Greg Schloesser
United States
Talbott
Tennessee
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Designer: David Bromley
Publisher: Mayfair Games
3 - 6 Players, 30 minutes
Review by: Greg J. Schloesser
NOTE: This review was first published in Knucklebones magazine
“You lookin’ at me?”
“Send him to sleep with the fishes!”
“I’ll make you an offer you can’t refuse!”
Ahhh, the wonderful clichés one can use when playing Family Business, quite likely the godfather of mobster-themed games. After a period of being out-of-print, Mayfair Games has re-released this gem of gunning-down rival gangs in your attempts to rule the underworld.
A caveat: this game is brutal, and not for the feint-of-heart. The object is brutally simple: kill everyone else. The game spares the gory details regarding how the actual slayings occur, but you are free to embellish the scene as you see fit!
Each player represents a gang of mobsters intent on seizing control of the underworld. The Capone Mob, New York Mob, Moran Gang -- all are represented. The new edition even depicts actual mobsters on the cards, including such notorious figures as Scarface Al Capone, Pretty Boy Floyd, Desperate Dan Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and more. It would have been even nicer if they had included brief biographical data on each personality.
Each player’s gang consists of nine mobsters, all of whom are set face-up on the table. Players each receive a starting hand of five cards, and the carnage is ready to begin.
Game play is quite simple: Draw a card and play a card. Normally, you will play a card (Contract or Double Contract) that attempts to add an opponent’s gangster to the "Hit List", a line of gangsters who have been targeted for extermination. A "Hit" card, however, can cause a mobster to be gunned-down immediately and instantly removed from the game. Various cards can be played in response to one of these dastardly attempts, with the aim being to foil your opponent’s planned assault.
Mobsters on the Hit List are arranged in a line on the table. Once six or more mobsters are in a line, a Mob War ensues. From that point, the first mobster in line is exterminated at the beginning of EACH player’s turn. The carnage continues until all mobsters in the line are slain, or until a card is played to stop the carnage. Further, some cards can cause a Mob War to begin even before there are six gangsters on the Hit List. Mobsters are an unscrupulous bunch!
There is an assortment of other cards which can cause various effects, ranging from rescuing mobsters from the Hit List, to the dreaded St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, which immediately slays all mobsters currently on the Hit List. Brutal. Many cards can be countered, which has the additional effect of switching the start player to the person playing the counter card. This often causes some players’ turns to be skipped, which is a source of contention amongst some. In a fast, free-wheeling game such as this, however, I don’t mind it.
If a player loses all of his mobsters, he is eliminated. The wait for the termination of the game won’t be long, though, as mobsters die at a frighteningly high rate. Once there are only six mobsters left standing, an automatic Mob War ensues and continues until the end of the game. The player with the last mob standing is victorious and rises to the position of crime lord. At that point, however, there won’t be many mobsters left to lord over!
While I am happy to see Family Business back in print, and am pleased with the images of actual gangsters on the mob family cards, I am appalled that Mayfair has inexplicably chosen to remove the brief power descriptions from the action cards. Without those descriptions, players must constantly flip through the rulebook to discover how a particular card can be used or countered. This bogs down what is intended to be a fast-paced, fun game, and is totally inexcusable. The person responsible for this oversight should be thrown onto the Hit List. Well, maybe not shot, but at least suitably chastised!
Once one becomes familiar with how the cards can be used -- which would take NO time had the descriptions remained on the cards -- the game plays quickly, often at a frantic pace. Mobsters are tossed onto the Hit List, escape, and are thrown back on again. Mob Wars start with great frequency, and the death toll mounts precipitously. Don’t take offense when you are targeted, as at any moment, players will inevitably target the player who has the most mobsters remaining. Thus, the game is usually quite balanced.
Also, don’t enter the game expecting a great strategic struggle, or much control. You are hostage to your hand of cards, and the only path to pursue is to kill or be killed -- probably both. Still, the game is fun, and offers the chance to slip into the role of a mobster, but without the actual bloodshed! In true mobster fashion, Mayfair has served up a "game we can’t refuse!"
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Ryan Hackel
United States
Falls Church
Virginia
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gschloesser wrote: While I am happy to see Family Business back in print, and am pleased with the images of actual gangsters on the mob family cards, I am appalled that Mayfair has inexplicably chosen to remove the brief power descriptions from the action cards. Without those descriptions, players must constantly flip through the rulebook to discover how a particular card can be used or countered. This bogs down what is intended to be a fast-paced, fun game, and is totally inexcusable. The person responsible for this oversight should be thrown onto the Hit List. Well, maybe not shot, but at least suitably chastised!
While this was true in Mayfair's 2nd Edition (2006), the 3rd Edition (2008) corrects most of this issue. I quibble with some sloppy working ("reverse" instead of "cancel"), and still reach for the rulebook from time to time but far less than I used to.
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Eric Jome
United States
Milwaukee
Wisconsin
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This is a fantastic game. I highly recommend it if you are a fan of gangster films or books. There's no end of fun you can have talking smack about putting people on the Hit List.
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