Road to Infamy
Road to Infamy Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- Contraband Tokens (52). Each token is worth 1 Infamy Point. Types: Weapons, Jewels, Chemicals, Credit Cards.
- Bag. For holding Contraband tokens.
- Brawl Cards (4). For tiebreakers.
- Board. Each player claims one side of the board. Bids are played along the edge of the board.
- Bids (54). The bids range in value from 1-5 and some of them have actions.
- Cop Marker. This indicates what type of Contraband the Cop is confiscating.
- Gangsters (12). These give you helpful abilities that are active for the entire game.
- Gangs (4). Keep all of your Contraband here. The "x2" icon indicates your gang's favored Contraband type. Each token of this type gives you 2 Infamy points.
TIP: Try to win your gang's favored Contraband type as often as possible while also protecting that type from the Cop.
The Basics
You are a gang leader competing to run the most infamous crime operation in Chicago. Each hand you are bidding against the rival gangs to win the Gangster, Contraband, or the Cop.
- Red bids recruit Gangsters. Each Gangster has a unique ability that can give you a strategic advantage. (Benefit: Abilities)
- Green bids buy Contraband. Each token is worth 1 Infamy Point. (Benefit: Infamy Points)
- Blue bids bribe the Cop. By winning the Cop, your Contraband is safe while all other players lose one. (Benefit: Protection)
Ending the Game
The game ends when all of the Gangster cards have run out. The player with the most Infamy Points wins the game.
Setup
- Each player chooses a gang card.
- Shuffle the Gangster deck and place it face down on the Gangster space.
- Each player starts with 4 Contraband tokens (1 of each type). Place them on your gang card. Put the remaining tokens in the bag.
- Place the Cop Marker in the middle of the Cop space.
- Shuffle the Brawl deck and place it aside.
- Shuffle the Bid deck. Deal 6 bids to each player. You may look at your bids, but keep them hidden from opponents. Place the remaining bids face down on the bid space.
How to Play
Step 1: Prepare the Hand
Draw 2 random Contraband tokens from the bag and place them on the Contraband spaces.
Flip the top Gangster face up.
Step 2: Launder
At the start of each hand, players may optionally discard 1 bid from their hand (face up in the discard pile). Then draw 1 new bid. This step helps you diversify your hand and get rid of your weaker cards.
Step 3: Bid
There are 3 bidding turns per hand. Perform this step 3 times.
Players simultaneously choose 1 of their bids to put in play. Place your chosen bid face down on your gang card to show you are ready.
When everyone is ready, players simultaneously flip the bids face up and place them along their own side of the board. Red bids go in the Gangster space, green goes to Contraband, and blue goes to the Cop.
If your bid has an action, read it out loud and play out its effect.
Repeat this step 2 more times for bidding turns 2 and 3.
Step 4: Determine Winners
After the 3 bidding turns, add up each player's total Gangster, Contraband, and Cop bids.
The player with the highest total Cop bid is safe. All other players lose 1 Contraband token that matches the type indicated by the Cop marker (unless they have none). Lost Contraband is put aside or in the game box.
NOTE: On the first hand, the Cop is neutral and no Contraband is lost.
The winner of the Cop bid then chooses the Contraband type to be confiscated next hand by moving the Cop Marker to one of the icons in the Cop space. This allows you to target a rival gang's favored Contraband type or move it to a Contraband type that you don't have.
The player with the highest total Contraband bid takes the 2 Contraband tokens and places them on their gang card.
NOTE: If you win the Contraband but lose the Cop, the tokens you just won are not taken by the Cop.
The player with the highest total Gangster bid takes the Gangster card and places it next to their gang card. Starting next hand, the Gangster's ability is active for the rest of the game.
BRAWL! (Tiebreaker). In the case of a tie, shuffle and lay out the 4 Brawl cards face down. All tied players flip a card. Whoever's card has a higher number wins the prize.
Step 5: Reset
Discard all bids that have been played. Keep your remaining bids in your hand.
All players draw 3 bids. When the bid deck runs out shuffle the discard pile.
Repeat Steps 1-5 until the Gangster deck runs out.
Example - Hand #1
Turn 1. Players simultaneously reveal their first bid and place it in their space with the matching color.
Turn 2. You play a Gamble, which allows you to draw a bid card. If it is a 3, 4, or 5 you can play it. It was a green 3 so you add it to your Contraband bid. Opponent plays a red 4.
Turn 3. You play a red 5. Opponent plays a Deceive, which moves all of his previous bids to green.
Determine Winners
- You win the Cop bid because your total Cop bid is 2, while Opponent's is 0. No Contraband is discarded because the Cop is neutral on the first hand. You decide to move the Cop marker to Jewels.
- Opponent wins the Contraband because his total Contraband bid is 9, while yours is 7. Opponent takes the 2 Contraband tokens.
- You win the Gangster bid because your total Gangster bid is 5, while Opponent's is 0. You take the Bank Robber, which allows you to draw an extra Contraband token when you win the Contraband.
Example - Hand #2
Turn 1. Players simultaneously reveal their first bid and place it in their space with the matching color.
Turn 2. You play a Sabotage, which discards red 3, 4, or 5 bids played this turn, but opponent played a blue bid this turn so it has no effect.
Turn 3. You play a Bust, which disqualifies any total blue bid of 8 or more. Opponent plays another blue 4, bringing his blue bid to a total of 8.
Determine Winners
- You win the Cop bid because Opponent has been disqualified by the Bust. Opponent must discard a Jewel (indicated by the Cop Marker). You may then move the Cop Marker to a different type.
- You win the Contraband because your total Contraband bid is 5, while Opponent's is 0. You take the 2 Contraband tokens. Because you have Bank Robber, you also get to draw an extra Contraband token from the bag.
- Opponent wins the Gangster bid because his total Gangster bid is 3, while yours is 2. Opponent takes the Mob Boss.
Bid Action Clarifications
When an action card says it affects bids played "this turn," it will only affect other bids being revealed at the same time, not previous turns.
- Assassinate: If two players use Assassinate at the same time, turn order is settled with a Brawl. Assassinated gangsters are put aside or in the game box.
- Bust: If a player is disqualified, do not discard their bids. A player may still use a Deceive action to move their bids elsewhere to prevent disqualification.
- Deceive: Bids moved because of a Deceive action can NOT be discarded by Sabotage. If Deceive brings your bid total to 8 or more, you CAN be disqualified by Bust.
- Gamble: The bid drawn from the Gamble action is played on its own color (not on the color of the Gamble card). Also, the drawn bid CAN make you an eligible target of an opponent's action.
- Mug: If two players use Mug at the same time, turn order is settled with a Brawl.
Rule Variations
For a shorter game try playing with only 9 random Gangster cards.
To increase the value of late-game Gangsters, place one or more of the Gangsters that help score Infamy Points (Crime Lord, Fugitive, Kingpin, Mob Boss) on the bottom of the deck.
Add a win condition where the game can end if a player has a certain number of Infamy Points. For a 2-player game, you need 24 points to win. 3-player, 20 points. 4-player, 16 points.