Turncoats is a competitive game for 2-5 players, where three factions are at war. The players take on the role of Aspirants and Interlopers, not obviously tied to any one group. Instead, they must manage their loyalties, represented by stones in their hand that they keep hidden from everyone else. During the game, players spend stones from their hand to take actions with the matching faction. However, they need to keep a tight eye on their remaining ties, as at the end of the game, the winning faction will choose the player with the most stones remaining in their hand as the new ruler.