The Smoke társasjáték

Angol leírás

The Smoke is a competitive strategy game for two to five players set in London from 1920 to 1927. Each player combines a character and a profession with distinct abilities, then builds an empire through legitimate businesses, criminal enterprises, government buildings, and political connections. Players compete for Power across five regions of the city.

The game spans eight years, each divided into two seasons. On each turn, a player takes two different actions. Business, Infamy, and Political cards can be played for their effects or used to support other actions, such as building and recruiting. Players develop businesses, recruit petty criminals and thugs, purchase Power cards, and use their growing networks to influence rivals and the city.

Buildings come from a shared market, with higher-level tiles entering the supply as the years pass. Legal and criminal businesses respond differently to each region's Prosperity and Police Presence. Improving a neighbourhood's economy or changing its policing can therefore help one enterprise while undermining another. Buildings and recruits also contribute to the struggle for regional control.

Players can negotiate trades, bribes, and alliances. Immediate exchanges are binding, but promises about future actions are not. Influential Figures are acquired through auctions in which opponents each have one opportunity to raise or pass, followed by a final response from the player who opened the auction. Figures provide abilities and may contribute Power.

An annual Headline changes the conditions facing everyone and can shift the political Spotlight. At the end of each year, players collect income, resolve ongoing effects, and score regional control. After the eighth year, players total their Power from cards, tokens, Influential Figures, and bonuses for their businesses, resources, geographic reach, and regional dominance. The player with the most Power wins.

The Smoke is an unreleased design by Chris Nelson. No publication date has been announced.

—description from the designer