Pablo Escobar: The Boardgame
Pablo Escobar: The Boardgame Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the Game
The first player to sell all four parcels in his color in Florida wins the game.
Components
- 1 main game board
- 1 die
- 16 competence cubes
- 16 crew in 4 colours
- 16 parcels in 4 colours
- 4 player boards (Medellin Cartel, M-19, Cali Cartel, FARC)
- 30 development cards
- 80 bank notes
- 4 alliance bars
Preparation
- All players receive a player board with 4 competence cubes.
- All players receive 4 crew and 1 alliance bar of the same colour.
- Place all 16 parcels near the transport route, even if there are fewer than 4 players.
- Divide the development cards into 5 stacks and place them face down next to the main game board.
The Start of the Game
Roll the die to determine who gets the first turn. All players take turns to place crew on a START position in either production or land transport. At least two players must place crew in production. After that, players take turns in clockwise direction.
Attention! If there are fewer than 4 players, the remaining starting spots are not used for the entire game.
Parcels
Players always begin their turn by rolling the die. After the roll, players "may" move a parcel along the route. The map is divided into different areas that correspond to departments. Players may only move a parcel through an area if they have crew members in that department. Players may always choose which parcel they wish to move along the route. In other words, they may also move another player's parcel.
The 5 different areas that correspond to departments are:
- Marketing / Department
- Air Transport / Department
- Coordination / Department
- Land Transport / Department
- Production / Department
Players with crew members in the production department may choose to place a new parcel on the route and to move it along. If they do, they take the parcel at the top of the first pile even if it's not your own parcel.
Players who do not own any parcels in their departments are allowed to roll the die, but cannot move any parcels.
Receiving
If a parcel lands on a "receive" spot, the parcel immediately stops moving. ALL players in the department concerned receive money from the bank. The amount of money they receive varies: players receive more money by upgrading their crew members in a department (see "crew placement" and "crew upgrading").
Competencies
When a player's parcel lands on "receive", that player may increase one of his/her competencies by moving 1 of the 4 cubes one spot to the right. If the cube is standing on a number or has passed a number, the player may choose to activate one of their competencies every turn.
Activate Competence
After rolling the die, players may choose to activate a competence instead of moving a parcel. However, the number on the die must correspond with the number of pips shown on the player board.
Action Phase
After moving parcels or using a competence, a player may carry out various actions until they indicate that they are done with their turn.
Crew Placement
After the start, all players have three crew left that they can place in departments. By placing crew in a department, players can:
- move parcels in that department
- earn money for all parcels at the end of that department
- buy developments for that department
In order to place crew, players must pay the amount indicated on the lowest spot.
Players may always choose to move crew members from another department instead of placing a new crew member. Note that such crew members may not be returned to their previous location for free.
Crew Upgrading
All players may have just one crew member in each department. If they already have a crew member in a department, players can choose to upgrade them. This also costs the amount of money indicated for the department. By upgrading a crew member, players receive more money when a parcel is received and can take more steps with their parcels.
Extra steps: the upgrade tracks of each department show the Extra Steps bonus next to each upgrade level (+1 at Upgrade 1, +2 at Upgrade 2).
Buying Developments
During the action phase, players may use their money to buy developments. Developments are placed face up in front of a player and are constantly in effect. In order to buy a development, players must own crew in the relevant department.
Alliance
Players may form an alliance to help each other. At the beginning of a turn (before rolling the die), players may form an alliance with the player whose turn it is. The player requesting the alliance must place the alliance bar of the player whose turn it is on their colour (on the lowest sum). This allows the bank to reward the player accepting the alliance by paying him the sum indicated. The player accepting the alliance is now obliged to move a parcel belonging to their ally after rolling the die.
If two players help each other more often, this results in a stronger alliance with bigger rewards, because every time a service is performed, the alliance bar moves up one spot. Note! Players can only be allies with one other player at a time.
Diagram legend: red = player requesting; blue = the player's turn (accepting).
Sell Development
During their turn, players may sell a development. Place the development back into the box (not the stack) to receive the indicated amount from the bank. Players need to have at least 1 alliance to be able to sell developments.
End of the Game
When a parcel is received by the marketing department, the player may place the parcel at the end goal. The first player who has 4 parcels at the end goal wins the game.
Player Board Competencies (transcription gap)
Transcriber note: each player board (Medellin Cartel, M-19, Cali Cartel, FARC) has four competence tracks, Power, Finance, Mobility and Alliance, each with a row of cube spaces marked 1, 2 and 3 and three numbered effect entries printed in the "Competence" column. In the published English rulebook images these effect entries are printed too small to read reliably, so the individual effect wordings are not transcribed here. The effects on the player boards are the authoritative text; consult the printed player boards or the publisher's English rulebook for their exact wording.