Prohis

About this board game

Prohis is a 3–6 player card game about smuggling illegal goods during Prohibition-era United States, with plays lasting about 20 minutes. Each player takes the role of a smuggler seeking wealth while Prohis agents and rival players threaten every shipment.

Players begin with an Inspector, a Captain, and four cards. The deck contains legal goods, illegal goods, and Lieutenants, while four cards are displayed on the table. On a turn, a player may draw one or two cards from the display or deck, or attempt to move a convoy of two to four face-down cards into their warehouse.

Every other player can challenge a convoy by sending a cargo controller. The controller with the highest value handles the inspection, while the smuggler may try to offer a bribe and end the threat. If an inspection continues, the controller examines cargo according to their rank: an Inspector can look at three cards, a Captain at two, and a Lieutenant at one.

• Illegal goods can be seized if revealed during an inspection.
• Legal cargo rewards a successful shipment and lets the controller return to its owner’s hand.
• A revealed Lieutenant among the cargo acts as an informant and causes the inspection to fail.

The game ends when the deck is empty or all players pass on drawing cards. Warehoused illegal goods score $4k each, legal goods score $1k each, and controllers are worth $1k–$5k depending on their value. Illegal goods left in hand cost money, so every player must balance risky shipments against the danger of discovery. In Prohis, the player with the most money wins.