Capo della Mafia

Capo della Mafia Rulebook

Table of Contents

Components
Setup
Short Game Overview
- Suggestions for the First Game
Gameplay

Components

110 cards:
- 70 Mafioso cards
- 16 Assignment cards
- 10 Event cards
- 7 Suspicion cards
- 7 Overview cards
100 respect points
The rules

Setup

Each player receives 1 Suspicion card and 1 Overview card in one colour.
Each player receives 3 respect points.
Shuffle the Mafioso cards and deal 5 to each player.
Shuffle the Assignment cards and place them on the table as a face-down stack.
Do the same with the Event cards.

Starting setup with 4 players (illustration in the rulebook).

Short Game Overview

The players are capos who carry out assignments for the big boss, but among themselves they also try to catch their fellow mafiosi bluffing. Each capo is always obliged to make an attempt to carry out an assignment with the help of their Mafioso cards, because for the mafia refusing is a mortal sin! Whoever carries out assignments correctly and rightly accuses others earns a lot of respect. The capo who first has 15 respect points wins the game.

Suggestions for the First Game

If the players are playing Capo della Mafia for the first time, we recommend applying the following changes:

Remove the 3 Mafioso cards "Little Tony, the rat" from the game.
Put all Event cards back in the box. They are not used. Ignore the envelope symbols on the Assignment cards.
The player who first has 10 respect points wins the game.

Gameplay

Capo della Mafia lasts a number of rounds. Each round consists of the following phases, played in the order given:

Turn over the Assignment card (and possibly an Event card)
Play Mafioso card(s)
Play Suspicion cards (optional)
Resolve assignments and suspicions

Phase 1: Turn over the Assignment card (and possibly an Event card)

Turn over the top Assignment card of the stack. It shows a number of symbols, which indicate the conditions a player must meet to carry out the assignment. The stars on the card indicate how many stars a player may have at most on the cards played in phase 2 to carry out the assignment successfully. In addition, the player must have at least all the other symbols shown on the Assignment card on the cards played.

Note: a question mark stands for a symbol of choice. Two or three symbols with a question mark stand for identical symbols.

If an envelope is shown on the back of the card of the face-down stack of Assignment cards, also turn over the top Event card of its stack. Read the text on it. This applies to the current round. If the text contradicts the game rules, the text on the Event card takes precedence.

Phase 2: Play Mafioso card(s)

Each player now decides for himself how many Mafioso cards he wants to play from his hand (at least one!). He places these face down in front of him on the table. Once everyone has done this, each player must turn over half of his played cards (rounded down), so that part of the played cards becomes visible. He may choose which cards to turn over.

Example: a player who plays 3 cards must turn over 1 of them.

Then each player places his Overview card, with the hat picture facing up, next to his played cards.

Phase 3: Play Suspicion cards (optional)

Each player takes his Suspicion card into his hand. One of the players counts aloud: "3, 2, 1, 0!" At "0" all players must simultaneously place their Suspicion card on the table.

If a player wants to suspect nobody, he places his Suspicion card face down in front of him.
If a player wants to suspect another player, he places his Suspicion card face up in front of him with the pistol pointing at the player concerned.

Note: a player may not suspect himself.

Phase 4: Resolve assignments and suspicions

Each player who is suspected by at least one other player must turn over all his cards. Only then does it become clear whether he has successfully carried out the assignment or has bluffed.

If in total he has at most as many stars on his played cards as the Assignment card shows, and at least all the other symbols shown on the Assignment card, then the assignment is successful. He leaves his Overview card with the hat facing up in front of him.
In all other situations he must turn his Overview card to the prison side (gevangeniskant).

Important: a player who is not suspected does not need to turn his cards over.

Example: Joram has met the minimum number of symbols but has too many stars, so he did not successfully carry out the assignment. He turns his Overview card to the prison side. Danny does not need to show his cards, because he is not suspected and has automatically met the assignment; he leaves his Overview card with the hat side up. Erik has the right number of symbols and stars and meets the conditions; he also leaves his Overview card with the hat side up.

Notes

If an Assignment card shows the same symbol several times, the player must also have at least that many of that symbol on his played cards.
If a card shows a question mark, this stands for a symbol of choice. If a card shows two or three symbols with a question mark, the players must play identical symbols for them.

Scoring

Now go through each player, starting with the player who counted and then clockwise, to check whether he has earned respect points (hereafter in these rules abbreviated to "respect"):

Respect for Assignment and Mafioso cards

A player whose Overview card with the hat facing up lies in front of him gets 1 respect. Note: this also applies to a player who is not suspected.
A player who has played certain special Mafioso cards gets the corresponding respect (see the overview of special Mafioso cards below).

Respect for Suspicion cards

A player who suspects a player whose Overview card is on the prison side gets 2 respect.
A player who suspects a player whose Overview card has the hat facing up loses 1 respect. Note: a player who has no respect left cannot lose any.

Now place all played cards face down on a discard pile.

Note: the cards of non-suspected players are not revealed.

Example: in the situation above, Danny and Erik each receive 1 respect for completing the assignment. Joram loses 1 respect because he wrongly suspected Erik, and Danny gets 2 respect because he rightly suspected Joram. Danny thus wins a total of 3 this round, Joram 0 and Erik 1 respect.

End of a Round

If none of the players has 15 or more respect, start a new round.
Each player who has 0 or 1 Mafioso card in his hand must draw Mafioso cards from the face-down stack until he has 5. (A capo with 0 or 1 card no longer has a team.)

End of the Game

If a player has 15 or more respect, he wins the game. He is named "Capo di tutti Capi" (boss of the bosses). If more players have 15 or more respect, the player with the most respect wins the game. In case of a tie, always play an extra round until there is 1 winner.

Clarification of Special Mafioso Cards

Giulia Napoli, "la prima donna": if the Overview card of this player lies with the hat facing up at the end of the round, he gets 1 extra respect.
Little Tony, "the rat": if this player is suspected, an extra star counts for all players, so also for the player concerned himself.
Mario Beretta, "il consigliere": if this player is suspected, he steals 1 respect from each player who suspects him.
Vincenzo Forza, "mighty Vinnie": this card gives this player 1 symbol of choice.
John Malone, "the Brooklyn cop": the player concerned may subtract 1 star from his total this round.
Captain Penny, "kickback-Penny": the player concerned may subtract 2 stars from his total this round.

Clarification of Special Assignment Cards

A few bucks on the side: minimum 1 symbol of choice and maximum 0 stars.
Specialist mission: minimum 2 identical symbols of choice and maximum 2 stars.
Promotion contract: minimum 3 identical symbols of choice and maximum 5 stars.

Clarification of Special Event Card

Have a sit down: if 2 players suspect each other, both suspicions do not apply. If these players are also not suspected by anyone else, they do not need to show their cards and have carried out their assignment correctly.