Description

In Kingpins, you’re running a criminal syndicate in 1920s Temperance Town. The onset of Prohibition means it’s a race to see who will become the best bootlegger in the business! Recruit the right ne’er-do-wells to your side and undercut your rivals at the right moment to ensure that your syndicate comes out on top.

The goal of the game is to be the player with the lowest score after five rounds of play. Cards left in your hand at the end of a round will add to your score. Play smart and leverage your cards’ special abilities if you want to win!

Shuffle the deck and deal five cards to each player.
Place the remaining cards in a face down stack in the center of the playing area. This is the stockpile.Flip the top four cards of the stockpile face up and place them north, south, east,
and west of the stockpile. These are the recruitment stacks.

GAMEPLAY
The game lasts five rounds. In each round, players take turns in clockwise order until the round end is triggered (see ROUND END).

• Play a kingpin (12) from your hand to start a new syndicate stack in an empty space on one of the four corner positions around the stockpile (NE, SE, NW, SW).
• Play a card from your hand to any stack. The card you play must be the next lowest in rank, but opposite in color (e.g., You can play a red 10 on a black 11).
• Move an entire stack onto any other stack. This is only possible if the bottom card of the stack being moved is one rank lower and opposite in color to the top card of another stack (e.g., a stack of R4-B3-R2 can be moved onto a stack of R6-B5). Recruitment stacks can be moved onto syndicate stacks, and vice versa.
• Play any card from your hand to one of the original (N, S, E, W) recruitment stacks that has become empty.
• Discard a femme fatale card to play a different card from your hand to the bottom of any stack. The card played must be one rank higher than the card currently on the bottom of the stack, and opposite in color.
• Play a hideout to any stack. This is only possible if the top card of the stack is a 1 and opposite in color to the hideout.
• When you play a card, resolve its special ability (if any) immediately. If the ability cannot be resolved, simply ignore it.

If, after playing a card, you have none left in hand, the round ends. If you have cards left but cannot or do not want to take any more actions, end your turn by drawing a card from the stockpile.

If the stockpile runs out during the round, continue to play as normal but do not draw.

ROUND END
The round will end either (a) when one player manages to get rid of all the cards from their hand or (b) when the stockpile has run out and all players have passed consecutively—whichever comes first.

Score all cards remaining in your hand at the end of the round (taking all special abilities into account). The scoring value of each card is indicated in its bottom right corner. Add your score for the round to your running total.

GAME END
After the fifth round is complete, the game is over. Players should then compare their scores. The player with the lowest total score is the winner—the true kingpin! If there is a tie for lowest total score, the tied player who won the most rounds is the winner.