Downtown (2013) Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Equipment
• Setting up the Game
• The Game Begins
  • 1. Placing the 2 Tokens
  • 2. Starting the Own Display Area
• Playing the Game
  • Phase 1: Move Tokens
  • Phase 2: Rob or Pay Another Player
    • 2.1. Robbing Another Player
    • 2.2. Paying Another Player (and Moving a Token)
  • Phase 3: Use One of the Two Locations With Own Tokens
    • Downtown
    • West Side (Stooges)
    • East Side (Fences)
      • Rules for Visiting the Casino
    • Ghetto
    • Bank
• Game End and Winner
• Hints and Further Rules
• Special Rules for the 2-Player Game
• Note on the 2024 Recommended Rules

Game Equipment

100 playing cards, consisting of:

• 48 Gangster cards:
  • 26 x Lookouts
  • 11 x Safe Crackers
  • 11 x Spies
• 27 Stooge cards: Frankie, Luigi and Joe (9 of each)
• 12 Fence cards (Receivers of stolen goods):
  • 4 x "Money launderer"
  • 4 x "Jewellery dealer"
  • 4 x "Arts dealer"
• 3 Casino cards
• 6 Location cards (Downtown, West Side, East Side, Ghetto, Bank and Don Massivo's Villa)
• 4 "Display" cards, one of each in red, orange, blue and yellow (printed "Gelb", German for yellow)
• 8 Tokens, two of each in red, orange, blue and yellow
• 90 bank notes, printed on one side. Of these there are 25 x $1,000, 20 x $2,000, 20 x $5,000, 15 x $10,000 and 10 x $20,000.

Setting up the Game

1. Each player receives a "display" card and 2 tokens of the same colour. The players place these in front of them.
2. The location cards, Downtown, Ghetto, West Side, East Side, Bank and Don Massivo's Villa are placed on the table as shown.
3. The 48 gangster cards will be shuffled and 5 cards dealt face down to each player. This is the player's hand. All of the remaining cards are placed face down in a pile next to the Ghetto location card, to which they are then "assigned".
4. The 5 topmost Gangster cards from the stock pile are turned over and placed next to the "Downtown" location card. Cards of the same type are placed overlapping. These 5 cards will be assigned to the "Downtown".
5. The 27 Stooge cards are sorted by stooge (Frankie, Luigi and Joe). The 9 cards for each stooge are shuffled out of the sight of the other players so that they cannot see the backside of the cards. Then the 9 cards are placed in a pile. These 3 piles will be assigned to the "West Side".
6. The 12 Fence cards will be shuffled out of the sight of the other players so that they cannot see the backside of the cards. They will then be divided into 3 piles, each consisting of 4 cards, and placed face up. These 3 piles will be assigned to the "East Side".
7. One of the three Casino cards is placed underneath each Fence card pile.
8. The 90 bank notes will be sorted by value and assigned to the "Bank".
9. Each player receives $10,000 from the bank in the following denominations: 3x $1,000 and 1x $2,000 and 1x $5,000. Players keep their money secret from the other players.

The Game Begins

Before the game begins, players must make the following preparations:

1. Placing the 2 tokens
2. Starting the own display area

1. Placing the 2 Tokens

Each player places their own 2 tokens on to any two of the six Location cards. Players cannot place their two tokens on the same Location card. The player who has last been in prison begins by placing his two tokens, and the other players follow clockwise. The player who has first placed a token on the East Side will then start the game. If no player has placed a token on the East Side, the player who has last been in prison starts the game.

2. Starting the Own Display Area

Each player, except the starting player, places $1,000 to $3,000 face down (money value hidden) next to his own Display card. As soon all players have placed bank notes next to his Display card, each player turns over the money to display the value.

Playing the Game

After placing the 2 tokens and creation of the display area the game begins. There is no fixed order in which the players take their turn; the player whose turn it is (current player) chooses through his actions the next player.

A turn is divided into 4 phases which must be executed in the following order:

1. Move tokens
2. "Rob" or "pay" another player
3. Use one of the two locations with own tokens
4. Refresh the own display area

Phase 1: Move Tokens

The current player may move his own tokens to locations with no other token.

Phase 2: Rob or Pay Another Player

The current player chooses any other player to "rob" (2.1. below) or to "pay" (2.2. below). The chosen player becomes the next player to take his turn after the current player has completed his turn.

2.1. Robbing Another Player

The current player takes all the money and gangster cards from the display area of any other player of his choice. (At the beginning of the game, there are no gangster cards in the players display areas.) Gangster cards will be added to the player's own hand and the money will be added to his own money pile.

A player who has neither money nor gangsters in his display area can still be "robbed" and chosen to become the next player, even if there is actually nothing to "rob".

2.2. Paying Another Player (and Moving a Token)

If the current player wants to move a token to a location where there is already another player's token, the current player has to pay this player: the current player has to give this player exactly the same amount of money and gangster cards as this player has in his display area. Then the current player may move one of his own tokens to a location where the paid player has one of his tokens.

