Capone: The Business of Prohibition

About this board game

Capone: The Business of Prohibition is a negotiation-driven board game for 2–5 players, played in about 70 minutes. Set in 1920s Chicago, it casts each player as the proprietor of an underground speakeasy during Prohibition.

The city’s secret bars are eager to serve thirsty patrons, but getting the necessary booze requires clever deals and timely decisions. Over the course of the evening, players bid on incoming trucks of liquor, seeking the supplies their speakeasies need to fill orders and stay in business.

Capone combines several engaging mechanisms:

• Card drafting to shape the resources available to your operation
• Auctions for trucks of booze arriving throughout the game
• Anything-goes trading driven by direct negotiation between players
• Set collection as you gather what your patrons require

There are no turns, so the action centers on open negotiation rather than a fixed sequence of play. If another player has a bottle you need, make an offer. If you cannot complete one of your patrons’ orders, another bar may be able to help—provided you can work out a deal that benefits both sides.

Al Capone is watching the operation as well, and players must make sure to keep him happy while managing their supplies and money. In Capone: The Business of Prohibition, every bargain can change the fortunes of the competing bars. When the evening ends, the proprietor with the most money wins.