Mob Ties(TM) is a board game of negotiation, intrigue and revenge for three to six players playable in 90 - 120 minutes. During the course of the game, players assume the roles of mob bosses vying for control of a small city. Moving the members of their families between various locations on the game board, players attempt to collect cash and intimidate or work with other players’ family members to gain respect and protect their assets.

Players are dealt favor cards at the beginning of the game that include attack cards, defense cards, weapon cards and specialty cards. Each turn during the action round, players may play any or all of the cards in their hand, attacking other players’ family members in locations where they also have family members, or defending their own game pieces from attacks.

Each round, cards are drawn from the Fed Deck which determine how many and on what location Feds will be placed. If a location is surrounded by four or more Feds, the players must either defend themselves using weapons to remove one or more Feds, or vote for one among them to be pinched. If a player’s game piece is pinched by the Feds, the game piece is placed in the Prison location on the game board.

To win the game, players must successfully avoid the growing threat of the Feds and defend themselves from the encroachments of other mob families on their territories. As more family members are killed or pinched, the Heat Meter rises, eventually reaching its highest level and signaling the end of the game. Players then count their remaining game pieces and the cash they have accumulated during the course of the game and the player with the most money and respect wins.

from the back of the box

The pigs sound hungry. Above the oinks and the grunts you can hear your Associate screaming in the other room. The Don's men have been working him over for a while now, but he hasn't given up any names. The crisp crack of their knuckles across his face, again and again, a steady brutal rhythm, soon softens to a chorus of wet bloody thuds. Screaming gives way to begging. The sudden gunshot, a solitary flash under the door, startles you. They drag your Associate's body off towards the expectant herd of swine at the end of the hall. Steady footsteps approach the room where you sit tied to a chair. The Don's men have some questions for you, too.

Cutthroat Kingdoms