If the current player wants to move a token to a location where there are already tokens of two or three players, the current player must only pay one of these players and may choose which of these players he wants to pay. (This is usually the player with the "cheapest" offer.)

If a player has no money and/or gangster cards in his own display area, this player can also be "paid" by giving him nothing and the current player may move a token for free to a location where this paid player has one of his tokens.

The current player may only pay one player per turn and therefore may move only one token per turn to a location where there is already at least one other player's token.

Phase 3: Use One of the Two Locations With Own Tokens

The current player may once during his turn use one of the locations Downtown, West Side or East Side where one of his two tokens is located. For the locations Ghetto, Bank and Don Massivo's Villa, other rules apply. (See below.)

While the current player is performing actions in this phase (Phase 3), all other players* may add money and/or gangster cards to their own display area. Every added bank note and gangster card has to be placed face down first and cannot be taken back afterwards! As soon as the current player has finished Phase 3 and begins Phase 4, no more bank notes or gangster cards can be added.

*with the exception of the next player on turn: adding money or gangster cards does not make sense for this player.

Downtown

In the Downtown location, the current player may buy any of gangster cards laid out. The price of each card depends on how often that type of card (Spy, Safecracker or Lookout) is laid out:

Amount of gangsters of one type	Price for each card of that type
1	$4,000
2	$3,000
3	$2,000
4 or more	$1,000

The purchased gangster cards will be added to the player's hand. The money used to pay for gangsters cards is returned to the bank. Then the 3 topmost cards from the gangster card pile (Ghetto) are turned over and laid out, up to a maximum of 10 cards and a minimum of 5 cards. For example, if there is only 1 card laid out, 4 new cards must be turned over. If the pile is used up, all gangster cards of the discard pile are shuffled and replaced as the new gangster card pile.

West Side (Stooges)

There are three different Stooges: Frankie, Luigi and Joe. Frankie is a boaster and you have to be careful when dealing with him. Luigi usually does not lie about the jobs he has got for you, but sometimes he promises more than there is to get. You can always trust Joe. Joe always knows what is going on and he never promises more than there actually is to get.

The Stooges may tell you where to steal money, jewellery or expensive art objects and will also tell you how many gangsters are required for this job and which kind of specialists the Gangsters have to be.

In order to rob, the current player has to play exactly these Gangster cards from his hand which are required for a job of one of the topmost displayed Stooge cards. The played Gangster cards are discarded to the discard pile for Gangster cards (Gangster card discard pile). The player can then take and add the Stooge card to his hand. Stooge cards can be converted to money on the East Side when visiting a Fence. On the backside of each Stooge card the actual value of the loot is written.

The real value of the loot is written on the backside of the card and is $40,000, $52,000 or $60,000.

Stooge card back side: the actual value of the loot is printed (for example $52,000).

West Side alternative action: Instead of stealing, a player may glance at one of the topmost Stooge cards (to check the real loot) and must then place that card back on top of the same pile or place it underneath this pile.

East Side (Fences)

The Fences, the receivers of stolen goods, live on the East Side of the town. Players may sell the loot to the Fences or exchange stolen money into "clean" money. There are Fences for jewellery, Fences for art objects and money launderers.

Some Fences want half of the loot as their share and some only want a quarter. A money launderer takes a quarter of the washed money for his services. There are 3 of these cards in play, and one of these 3 money launderers is an undercover cop.

To sell the loot to a fence, the current player has to place one of his Stooge cards face down next to one of the three Fence card piles that has a matching Fence card on top. The top Fence card is then turned over to check if it is an undercover cop. If it is not, the current player may take from the bank the amount of money corresponding to the real value of the loot listed on the back side of this Stooge card, minus the share for the Fence. If it is an undercover cop, the player has to pay bribe money and will only receive ¼ of the real loot from the bank (¾ is bribe money).

Players may also play any amount of Stooge cards of the same loot type (jewellery, art objects, money) at the same time to the same Fence card, but if that fence is an undercover cop, the player has to pay bribe money for each played card!

Played Stooge-Cards are taken out of the game. The turned over Fence card will be turned back and placed underneath the same pile.

Underneath the 9 Fences who only want a quarter of the loot as their share, there are 3 undercover cops wanting bribe money!

East Side alternative action: Instead of selling loot to a Fence, a player may look at one of the topmost Fence cards (to check if it is an undercover cop) and then must place that card back on top of the same pile or place it underneath the pile.

Each time a Casino card appears on the top of a Fence card pile, the current player may visit the Casino. Visiting the Casino is a stand-alone game and is optional. Players can agree not play this game and may continue the usual game without interruption. In any case, the Casino card must be taken from the pile and put aside. When the 3rd Casino card appears, the game ends. (See "Game End and Winner".)

