Best of Neapolitan Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
  • 1) Prepare Flavor Rank Discs
  • 2) Prepare Score Track, Player Tokens, and Loyalty Cards
  • 3) Prepare and Deal Playing Cards
  • 4) Determine the Lead Player
• Overview
• Gameplay
  • Playing a Trick
  • Resolving a Trick
• End of Round Scoring
• New Round
• End of Game
• Variants
  • Ice Cream, You Scream
  • The Cherry On Top
  • More Scoops
  • Secret Ingredients
  • Alternative Cards
• Credits
• Achievements
  • Base Game
  • Variant - Pass Cards
  • Variant - The Cherry on Top

Components

• A) 37 Playing Cards (33 Monster Cards in three suits 1-11 and 4 Pass Cards)
• B) 11 Variant Cards (6 Pass and 5 Cherry On Top Variant Cards)
• C) 5 Loyalty Cards (for player colors)
• D) 5 Player Tokens (for score track)
• E) 3 Flavor Rank Discs (3 alternative Flavor Rank Cards and 1 Cup Card)
• F) 1 Score Track (2 alternative Score Cards)

Setup

1) Prepare Flavor Rank Discs

Shuffle the three discs and arrange them in a visible stack, known as the flavor stack. The disc on top of the flavor stack represents the strongest flavor and the disc on the bottom represents the weakest flavor.

2) Prepare Score Track, Player Tokens, and Loyalty Cards

Place the score track near the middle of the table. Each player should select a player color and take the matching player token and loyalty card of that color. Place all tokens on the starting space of the score track that matches the player count (3/4/5). Place your loyalty card in front of yourself.

3) Prepare and Deal Playing Cards

Use the chart below to prepare the deck.

Players	Monster Cards	Pass Cards
3	1-7	2
4	1-9	3
5	1-11	4

Example: In a 3-player game, the deck will be 23 cards. The 21 Monster Cards (1-7 in three suits) and the 2 Pass Cards.

Shuffle the prepared deck and deal seven cards to each player, face down. Place the two leftover cards face up near the middle of the table for all players to see.

4) Determine the Lead Player

The last player to eat ice cream will be the lead player. If unsure, decide randomly.

Overview

Best of Neapolitan is a trick-taking game where players must either avoid winning tricks entirely or win a specific amount of tricks every round.

But, you need to be careful. The strength of each suit can change each trick, adding an extra layer of strategy and surprise. The goal? Gain enough points to be the first player to reach the ice cream counter (last space on the score track)!

Gameplay

Each round will consist of seven tricks. Players are either trying to win 0 tricks or, based on the player count, the exact number of tricks listed below:

Players	Trick Goal
3	3
4	2
5	1

Playing a Trick

1. The lead player starts the trick by playing any one card from their hand face up to the table. This card is known as the lead card.

2. In clockwise order, each other player then plays one card face up, following these rules:

• If you have a Monster Card of the same suit (flavor) as the lead card, you must play it.
• If you do not have a Monster Card of the same suit, you can play any card.
• You can play a Pass Card, at any time, even if you have a Monster Card that matches the suit of the lead card. Pass Cards are the weakest cards and will always lose the trick (unless using variant Pass Cards, page 10).
• If the lead card is a Pass Card, the lead suit is the first non-Pass Card played.

Resolving a Trick

After everyone has played a card face up, compare them and see who wins the trick.

1. If all cards match the lead suit (or are Pass Cards), the highest number wins. However, if more than one suit was played, the highest number of the strongest suit wins instead.

2. The winner of the trick collects all played cards and places them in a face down pile in front of themselves. This pile counts as one trick towards 'End of Round Scoring'. If you win multiple tricks, make sure to keep each trick pile separate from each other!

3. The trick winner then moves the flavor disc of the winning suit to the bottom of the flavor stack (making it the weakest suit). If it is already on the bottom of the stack, nothing happens.

4. The trick winner leads the next trick.

5. If all tricks have been played, proceed to 'End of Round Scoring'.

Trick Example (3-Player): Spike plays a Vanilla 4, Whisker plays a Vanilla 6, and Gobble plays a Pass Card. All cards played match the lead suit or are Pass Cards. So, the highest number, Whisker's Vanilla 6, wins the trick.

Trick Example (4-Player): Spike plays a Chocolate 8, Whisker plays a Vanilla 1, Gobble plays a Vanilla 5, and Cloud plays a Chocolate 2. More than one suit was played this trick. So, the highest number of the strongest suit wins. The flavor stack shows that Vanilla is stronger than Chocolate. So, the highest Vanilla, Gobble's Vanilla 5, wins the trick.

Trick Winner Example: Whisker won the trick. So, they collect all played cards into a face down pile in front of themselves. This is their second trick, so they place it next to their previously won trick. Next, they take the Vanilla disc and place it on the bottom of the flavor stack, making it the weakest flavor.

End of Round Scoring

All players should count the number of tricks they won during the round. If a player:

• won 3/2/1 tricks in a 3/4/5 player game, they score 1 point.
• won 0 tricks, they score 2 points.
• won any other number of tricks, they score 0 points.

Players	Tricks Won	Points Scored
3	3 or 0	1 or 2
4	2 or 0	1 or 2
5	1 or 0	1 or 2

Players should move their player token up the score track equal to the number of points they scored. If this causes a player to go past the last space on the track, stop on the last space instead.

5-Player Scoring Example: A player who won 3 tricks scores 0 points (an "X", since 3 is not 1 or 0 for a 5-player game). A player who won 2 tricks also scores 0 points (an "X"). A player who won 0 tricks scores 2 points. A player who won 1 trick scores 1 point.

