You are a smuggler running convoys of legal and illegal goods to and from your warehouse. But transportation is very risky because the Prohis are onto your scheme and have the authority to inspect your cargo and seize any questionable goods they find.
You will need to bluff and negotiate to get past the authorities and make your fortune!
Components
- 58 Legal Goods cards
- 30 Illegal Goods cards
- 8 Lieutenants cards
- 6 Captains cards
- 6 Majors cards
- Rulebook
Object of the Game
Become the richest smuggler by transporting your goods without being caught by your opponents.
Setup
In games of 3 or 4 players, remove 18 Legal Goods cards, 10 Illegal Goods and 2 Lieutenant cards. They will not be used this game.
Give one Captain and Major card to each player. Put any remaining Captains and Majors back in the box, they will not be used this game.
Shuffle all of the Goods Cards together with the Lieutenant cards.
Each player is dealt 4 facedown cards, which they add to their Captain and Major cards to form their starting hand.
The remaining cards are placed facedown in the center of the table as the draw pile.
Take the top 4 cards of the draw pile and place them faceup in a row next to the draw pile.
Game Play
The first player is chosen at random, and turns pass clockwise.
On his turn, the active player must perform one (and only one) of the following two actions:
- Draw 1 or 2 cards from the center of the table
- Create a convoy
A. Draw 1 or 2 cards from the center of the table
The active player draws cards from the center of the table, according to the following options:
- 2 faceup cards
- 1 faceup card and 1 facedown card from the draw pile
- 1 faceup card
- 1 facedown card from the draw pile.
Note: Once a faceup card is taken, it is immediately replaced by the next card from the deck.
Important: If a player already has 8 cards in his hand, he cannot perform the Draw action.
Exception: Near the end of the game, it is possible that a player will no longer be interested in drawing or creating a convoy. In this case, he can decide to pass (removing himself from the rest of the game). If all players pass, the game ends.
B. Create a convoy
The active player may place 2, 3 or 4 cards from his hand facedown (truck side up) in front of him on the table. These cards are considered his "convoy" and he will be considered the "Smuggler" for the rest of the turn.
Note: A convoy can contain Legal and / or Illegal Goods and may also contain one or more Prohi Cards.
Prohis
All the other players will now have a chance to inspect the Smuggler's convoy if they suspect it contains Illegal Goods, by playing one of their Prohi Cards.
If all players decide to NOT inspect the convoy: The convoy arrives at the warehouse without obstacle, and is scored by the Smuggler facedown in his "warehouse" in a pile in front of him.
If one or more players decide to inspect the Smuggler's convoy: Each opponent who wishes to inspect the convoy, must play a Prohi Card from their hand.
If more than one player wants to inspect the convoy, the player with the highest ranking Prohi will win the right to inspect the convoy, and will be referred to as the "Inspector" for the rest of the turn, and all other players take back their Prohi Cards.
In case of a tie, the player who first played the highest ranking Prohi becomes the Inspector.
Ranks of Prohis
There are 3 ranks of Prohis, and they inspect a different number of cards based on their rank.
Lieutenants are the lowest ranking Prohis, and can only inspect 1 card.
Captains can inspect 2 cards.
Majors are the highest ranking Prohis, and can inspect 3 cards.
Bribe
Before his convoy is inspected, the Smuggler may offer a bribe to the Inspector. The smuggler can offer any number of cards from his hand as a bribe to the Inspector in exchange for the Inspector letting his convoy go undisturbed to his warehouse (where it is scored at the end of the game).
The Smuggler may negotiate his bribe with the Inspector or they may choose to proceed silently. After the Smuggler offers his bribe, the Inspector has two choices:
-
The Inspector accepts the bribe: The Smuggler's convoy is successful (and he scores his cards facedown in his "warehouse" in a pile in front of him).
The Inspector takes his bribe and scores it in his own "warehouse" in a facedown pile in front of him and reclaims the Prohi Card he played back to his hand.
-
The Inspector rejects the bribe: The Smuggler takes back his bribe, and the Inspector caries out his inspection.
Note: The Smuggler is allowed to offer multiple rounds of bribes (if his first bribe is rejected).
If no bribe is offered, the Inspector may choose to not inspect the convoy. In this case, he scores the Prohi Card he played in his own "warehouse" in a facedown pile in front of him.
Variation: You may wish to play that the Inspector is allowed to reclaim his Prohi Card back in his hand if he is not offered a bribe.
Inspection
Depending on the rank of the card he played, the Inspector turns over 1, 2 or 3 cards in the convoy, one at a time.
If the Inspector turns over ONLY Legal Goods:
The convoy is successful. The Smuggler scores all the cards in his convoy, and places them in his "warehouse" in a facedown pile in front of him. The Smuggler also claims the Inspector's Prohi Card and adds it to his own hand.
If the Inspector turns over ANY Illegal Goods:
The inspection is stopped immediately, and the convoy is unsuccessful. The Inspector steals all of the cards in the Smuggler's convoy and scores them in his own "warehouse" in a facedown pile in front of him.
If the inspecting player turns over a Prohi Card:
The inspection stops immediately, and the convoy is successful. The Smuggler scores all the cards in his convoy, and places them in his "warehouse" in a facedown pile in front of him. The Smuggler also claims the Inspector's Prohi Card and adds it to his own hand.
Note: Finding a Prohi Card is just like finding only Legal Goods, except that it has the power to end the inspection early, before the Inspector has had a chance to inspect all his cards.
Important: Only cards turned up over during an inspection are revealed. All other cards in the convoy are left facedown and scored in secret (no matter the outcome of the inspection).
End of the Game
When the draw pile runs out of cards, and there are fewer than 4 faceup cards in the center of the table, the end of the game is triggered and the final round begins.
All players are given one last turn (including the player who triggered the end of the game).
Note: The game can also end early if all players pass.
Scoring
Players add up the points for all the cards scored in their warehouse:
- Legal Goods are $1000 each
- Illegal Goods are $4000 each
- Lieutenants are $3000 each
- Captains are $4000 each
- Majors are $5000 each
And add additional points for each Prohi Card remaining in their hand:
- Lieutenants are $1000 each
- Captains are $2000 each
- Majors are $3000 each
Then subtract points for each Illegal Goods card remaining in their hand: Illegal Goods are negative $4000 each
Note: Legal Goods still in hand at the end of the game are worth no points.
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