Speakeasy FAQ
152 questions players ask · Updated Nov 7, 2026 · Full rulebook
Setup and Components
- In a 2-player game, when and where do I place my starting Family Member at the Docks?
- Can I do the Setup Round steps in any order, for example play my Operations card before opening a Speakeasy?
- When I play an Operations card in the Setup Round, do I get its action (such as Get Protection) as well as its benefit?
- Will I always start Act 1 with exactly 3 cards in hand?
- Can I take a second Operations bump during the Setup Round, and what Infamy does that give?
- Which player counts block districts, and what happens in a 3-player game?
- Why does setup say to reveal the Cop District tiles and then place them face down?
- Can two Central Park goals with the same number be revealed during setup?
- Is there extra compensation for players who go later in turn order?
- What is the bag in the box for?
- Each player has extra Family Members and Books in the box. How many should they use?
- What are the cardboard lifts and thin brown bars for?
- How much money is in the bank, and is it limited?
- Do the two sides of the reference card change any rules by player count?
Turn Order and Rounds
- Does turn order change at the end of each round or at the end of each Act?
- Can I visit the Restaurant more than once in the same Act, or more than once in a round?
- When I change turn order at the Restaurant, can I pick the position I already hold?
- Does a Casino have to be Protected, or only Operating, to pay out when turn order changes?
- Do Casinos still pay out if the Restaurant visitor keeps the same turn order position?
- When do Casinos pay, and does a Casino pay more than once if several players visit the Restaurant?
- When I move my turn order marker at the Restaurant, does my Leverage cost change right away?
- If other players' Restaurant visits push me to the 3rd or 4th position, do I discard a card?
- How many cards do I discard to take the second turn order space in a 2-player game?
- Can I send a Capo to the Restaurant if I have no Operations card to discard?
- Can two Capos talk to the same Person of Interest, and how many Capos fit at each location?
- Where do Capos go when they return at the start of Acts 2, 3 and 4?
- Which parts of a turn are mandatory, and can I skip actions at a location?
- When can I use a Helper card, and is there a limit on how many I hold?
- Do I draw an Operations card every turn, and is there a hand limit?
- When I play an Operations card, in what order do the benefit and the action resolve?
Key Concepts: Operating Buildings, Money and Control
- Does the Golden Rule mean a non-operating building is removed from the board?
- When is a building Operating?
- If a Cop arrives and my building is unprotected, do I lose the barrel on it?
- Who controls a district when one player's building is protected and another's is not?
- If two players have an equal best building in a district, who controls it?
- How does laundering safe money work, and can I use it while I still have cash?
- Can players attack each other's buildings, or can Cops be moved or attacked?
Mob War and Lucky Luciano Phase
- Do Family Members protecting a building help defend it in a Mob War?
- In a Mob War, do I see all new Mobsters first, or is each district resolved in turn?
- If I have several buildings in a district under attack, do I defend each one separately, and can I pay my Associate more than once?
- If my defense strength equals the Mobster's Mob War strength, does my building survive?
- Do Mobsters already on the board, or those from setup, attack again each Act?
- Is a Mobster removed from the game when all of its Speakeasies are taken over?
- What happens to a building I lose in a Mob War, and to its Family Member and barrels?
- Does a Mobster's Mob War strength modifier apply when I take over its Speakeasy or when my Associate defends?
- How do I work out my Zone Control payout, and what happens on ties or with no districts?
- Does the Zone Control payout go to my pocket cash or my safe?
- When do the Zone Control markers reset, and how many spaces do the tracks have?
- In the Lucky Luciano phase, do Cops arrive before the Zone Control payout?
Contractor Office and City Planning Office
- Do I still pay the building cost when I take over a Mobster Speakeasy?
- If I take over two Mobster Speakeasies in one action, do I need the full strength for each?
- Which Mobsters' Speakeasies can I not take over, and can I still associate with one whose Speakeasies I took?
- How many Nightclubs and Casinos can I have, and is the limit per district or per zone?
- Can I upgrade a Speakeasy that is not operating (Cop present, no Family Member)?
- How does the upgrade discount work, and does it apply to taking over a Mobster Speakeasy?
- Can I upgrade a Nightclub to a Casino?
- When I upgrade a Speakeasy, what happens to the old Speakeasy, its barrel and its Family Member?
- Do I gain a building's bonus before I pay for and place it?
City Tiles
- When and where can I play my City tiles?
- Where do played or excess City tiles go, and can I stack them on one space?
- Can I take a City tile from the face-down stacks of the display?
- When a Mobster ability lets me gain two City tiles, do I refill the display between picks?
- Can the Nightclub and Casino City tiles be used to upgrade a Speakeasy?
Garage and Trucks
- Can I move a barrel from my Stills to an Operating building in the same district without a Truck?
- Does picking up and delivering in the district where my Truck already is cost movement?
- Can a Truck drive through Central Park, for example from District 15 to District 16?
- Can I move barrels from one Truck to another?
- How many barrels can I buy from a Rum-runner ship, and when does the ship move?
- Does my Truck have to be in the same district as a Rum-runner ship to buy barrels?
- Where does a Rum-runner ship go after someone buys from it or ambushes it?
- Do the Garage +2 and Fleet card +2 range bonuses stack, and do they apply to each Truck?
