Sheriff of Nottingham

About this board game

Sheriff of Nottingham is a negotiation and bluffing board game for 3–5 players, with sessions lasting about 60 minutes. Each player takes the role of a merchant hoping to profit by bringing goods through Nottingham during Prince John’s visit.

Your goods are secretly stored in a burlap sack, and you must declare what you want to bring into the city. Legal goods offer a safer path to profit, while contraband can be more tempting—but also more dangerous if the Sheriff discovers it.

Each turn, one player becomes the Sheriff of Nottingham. The Sheriff decides which merchants pass through the city gate and whose sacks should be inspected. Merchants can make deals, negotiate, and try to persuade the Sheriff to look elsewhere while they quietly attempt to get their goods inside.

• Secretly pack goods into your burlap sack.
• Declare the goods you wish to bring into the city.
• Negotiate with the Sheriff before inspections take place.
• Earn points from goods that make it through, while risking confiscation if you are caught.

The game ends after everyone has served as Sheriff twice, or three times in a three-player game. At the end of the final round, cards remaining in hand are discarded and score nothing. Players then reveal their Contraband cards and count their points.

Will you act as an honest merchant, offer the Sheriff a deal, or risk everything on a carefully worded declaration? In Sheriff of Nottingham, every sack can hide a fortune—or a costly mistake.