In this article, you can read about the basic rules of the game Family Business and learn how to play. The object of the game is to be the last player to have mobsters alive at the end.
Setup
Remove the contents from the box and place the Box lid face-up on the center of the table with the bottom of the box on top of it. The short side creates the wall.
As you target mobsters for elimination, line them up against the wall. When mobsters are executed you place them in the rest in peace’ cardholder in the box called the Graveyard.
Each player selects a mob family and lays out all the mob cards in front of themselves face up so that all players can at all times see how many mobsters they have left. Discard any unused mob families to the Box.
Shuffle the action cards and deal five to each player. Keep your action cards hidden from other players. Place the remaining action cards facedown on the table as a draw deck.
The dealer plays first and the play proceeds clockwise. However, if someone plays a blue-bordered counter card then play jumps to them and they will take the next turn.
Gameplay
On your turn, you draw one action card from the deck then play one from your hand face-up in the discard pile and follow its effects. If you wish not to play a card you may instead discard a card without rendering its effect. When the draw deck runs out of cards, shuffle the discard into a new draw deck.
There are three types of cards red-bordered attack cards, green bordered rescue cards, and blue-bordered counter cards. The blue-bordered counter cards are the only cards you may play when it isn’t your turn.
Counter cards affect specific cards as indicated by their text as you play them. Only one player may play counter cards in response to an opponent.
The first counter card played takes effect and the player who played it draws a replacement card after its effect is resolved. Additionally, the player who played the counter card will take the next turn skipping any players in between.
Hitlist
When you put the first mobster on the hit list, place the card vertical leaning against the wall. All subsequent mobsters are placed in front of this mobster and extend away from the box across the table. When a mobster dies on the wall, the rest of the list moves forward one space with a new mobster against the wall.
The way mobsters die on the hit list is during a mob war. A mob war starts when a mob war, vendetta or ambush card is played or when there are six or more mobsters on the hit list.
Finally, a mob war is always in effect when there are six or fewer mobsters left in the game. When a mob war starts mobsters start to die at the beginning of the next players turn.
At the beginning of each player’s turn during a mob war, the mobster against the wall dies. Place the mobster face down in the rest and peace cardholder in the box. If you play vendetta or ambush you kill two mobsters each turn. The killing continues until all mobsters on the hit list die or when someone plays a truce card.
Winning the game
You are eliminated from the game when all your mobsters are killed. When eliminated you put all your action cards from your hand into the discard.
The game ends when only one player has mobsters left in play. Those mobsters can be either in front of him or on the hit list. The player with mobsters left at the end of the game wins.
There are a lot of cards in the game and each one says what it does and is pretty straightforward. If however, you do have any questions about a card please consult the rulebook for a detailed breakdown of the effects of that card.
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