best games for groups list, where Avalon is one of our picks.