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(More customer reviews)Eagle Games' "Bootleggers" is an area control, economic engine board game set in the era of prohibition. Designed by the same team that brought you "Kayak Chaos" (Don Beyer, Ray Eifler and Steve Gross), Bootleggers pits players against one another in an attempt to generate the most money off the sales of alcohol.
There are six phases in each turn. The game repeats these phases in order until someone has acquired enough money to win. Players play "muscle" cards. The player who spends the most value in muscle gets to play first. Players may claim more "boys" which allow them to control a speakeasy. Players may claim a truck so they can ship their moonshine. Or players may take an upgrade--something that usually improves their stills production or improves a speakeasy's consumption.
The game has lots of neat bits. There are different colored armies for each player. Each soldier, if you will, is a 20's era gangster with a suit, tie and tommy gun. Players will place these boys on one of the speakeasies. Once enough boys are on a speakeasy space, that speakeasy is open for business, ie, you may sell your moonshine there. The player who has the most boys on that speakeasy gets the profits from it.
Stills produce crates of moonshine (little wooden cubes). You roll a couple of dice for how much production you will obtain. With the right upgrades, you can roll several dice instead.
There are several plastic trucks that can actually hold the moonshine crates. You will need to manage your shipping constraint if you want to maximize your profits.
After production of moonshine, players are free to wheel and deal. If you have too much moonshine but not enough trucks, sell off your extra moonshine to one of your opponents. If you have first dibs on a speakeasy because you control it, convince your opponents to sell their excess stock to you or they will not be allowed to sell their wares.
The g-men are on your trail. Starting on game turn 4, the police figure is placed on the player with the highest still production. The police can shut you down for a turn so you really want to keep the heat off of you.
The game continues until a player accumulates $100,000. The player with the most money is declared the winner.
Bootleggers is a fun game. I didn't think I would like it because I'm not big on the theme (20's era gangster). But it's actually a very fun game. In fact, I really really love the theme! There are a couple of caveats however. This is not a gateway game. It's a bit complicated for the nongamer. And there is a lot of randomness. For a game of its length, Bootleggers has too much randomness. The dice determine production and consumption. This could make the game feel like a 2 hour event that really boils down to one final dice roll. Other than the randomness factor, I recommend Bootleggers to any serious board gamer. Even if you don't like the theme, give it a try!
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Contents include one game board, six family still mini-boards, six remote still locations mini-boards, one cop miniature, 12 speakeasy improvement markers, 12 small trucks, five medium trucks, three large trucks, 120 influence markers, 80 men of action cards, 14 truck cards, 72 muscle cards, 70 whiskey bottles (cubes), play money, and 25 dice.
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