Rules for Visiting the Casino

Each player has to place one (money) bill face down on the table in front of him. A player who does not have any bill, does not take part in the game. If the current player does not have any bill, he is not visiting the Casino.

As soon each player has played a bill, all played bills are turned over and evaluated.

For each player who has played the same bill as that of the current player, the current player gets those players' bill, takes back his own bill and places these bills onto his money pile.

If no player has played the same bill as the current player, the current player must return his played bill to the bank.

The players who have played a different bill than the current player may take back their own bill only if its value is greater than the value of the current player's bill. All players whose bill value is less than that of the current player must return his bill to the bank.

Ghetto

If only one player has a token at the Ghetto, this player may each time another player has played gangster cards for a "job" (West Side), take the 2 topmost cards from the gangster cards stack pile to his hand. If more than one player has a token at the Ghetto, each of these players may only take 1 card (in clockwise order, starting with the player left of the current player).

If the player who plays gangster cards for a job has himself a token at the Ghetto, this token is ignored. An example: Player Yellow is doing a job at the West Side. Player Red and Yellow both have a token at the Ghetto. Player Red may draw 2 gangster cards, because the token of player Yellow is ignored.

Bank

If only one player has a token at the Bank, this player will each time another player pays money into the bank (when buying gangster cards at the Downtown location) receive this money paid into the bank. If more than one player has a token at the Bank, these players will divide the money equally as far as possible. The rest will be placed into the bank.

If the player who buys gangster cards has a token at the bank, this token will be ignored when dividing the money.

Don Massivo's Villa

A player who has a token at Don Massivo's Villa may:

• have up to 10 (instead of 7) cards in his hand at the end of the own turn. (See below.)
• before stealing (West Side location), play the "West Side alternative action" once per turn. The player may steal afterwards but is not required to.
• before selling loot to a fence (East Side location), play the "East Side alternative action" once per turn. The player may sell his loot afterwards to any of the topmost fences.

Rules expansion for advanced players (not recommended when playing the game for the first time): If only one player has a token at Don Massivo's Villa, this player will every time one of the other players is "robbing" another player, receive half of the robbed money. If the amount is "odd", the amount is rounded down. For example if a player robs $5,000 from another player, the player who has a token at Don Massivo's Villa receives $2,000 of the $5,000.

Phase 4: Refresh the Own Display Area

The current player may take money out of the display area back into his own money pile or take Gangster cards out of the display area and place them back into his hand.* He may then add any amount of money from his money pile and any amount of Gangster cards from his hand to the display area.

*(Note: The player may already do this during his turn, in case he needs the money and/or gangster cards for his turn).

If other players have placed additional bank notes and/or Gangster cards face down to their display area during Phase 3, these bank notes and Gangster cards must be turned face up now.

Players may never have more than 7 cards in their hand at the end of their turn (Gangster cards and Stooge cards). If the current player has more than 7 cards, he must reduce them down on 7 cards.

Gangster cards can be placed into the player's own display area or on to the Gangster card discard pile.

The next current player is always the player who was "paid" or "robbed" during Phase 2 by the current player.

Game End and Winner

The game ends immediately when a player possesses $100,000 or more including money in the player's own display area. This player is then the winner of the game.

If more than one player possesses at least $100,000 at the same time (possible if these players have a token at the bank), the player possessing the most money is the winner.

The game also comes to an end (prematurely) when the third Casino card appears on top of a Fence card pile. The Casino game will be played as usual and the game ends afterwards. The player holding the most money - including money in the display area - is then the winner.

Hints and Further Rules

Players must inform the other player about the number of Gangster and Stooge cards they have in their hand, if any player wants to know. However players need not give information about the kind of Gangster and Stooge cards (money, jewellery, art objects) they have.

Players are not allowed to examine the Stooge card or Fence card piles at any time.

Special Rules for the 2-Player Game

The player who has last been to prison begins. Players may always use both locations with their own two tokens during their turn.

When robbing another player in Phase 2, the current player must skip Phase 3 and cannot use any of the locations in this turn. However, the current player may pay the other player even if the current player does not move one of his own tokens to a location with a token of the other player and may then use locations in Phase 3.

Note on the 2024 Recommended Rules

The publisher's separate 2024 document ("newest recommended game rules", which states it differs from the rules inside the box) is not the base text above and is not transcribed here. Its material differences from the 2013 text are: setup deals the 7 topmost Gangster cards to Downtown instead of 5; Phase 3 is titled "Take action"; the game ends after the turn in which the second Casino card appears (not the third), and then each player may sell leftover Stooge cards to the bank for half their value; the Ghetto bonus is triggered by a Downtown purchase rather than a job at the West Side; the Bank bonus returns the buyer's money or splits it when the buyer has a token there; a played Stooge card at a Fence is shoved back under its pile rather than taken out of the game, and the East Side alternative action returns the Fence card to any pile of the player's choice; Gangster cards may not be discarded to the discard pile at end of turn and must go into the display area; and players may exchange money with the bank at any time.