- In one Deliver action, can I use both Trucks, several ships, my Stills and several buildings?
- What do the numbers on the Rum-runner tracks at the City Docks mean?
Docks and Rum-runners
- If I pay from my Safe for another player's Family Member at the Docks, how much do they get?
- How is Ambush strength calculated, and can my Associate help?
- After a successful Ambush, what happens to my Family Member at the Docks?
- Where can the barrel I take from a Rum-runner ship go?
- After an Ambush, is the Crate refilled, and does the stolen barrel count for Crate tile 10?
- Does Crate tile 17 pay for opponents' Family Members, and do they have to be used?
- If a Crate tile lets me choose any Docks bonus, do I get that bonus in addition to the one for my space?
- When I place a Family Member at the Docks, can I rearrange my other Family Members there?
- At the Docks, can I take the free Goon but skip playing a Stills card?
City Hall, Leverage and Protection
- Is the Leverage cost for Get Protection paid per Family Member, and what counts as my Leverage?
- What does the number in the top right corner of an Operations card mean, and is it a cost?
- Do Leverage tokens come back after I use them?
- If I play a VIP Room card, does its own Leverage count for the Get Protection action on that card?
- Do the City Hall goals count districts or Zones, and can all be in one Zone?
- In a 2-player game, can both players have a Capo at City Hall?
- Does the Get Protection Helper card give me protection for free?
Commission, Associates and Goons
- Do I pay to use a Mobster's bonus, or only to add their strength?
- Do Carlo Gambino and Texas Guinan defend my Stills without a strength check?
- Can I pay my Associate to add strength when ambushing a Rum-runner ship?
- Can I return my current Associate at the Commission and not take a new one?
- Can I associate with a Mobster in a district where I already have a building?
- Do I lose my Associate if all that Mobster's Speakeasies are taken over?
- At the Commission, can I both get an Associate and hire Goons, and in which order?
- If my VIP area is full, what do I keep when an Associate gives a Family Member to the VIP area and one to the Docks?
- On a location or card, does a dashed line mean I get both actions or just one?
Operations Cards, Levels and Infamy
- When do I gain Infamy and the track bonuses from raising an Operations or Strength level?
- When my marker reaches an Infamy bonus space showing an Operations card and a Helper card, do I get both?
- What do the unlabeled icons at Infamy 18 and 25 give?
- Do Operations cards raise my Strength level?
- How many barrels does Produce make, and is there a limit on barrels at my Stills?
- Can I play an Operations card only for its benefit and skip the action?
- If an Operations card benefit shows two icons separated by a slash, do I get both?
- Do I ever reshuffle the Operations decks?
- Do I need to discard a card to raise an Operations level to 5?
- Does an Operations card with a faded Leverage X in its top right corner give Leverage?
Restaurant and Cooked Books
- Can I place more than one cooked book in the same Cooked Book area, such as the three Docks goals?
- Do I have to place every cooked book I qualify for?
- If a cooked book gives me a bonus, such as Leverage, can it help meet the requirement of the next book in the same action?
- Does a cooked book stay if I later upgrade the Speakeasy that qualified it?
- Do I gain a goal just by reaching it, or do I need to cook a book at the Restaurant?
- Do Zone Goal buildings need to be Protected, or is Operating enough?
- Do I spend Strength, Goons, Leverage or pay my Associate to claim a Central Park goal that requires them?
- What do the Central Park goals about Operations and Strength levels require?
- Does Leverage from an Associate or tokens count toward the Central Park Leverage goals?
- Can I claim a Central Park goal marked with the padlock using a non-operating building?
- What can I do at the Restaurant besides change turn order?
- Does Public Goal tile 10 count books on Zone Goals?
- In a 2-player game can both players use the same Infamy-track Cooked Book space?
Park
Final Scoring
Crate Tiles, Helper Cards and Goals
- Is there a cap on Crate tile 9, which pays $5 per Fleet Operations level?
- Does Crate tile 7 have a $24 cap, and which City tiles does it count?
- How does Crate tile 13 count Nightclubs and Casinos?
- Does Crate tile 10 need the building with the barrel to be operating, and do Stills count?
- How does the Helper card that takes over a Mobster Speakeasy work, and do I still pay for the building?
- How do the five extra Helper cards from the update pack work?
- What does Player Power 9 do when I sell barrels?
- What are Player Powers, variable powers and the once-per-game or once-per-Act cards from the upgrade pack?
- Can Jo score Public Goal tiles in solo play?
Solo Mode (Jo)
- How does Jo defend buildings in the Mob War, and can he lose them?
- Which Infamy track bonuses does Jo receive?
- How many barrels does Jo deliver, and where does he get them?
- What does Jo do if he has no Operating building to sell or deliver to?
- Can Jo gain more than one Helper card or Family Member from District cards in a turn?
- When Jo opens two Speakeasies, how many District cards are drawn?
- Where does Jo place buildings, and does he pay or take over Mobster Speakeasies?
- What does Jo do when the rules do not break a tie?
- How does Jo cook the books?
- Does Jo get Docks bonuses, and does he have a starting Docks Family Member?
- Where does Jo's Capo go if both spaces at a location are taken?
- Can Jo be used in a 2-player game?
- What is the easiest difficulty against Jo?
- What does Jo start with?
- Can I use the mini expansions in a solo game?