Here is a video which gives a window into how different players may formulate strategies while playing a round of Protection Racket.
Designer Pitch Project Submission Form Questions
Name*
Ian Brocklebank
Email*
Name of Game*
Protection Racket
Has one of your games been published in the US or Europe with a print run of 3,000 units or more? (Click “Yes” if the game has been licensed by a publisher and printed but not yet released)*
- No
Is there a Tabletop Simulator version of this game?*
- Yes
Please indicate the rights offered in your pitch*
- Game Design
In the context of this game, who are the players?*
Players are Mob Bosses in 1920s Chicago sending their mobsters out into the city. These mobsters vie for control of different city blocks pushing other mobsters between sites or engaging in a costly Mob War which always results in losses for both sides.
What is the primary game mechanic?*
Protection Racket is a worker placement game which plays in three 5-10 minute rounds, on a 3 x 3 grid of cards (2 players) or 3 x 4 cards (3 or 4 players).
As meeples are placed on cards, if the player has the majority of meeples on that card they may resolve the action depicted on the card.
Some cards do not have actions but reward players for controlling these at the end of the round. Players therefore must choose whether to put their resources towards maintaining area control of these valuable sites, or to disrupting the plans of other players.
How do you win? (If the answer is “have the most victory points”, also describe what triggers the end game.*
Rounds take 5-10 minutes. At the end of each round some sites (cards) in the city generate money. The player with the most money after 3 rounds wins the game.
While the game is underway, what is the coolest thing that happens in the game? How often does this happen?*
Every round a new set of (9 or 12) cards is used, yielding new combinations and synergies.
When players find combinations which allow them to use the effects of 2 or 3 cards together to gain advantage over other players it’s quite satisfying as a player – and can still be pretty cool as the ‘victim’. As different cards are used every round there is the potential for 2 or more players to find new combinations every 5 to 10 minutes.
In the 1 minute video I have tried to show 3 such examples to be found in a single set of cards but it’s tough in 60 seconds!