Oliver Twist

About this board game

Oliver Twist is a board game for 2–4 players, with games lasting around 60 minutes. Set in 19th-century London, it places you among a band of street kids working for the old knave Fagin.

Fagin offers a little money in exchange for the fruit of your larcenies. Across the game’s two rounds, day and night, you will try to steal as many items as possible from the streets of London and resell them to Fagin.

There is a catch: the police are watching. While pursuing valuable goods, you must also avoid getting yourself noticed. Balancing these two goals gives the game its central tension as you seek to become the richest child in the group.

• For 2–4 players
• Approximately 60 minutes of play
• Two rounds: day and night
• Steal items, resell them to Fagin, and avoid police attention

At the end of the game, only the richest child can hope to regain their freedom—though, as the premise suggests, there is no need to exaggerate. Success depends on gathering more wealth than your fellow street kids while keeping your activities out of sight.

Released in 2017, Oliver Twist is the second volume in PBC’s Classics Series, following Around the World in 80 Days. Its literary setting and focused push-your-luck-style objective—steal more, but do not get noticed—bring the world of Fagin and his young companions to the tabletop.