New Round

After scoring, if one or more players have scored enough points to reach the last space on the score track (the three monsters at the ice cream counter), proceed to 'End of Game'. Otherwise, play another round.

Players	Points Goal
3	3
4	4
5	5

To prepare for another round:

• Collect all playing cards, including the two leftover face up cards. Shuffle the deck and deal out a new hand of seven cards to each player. Place the two leftover cards face up near the middle of the table.
• Do not reshuffle the flavor stack.
• The player who won the last trick of the previous round leads the next round.

End of Game

In a 3/4/5 player game, the first player to reach the last space by scoring 3/4/5 points wins! If two or more players reach the last space, the player who won the most cards of the flavor that is currently the strongest this round wins. If it's still tied, the most cards of the second strongest flavor wins. If still tied, the most cards of the weakest flavor wins. If still tied, they share the victory...and a brain freeze from eating too much ice cream!

Variants

All variants explained below are modular and we recommend only using them after you have played the standard version first! All players should agree upon the variants selected before the game starts. Unless stated in the variant, all rules for the standard game will apply as normal.

Ice Cream, You Scream

Return all standard Pass Cards back to the box. Then, gather and shuffle all six variant Pass Cards, face down.

During step 3 of 'Setup,' prepare a number of random variant Pass Cards to go in the deck, without looking at them, based on player count (2/3/4 for 3/4/5 players). Set the rest aside, face down. Each round, prepare new variant Pass Cards using the above steps.

Gameplay is the same as the standard game, with one difference. If the sequence of the flavor stack matches the sequence shown on a variant Pass Card when it is played, it is no longer the weakest card in the trick. It is now the strongest card in the trick and will win. Then, the sequence of the flavor stack is reversed. The strongest flavor becomes the weakest and weakest flavor becomes the strongest.

Variant Pass Card Example: Spike plays a Vanilla 4, Whisker plays a Vanilla 6, and Gobble plays a Pass Card that shows Chocolate-Vanilla-Strawberry. That sequence matches the current flavor stack. This makes Gobble's Pass Card the strongest card in the trick and wins it. The order of the stack is then reversed, so now it is Strawberry-Vanilla-Chocolate.

The Cherry On Top

During step 2 of 'Setup,' give each player a Cherry On Top Card, placing it face up (the side where the ice cream is more visible).

Once per game, at the start of any round, each player may declare that they will win 0 tricks this round. To declare this, you must shout "No ice cream for me!" and flip your Cherry On Top Card face down (making the ice cream less visible). Multiple players can make this declaration in a single round.

If a player succeeds in winning 0 tricks that round, they will score 3 points (instead of 2). If a player fails in winning 0 tricks, they will lose 1 point. This can cause a player to move below the starting space (meaning you can have -1 point if you had 0 points beforehand). Players will not gain points if they end up winning the number of tricks required based on the player count instead.

Example: In a 4-player game, Spike wins 2 tricks in the round. Spike will still lose 1 point since they failed to win 0 tricks as they declared they would do!

After scoring, any player that declared they would win 0 tricks that round must return their Cherry On Top Card back to the box (regardless of succeeding or failing).

More Scoops

During step 2 of 'Setup,' players should place their loyalty cards unstamped side face up. After scoring, if a player has reached the last space on the score track, they must flip their loyalty card to the stamped side and move their player token back to the starting space.

All other player tokens stay where they are. The first player to reach the last space twice is the winner (normal tiebreakers). If playing with 'The Cherry On Top' variant, you may declare twice in a game, instead of only once.

Secret Ingredients

During step 3 of 'Setup,' instead of placing the two leftover cards face up, place them face down. Players may never look at these two cards during the round.

Alternative Cards

• During step 1 of 'Setup', instead of using the flavor discs, players may use the three flavor cards and cup card. They work just like the flavor discs. However, they are designed to lay flat on the table instead of being a physical, vertical stack. This may be a better alternative for players that have trouble stacking the flavor tokens.
• During step 2 of 'Setup', instead of using the score track, players may use the two score cards instead. To set this up, place and slide the ice cream truck card until it covers the dots equal to the current player count.

3-Player Example: The ice cream truck card is placed so that it covers the 3 dots. There are now 3 spaces (after the Start space) needed to reach the Finish space.

Credits

Marco, Ryoko, Portland Game Collective, and Travel-Games all thank you for supporting our game. We hope you enjoy playing Best of Neapolitan!

• Game Design: Marco Jung (Yeonmin Jung)
• Art: Ryoko Nyamo
• Rulebook: Ryan Campbell & Ben Davenward
• Edition: 2025 English 1st Edition

Achievements

Base Game

• Win 3/2/1 tricks (3/4/5 players) in a round
• Win the first 3/2/1 tricks (3/4/5 players) of the round and still score 1 point that round
• Win 0 tricks in a round
• Win 0 tricks two rounds in a row
• Win 0 tricks while having no pass cards in your hand that round
• Win the game in a tiebreaker by having the most cards of the strongest flavor

Variant - Pass Cards

• Win a trick with a variant Pass Card
• Win the last trick of the round with a variant Pass Card
• Lose a trick by playing a variant Pass Card one trick after the sequence on your card matched the actual flavor disc sequence

Variant - The Cherry on Top

• Successfully declare 0 tricks in a round
• Successfully declare 0 tricks while having no pass cards in your hand that round
• Win the game by reaching the last space on the score track because of a successful declaration of 0 tricks that round