Shadows of Macao

About this board game

Shadows of Macao is an engine-building board game for 2–4 players, with games lasting around 30 minutes. Set in the criminal underworld of Macao, it places you in charge of a mafia family after the Boss’s death and the power vacuum that follows.

The Boss’s widow has given you control of the family business, but you are not the only contender for power. Develop your operations into a true criminal empire by combining shifty informants with establishments of ill repute. Every decision brings you closer to the single seat at the top.

On your turn, choose one of three actions. You can contact an informant and receive a card that helps produce resources. You can spend those resources to recruit an informant permanently into your triad, gaining access to that informant’s special power. Alternatively, you can build one of the available establishments.

• Contact informants to gain cards that produce resources.
• Recruit informants into your triad and activate their special powers.
• Build establishments to expand your criminal empire and earn money.

As players develop their engines, the game accelerates and each choice becomes increasingly critical. Recruitment and construction shape your growing operation, while the value of your buildings determines your position when the game ends.

The game concludes when one player has recruited a total of seven members in their triad or when no establishments remain available. Each building is worth a certain amount of money, and the richest player wins. With its compact playing time and escalating decisions, Shadows of Macao offers a focused race for control of the city’s criminal underworld.