Prior to Essen, The Boss caught my attention when I read the rules so I pre-ordered a copy and I’m glad that I did.  The Boss is a simple but very clever game of deduction, bluffing and risk-taking with a gangster-theme.  The game lasts 3-5 rounds and the winner is the player with the most cash.

In the centre of the table is a row of cards each showing a different city (the number of cities depends on the number of players).  Each city has its own specific set of cards – each showing either an amount of money or something bad.  One card of each city is placed face-down next to that city – this is what the player who controls that city at the end of the round will win.  The remaining city cards are shuffled together and then dealt out to the players which gives them 5 each.  As each set of city cards has a different colour card back, players can see which cities their opponents have cards for but not their values. Read the rest of this entry »

The Boss is a gangster-themed game.  Players place cubes on city cards and the player with the most cubes on each city card at the end of each round gains a reward; however, what reward will be gained each city’s winner is only revealed during the round.  The rewards are revealed because each city has a fixed set of possible rewards and players take turns placing cards next to each city which show which rewards are not the one that will be gained by the city’s winning player.  So, the game’s a sort of are control game but the reward to be won is a process of elimination.  Some of the rewards are actually bad things like one of your men (cubes) is killed or out of the game for a turn.

It sounds relatively simple but quite inventive and with a deductive element.  Sounds like calculating when to strike and take control of a city will be important.  I’m hoping it has enough meat to it but the game mechanic appeals to me that I will definitely give it a try.

James.