Our hidden gem from Spiel

💰 Mob: Big Apple is a game you probably never heard of before. At least we probably wouldn't have, if it weren't for the surprise box that we bought at SPIEL (no gambling addiction here at all 😅). As it turns out, it was on Kickstarter last year. We had a blast playing it and the production quality is so nice, we have to highlight it. 😊

First of all, this is a 2p game where you play as mobsters fighting the other gang in New York for control of contraband! It is an interesting mix of worker placement, area majority and dice rolling, played like a tug-of-war, lasting over 3 rounds. You begin each turn with rolling 2 dice: they allow you to optionally place mobsters into cars - one die determines the place, the other the number of your people.

After the car phase you must place one or more meeples (depending on the cost) on the action board to take action(s):
🚙 switch cars
🚙 go in for the crates on a location
🤯 shoot rival gang members (only in their cars)
🎁 move / add crates
🧱 move / reveal moles (those weighted chips that you placed secretly on each location during setup - they give you additional mobsters at the end and only you know how many)
⚖️ bribe the district attorney, making the life of your opponent harder.

At the round end the mobsters standing next to the crates shoot each other, removing meeples from the board. At game end, the secret moles are revealed too, and whoever has more people there, gets the crates from a given location. The player with the most crates wins. Keep in mind, those crates move around during the game, as do moles - you can never be sure, if you are winning 😜

💬 The rules are fairly simple and it plays quickly. It is an intense tug-of-war: you have to balance the limited number of people you have between taking actions vs. building up your majority in each area, reacting to what you think your opponent might be planning. The mind game gets more interesting when you start to move your moles around. Even if it is abstract, the theme and the suspense shines through! Definitely a keeper for us! 🤩