Mob Sitters Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Components
• Setup
• Card Types
  • Money Cards
  • Baby Sit Cards
  • Steal Cards
  • Job Cards
  • Reaction Cards
  • Accusation Cards
  • Card Type Notes
• Playing the Game
  • Round 1
  • Round 2 and Later
• Examples of Play
  • Earning Money
  • Resolving an Accusation Card
• Ending the Game
• FAQ
• Turn Sequence Quick Reference

Overview

You must accuse other babysitters to ensure that no one is looking in your direction while you're stealing from The Boss or taking less than reputable jobs. Be careful though, they might be able to pass the blame back to you!

Components

• 6 player decks (20 cards each), each in a corresponding colour
• 6 double-sided player mats

Setup

1. Each player places a play mat in front of themselves. These are double sided, use the side that is marked for the right number of players. Either 3 Players or 4+ Players.
2. They take the corresponding coloured deck of cards, shuffle it and place it face down to the left of their play mat to form their draw pile.
3. They deal themselves a hand of 6 cards. If they are not happy with their hand, they may shuffle their entire hand back into the draw pile and deal their hand again. This can only be done once.
4. Each player points to the player who they think most resembles a mobster. The player with the most votes becomes the starting player.

Card Types

There are 3 categories of cards, each with 3 subcategories.

Money Cards

These cards all have a monetary value in their top left corners.

Baby Sit Cards

The only legitimate way for you to make money! These cards cannot be the target of Accusation cards.

Steal Cards

These cards all have a gun symbol in their top right corner. Players may use these cards to steal items from The Boss's house.

Job Cards

These cards all have a handcuffs symbol in their top right corner. Players may use these cards to do an illegal job for The Boss.

Reaction Cards

Players may use these cards to respond to accusation cards.

It Was You! (Left and Right): Players may use these cards to pass the Accusation to the player in the direction indicated. They pass the originally targeted Money card to that player who will then have to put it in their Boss or Cops pile unless they also reveal a Reaction card.

It Was You! (Reverse): Players may use these cards to blame the person who accused them. They pass the originally targeted Money card to that player who will then have to put it in their Boss or Cops pile unless they also reveal a Reaction card.

"Got Away With It!": Players may use these cards to ignore an Accusation made against them. If a Money card is passed to a player as a result of an 'It was you!' card, they may place it in the play area of their play mat (and may be able to earn the money from it at the start of the next round).

Accusation Cards

These cards all have red crossed out symbols at the top of the card.

Tell 'The Boss': Players may use these cards to target a players' Steal card. If the Accusation is successful, then the targeted player places their Steal card face down onto their Boss pile (at the bottom of their play mat).

Squeal to the Cops: Players may use these cards to target a players' Job card. If the Accusation is successful, then the targeted player places their Steal card face down onto their Cops pile (at the bottom of their play mat).

Source note: the printed text says "their Steal card" in the Squeal to the Cops entry, though that card targets a Job; transcribed as printed.

Rat 'Em: This card may function as either a Tell 'The Boss' card or as a Squeal to the Cops card but may only target one Money card per use.

Card Type Notes

• Money cards: For Money cards to be eligible for your Safe, they must be played face up.
• Reaction cards: Reaction cards are always placed face down, but may be flipped and used in response to Accusation cards.
• Accusation cards: Accusation cards may be played either face up (to use in this round) or face down (to be used in the next round).

Important Note: You can play any cards face down to bluff your opponents.

Playing the Game

Round 1

The starting player goes first and then play continues clockwise with each player taking their turn. The game consists of 6 rounds (until only 2 cards remain in their hand - which are discarded).

On the first round, each player takes the following actions:

1. Play 3 Cards: Place 3 cards from their hand (face up or face down) on the play area of their play mat. The order does not matter.
2. Resolve any face up Accusation Cards: Resolve any face up Accusation cards by targeting any player with a corresponding Money card (successfully targeted Steal or Job cards are moved to Boss or Cops piles respectively. Used Reaction cards are moved to the discard pile).
3. Draw Cards: Draw 3 new cards from their deck into their hand.

For quick reference, see the back of the rulebook for a full run through of the turn sequence.

Round 2 and Later

Subsequent rounds require a few extra steps (because there are already cards in the play areas). On all other rounds, each player takes these 3 additional actions directly before those listed on the previous page:

Source note: the printed text says "3 additional actions" but lists four numbered steps; transcribed as printed.

1. Earning Money: Place any face up Money cards into their Safe face down (at the bottom of their play mat).
2. Accuse: Flip over and resolve any face down Accusation cards targeting any player with a corresponding Money card. Successfully targeted Steal or Job cards are moved to Boss or Cops piles respectively.
3. Used Reaction cards are moved to the discard pile.
4. Discard: Move any remaining face down cards from the play area to the discard pile. Players also then play the initial turn actions (4-6).

