Bootleggers

1918: Congress passes the 18th Amendment prohibiting the manufacture, transportation
and sale of alcoholic beverages.

1919: The States ratify the 18th Amendment making it the law of the land.

1920: One year after ratification, prohibition goes into effect. President Hoover’s “noble experiment” is underway.

1921: Trafficking and manufacturing of illegal booze has become very profitable.

It is the time of the speakeasy and bath tub gin.

It is the time of the BOOTLEGGERS!

BOOTLEGGERS: The Boardgame
It's the roaring 20's and prohibition is in full swing in America. The business of illegal alcohol is growing bigger and getting more dangerous by the day. With so much money and corruption, organized crime is sure to follow. Illegal stills dot the countryside and (not so) secret speakeasies exist in every major city. Local authorities look the other way for a price, but G-Men are harder to sway and can wreak havoc on a budding enterprise.

In Bootleggers, you take the role of a boss, making a name for yourself in the trade of illegal alcohol or “hooch”. By muscling in on competition, paying off local authorities, and shipping trucks of hooch, your goal is to make more money than your competition by using any and all means available, both fair and unfair as you see fit.

Sound easy? Don’t bet on it. Bootleggers is easy to learn, but hard to master. It is a strategy game based on the production, shipment and consumption of illegal whiskey. Start your "family business" and build it into an empire. Deceit, lies, and alliances of convenience are the norm as you attempt to control the whiskey trade any way you can. Remember, it’s not personal, it’s business. How you interact with your fellow bosses is very important (“The Art of the Double Cross” by Donald Flush is recommended reading). But be careful, that boss that you double cross won’t just “forget about it”.

BOOTLEGGERS: Gameplay
Bootleggers is designed for 3 to 6 players, with a playing time of 60 to 90 minutes. Each game has 12 turns (or it ends when a player reaches $100Gs, whichever comes first). Each turn consists of five phases, Muscle, Distillery, Whiskey Running, “What’s the Password”, and the Heat.

Phase 1: Muscle
A number of action cards (depending on the number of players) are turned face-up. These action cards give you bonuses such as additional influence in the speakeasies, increased still production, and more trucks. Players bid for turn order using numbered “Muscle” cards and each player then takes and uses one of the action cards.

Phase 2: Muscle
In the same order as Phase 1 (muscle phase bidding is important), players place their influence markers in the speakeasies. The amount of influence you have at a speakeasy determines when (or even if) you get to deliver your whiskey to that speakeasy. Controlling or majority influence at a speakeasy yields additional benefits.

Phase 3: Distillery
You roll for the production of your stills. The higher you roll, the more whiskey you produce, but watch out for the police or “Copper”.

Phase 4: Whiskey Running
You and your fellow bosses barter for trucks and whiskey to maximize your delivered products and profit. Once all deals have been concluded (cash payments are final, but feel free to renege on a promise…what are you going to do, call the cops?) each boss’ fleet of trucks delivers whiskey to speakeasies of his (or her) choosing (once again in muscle card order).

Phase 5: "What's the Password"
One boss rolls a specified number of dice for each open speakeasy (A speakeasy opens when enough influence has been placed in that particular speakeasy. A large speakeasy requires more influence; a small speakeasy requires less influence). The dice roll determines the number of cases of whiskey that can be sold to that speakeasy during the current turn. Speakeasies buy whiskey from players that have trucks at the speakeasy docks (in order of player influence). The higher the roll, the more the players will sell. However, if there is more whiskey present than the speakeasy’s demand, the excess whiskey is lost.

Phase 6: The Heat
The Copper moves onto the family still that had the greatest production this turn. If you are not careful, the copper will shut your still down for a turn. Players then move onto the next round.

Eagle Games new product line: Euro-American Hybrid Games an overdue concept

European games, which feature fast playing times and interesting game mechanics, have been growing in popularity over the last few years. Thousands of fans eagerly seek out the newest games from Europe and even purchase them in non-English language versions from online retailers.

To date, the Euro-game craze has been limited in the U.S. by a lack of mainstream distribution and American-friendly designs and packaging. Eagle Games plans to break down these barriers and bring the best of European-style gaming to mainstream America.

“I was extremely excited to meet a team of very talented designers that shared my vision,” related Glenn Drover, President of Eagle Games. “The guys at SDR really nailed the concept of a Euro-American Hybrid with Bootleggers. It contains some truly unique play concepts that are in the spirit of the best Euro-style games, while simultaneously immersing the player into prohibition-era speakeasies and bootlegging operations.”

Length: 90 minutes
Vendor: Eagle Games