For fans of Untouchables and Boardwalk Empire here’s a board game for you – become a bootlegger in the prohibition era. Brought to you by Mayday Games and first featured on Kickstarter. It’s Jan 1921, one year on from prohibition taking place and no immediate sign of the 18th Amendment going away. However the “manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors” has done nothing to reduce the demand for it. Here’s where you come in to provide the public what they want whilst dodging the law. Local law enforcement maybe ok in looking the other way, with a bit of incentive, but watch out for Elliot Ness G-Men they’re a determined bunch! There’s certainly plenty to play for with the stakes very high in the amount money available to be earned.
Players take on the role of enterprising organised crime bosses seeking to make a name for themselves in the illegal alcohol trade – moonshine. Deceit, lies, and alliances of convenience are the norm as you attempt to control distribution through money and corruption by muscling in on the competition, paying off the local law authorities, building underground speakeasies to sell your moonshine, and shipping trucks of it.
Each player has their own gangster army, each one in different colours, with the gangsters shown as you would expect in a suit, tie and tommy gun. To kick off the game the players play “muscle” cards, where the one who spends the most on this gets to play first. You can place your gangsters on speakeasies (where you sell your liquor). As you play the game you can acquire more gangsters to take control of a speakeasy, as whoever has control takes the profits. You can upgrade existing operations for example to improve stills production of moonshine. You can acquire trucks to ship more of the moonshine. All of this will require careful management to maximise your profits!
You’re able to sell off over produced moonshine, where you’re not able to transport it, to other players. This is particularly useful to players that have control over a speakeasy as they can then sell it off to their local customers. So it will be a balancing act between yourselves making money and your opponents but not too much to outdo you!
Whilst you have all this to plan and strategise, you also need to consider that the G-Men are after you. You may have paid off the local law, but no chance with these guys. On the 4th turn of the game these kick in and beware a policeman is placed on the player with the highest still production. They have the power to shut you down for a turn. Thus part of your tactics will need to be trying to keep the heat off you, whilst still bringing in the dough!
The game is won by the player who first accumulates $100,000. Beware this could be one game that could bring out a real competitive streak in you, in a fun way remember, as you become hooked in to the mob scene, conniving and backstabbing other players to maximise your profits. This is game is for 3 to 6 players, ages 14 upwards and takes approx. 2 hours to play.
Do you have what it takes to survive and become a successful bootlegger in this era of mayhem? Available to buy here
This game can be expanded, where casinos are introduced to bring new gameplay elements when playing with friends – more details here
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