The final round played only involves the first 3 actions (as players will have no hand cards left).

Examples of Play

Earning Money

Example 1: Sarah is starting her turn. She does not have any Accusation Cards to flip over and resolve, so she moves on to step 2. Sarah can now earn all the money cards that are in her play area, as they have remained here from the previous round. These are now all placed face down in the safe pile at the bottom of the play mat.

Resolving an Accusation Card

Example 1: Sarah (Yellow) reveals a Tell 'The Boss' card on her turn. The only eligible targets are Mark's (Orange); Steal the Boss's Tommy Gun card and Steal a gold plated butterfly knife card as these are the only cards with a matching symbol.

Sarah gets to pick which card to target. The targeted card would then get placed into Mark's Boss Pile. Then Sarah discards her Tell 'The Boss' Card as this has been used this round.

Example 2:

1. Sarah (Yellow) reveals a Tell 'The Boss' card on her turn. She targets David's (Blue) Steal a mobile phone card.
2. David reacts by flipping over a card, revealing an 'It was you!' card which pushes the blame on to Sarah! (indicated by the direction the finger is pointing) At this point Sarah would now place this card in her Boss Pile however...
3. Sarah in response also flips over and reveals an 'It was you!' card which deflects the blame back onto David once again. David cannot defend himself any longer and, on this occasion, he does take the fall. The Targeted card is now placed into David's Boss Pile.

Ending the Game

Play continues until each player has 2 cards remaining in their hand. These are then discarded. The final Turn (6) of the game will only consist of steps 1-3 for each player, resolving cards already played from Turn 5. Before any money in the safe is counted, it must be determined if The Boss or the cops caught anyone!

The Boss: All players count up the combined monetary value of the Money cards in their Boss pile. The player with the most money in this pile is caught by The Boss and swiftly disappears. This player is eliminated from the game.

The Cops: All remaining players count up the combined monetary value of the Money cards in their Cops pile. The player with the most money in this pile has too much evidence against them for the cops to turn a blind eye and is arrested and eliminated from the game.

If players tie for the most amount of money in either pile, they all escape their would-be captors (assuming that there are more tied players than could potentially still be caught).

The Winner: All remaining players that were not eliminated, count up the combined monetary value of the Money cards in their Safe pile. The winner is the player with the most money! If there are multiple players with the same amount of money, they share the win.

FAQ

Q: Can I play cards from my hand during another players turn? For example, an "It was you!" card.

A: No. Only cards in your play area are used during either your turn or another players.

Q: Why would I play a money card face down?

A: Money cards face down can be used to bluff to your opponents into thinking the card is something else, forcing them to rethink their strategy or instead target someone else. You can lead them to believe it is an 'Accusation' card or an 'It was you' card.

Q: What happens to face down money cards my play area?

A: These are discarded in step 3 of each of your rounds.

Q: What happens if I get blamed for a 'Steal' or 'Job' but I have a 'Phew got away with it' card?

A: The blame gets passed to you, including the original targeted 'Steal' or 'Job'. However, you manage to talk you way out of taking the punishment on this occasion. You discard the 'Phew Got away with it' card and place the targeted Steal or Job card in your play area face up, as if you had played it on your turn!

On your next turn you can earn this money just like any other money card. But this also means players can still target the card while it's in your play area.

Q: Are you able to use an 'Accusation' card against yourself?

A: Yes.

Watch a tutorial of the game at www.eaststreetgames.com

Turn Sequence Quick Reference

• Turn 2-6 only, 1. Earning Money: Place any face up Money cards into their Safe face down (at the bottom of their play mat).
• Turn 2-6 only, 2. Accuse: Flip over and resolve any face down Accusation cards targeting any player with a corresponding Money card. Successfully targeted Steal or Job cards are moved to Boss or Cops piles respectively. Used Reaction cards are moved to the discard pile.
• Turn 2-6 only, 3. Discard: Move any remaining face down cards from the play area to the discard pile.
• Turn 1-5, 4. Play 3 Cards: Place 3 cards from their hand (face up or face down) on the play area of their play mat. The order does not matter.
• Turn 1-5, 5. Resolve any face up Accusation Cards: Resolve any face up Accusation cards by targeting any player with a corresponding Money card (successfully targeted Steal or Job cards are moved to Boss or Cops piles respectively. Used Reaction cards are moved to the discard pile).
• Turn 1-5, 6. Draw Cards: Draw 3 new cards from their deck into their hand.