Gangster Dice
Gangster Dice Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 27 dice: 9 white, 9 red, 9 blue
- 4 influence tokens: The Streets, The Speakeasy, The Investigator, The Lawyer
- 9 character cards: Nancy Hughs, Bobby Washington, Eddie Vandenburg, Franky, Roberts, Silvio, Timmy Green, Don Ciaperinelli, Liza Bruno
- 16 bid cards: 4 yellow, 4 red, 4 blue, 4 green
- 42 favor cards: 6 "0's", 12 "1's", 12 "2's", 6 "3's", 6 special "4's"
Setup
Give each player 2 dice of each color (6 dice total) and one colored set of bid cards. The dice are referred to as your stash.
Shuffle the favor deck. For an easy tutorial game, which is recommended for the first time you play, ignore the character cards and draw 3 favor cards each. Put the 6 special +4 favor cards in a face-up stack next to the favor deck.
If you are using the character cards, give one to each player. Players may choose their own card, or you may deal them out randomly. Stand up your character card in front of you with the mugshot facing the other players, then draw the number of favor cards indicated on the back.
Finally, put the four influence tokens in the middle of the play area between all players. Place one die of each color (3 dice total) on top of the Speakeasy token.
Character Cards
Each character has a special ability which is described on the back of the card. These abilities modify the rules and may occasionally conflict with the basic rules of the game. If there is a conflict between a character ability and the basic rules, the rules on the card always trump the basic rules of the game.
The Dice and Symbols
There are four different symbols on the dice which correspond to the tokens they will be used to influence. Each token displays the symbol which is used to influence it in the top left and right corners. The gavel symbol is used to influence the Lawyer token, the cocktail is used to influence the Speakeasy, the gun is used to influence the Streets, and the pointing finger is used to influence the Investigator.
Though each color of dice has all 4 symbols on it, the dice are not identical. Each die has 2 pointing fingers, 2 of one other symbol and 1 each of the remaining 2 symbols. Red dice have 2 guns, blue dice have 2 cocktails, and white dice have 2 gavels.
Sequence of Play
At the beginning of each round, each player rolls all the dice in their stash. Everyone then selects a bid card to play. This bid card must match a symbol on the dice you rolled. Once you have chosen a bid card, select a favor card and place both cards face down in front of you.
When all players have chosen their cards, reveal them simultaneously. The player with the highest score for each symbol will get to influence that token this round. Your score is the number of symbols showing on your dice for the token you bid on, plus the number on your favor card. If a token is not bid on, it is not influenced. If there is a tie for the highest score to influence a token then no one gets to influence it this round.
After influencing the tokens (described under Influence Tokens below), all bid cards are returned to their owners' hands. Each player discards the favor card they played and draws a new one.
At the end of each round, check to see if any player has won the game (described under End of Game below). If no one has won the game, a new round begins.
Influence Tokens
When you win the Lawyer, the Speakeasy, or the Streets, move that token in front of your player card to indicate that you now control it. If you already controlled it and you won it again, you will get to activate the special effect of that token.
The Lawyer
When you win this token and it was already under your control, then instead of drawing a new favor card from the deck, take one of the special +4 favors from the stack and add it to your hand. In addition, as long as you control the Lawyer, you do not have to take dice from the Investigator if you do not want to (see Investigator below).
The Speakeasy
When you win this token and it was already under your control, you may exchange up to three dice from your stash with an equal number of dice from this token.
The Streets
When you win this token and it was already under your control, you may place any one die from your stash on top of it. For as long as you control the Streets, add the number of dice on it to your score when calculating bid scores. In addition, the Streets breaks ties in your favor. That is, if you control the Streets and tie for a bid with one or more players, you win that bid.
Note that if the Streets moves to a different player, all dice on it will remain and will count toward that player's bid score on future rounds.
The Investigator
This token works a bit differently from the other tokens in that you do not move it in front of you when you win it. Instead, if you control it and win it, move it to the player to your left.
If another player has the Investigator and you win it, choose a color and place all dice of that color from your stash on top of it.
At the end of each round, if there are any dice on the Investigator, the player who has this token must take one die off of it and add it to their stash. Note that if you have this token and there are dice on it, you must take one off of it at the end of each round whether it was influenced or not.
At the start of the game, no player will control the Investigator and the first player who wins the bid for this token will move it to the player to their left, but will not place any dice on it this time.
Gaining and Losing Dice
Throughout the course of the game, dice will be placed on the Investigator, the Streets, and the Speakeasy. Note that even if these tokens are under your control, the dice on them do not count as being in your stash.
Note also that it is possible to both gain and lose dice on the same round. Since the exchange of dice happens simultaneously, you may never give away dice you received on the same round you received them.
End of Game
If at the end of any round you have no dice left in your stash, the game ends and you are the winner. Multiple players may win simultaneously if they run out of dice on the same round.
2-Player Variant
If you are playing Gangster Dice "heads up" with just two players, the following rules apply.
Instead of playing one bid card and one favor each round, you will play 2 bid cards and 2 favor cards (one for each bid card). Reveal them all simultaneously as normal; you may influence one token with each bid if you win it. At the end of the round you will draw 2 bid cards instead of 1, back up to the number of favors on your character card.
Aside from this, the game proceeds as normal.
Strategy
Take a moment to look at your bid cards and see how each token works. You may notice that the Investigator is the quickest way to get rid of dice. In fact, much of the game revolves around the Investigator as you try to dump your dice on him to prove that you are innocent and the other players are guilty.
However, you may also have noticed that losing dice will make it difficult to win future bids. If you win the Investigator twice in a row and go down to just 2 dice while the other players have 5 or 6, it will be very difficult to win that final bid to get rid of those last 2 dice.
This is where the other tokens come in. Because you get to place all dice of a single color onto the Investigator when you influence him, ideally you want to have only one color of dice in your stash but have 5 or 6 dice of that color so that you can still win that final Investigator bid. The Speakeasy will help you accomplish this by allowing you to swap dice with it. This is a good token to win early.
Since favor cards add to your score each round, it of course helps to have strong favors. Winning the Lawyer will get you powerful +4 favor cards so that even if you only have 2 or 3 dice you may still be able to win bids. Also, because the Lawyer protects you from the Investigator, it may be a good play to keep this token around if you are down to one or two colors and the Investigator is breathing down your neck.
Finally, the Streets are a token that allow you to both lose dice and gain bidding power for future bids. If you win the Streets a few times, you can get rid of one color of dice while building it up to help you win later. Just be wary of other players trying to take this token from you as it becomes more appealing to win as more dice are placed onto it.