Unfinished Business
Unfinished Business Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
120 Property cards:
- 4x Diamond (100k), joker
- 8x Gold (50k), joker
- 10x Mansion (40k)
- 12x Night Club (30k)
- 12x Restaurant (30k)
- 12x Racing Horse (20k)
- 12x Luxury Car (20k)
- 12x Motor Boat (20k)
- 14x Money Bag (10k)
- 14x Alcohol (10k)
- 14x Weapons (10k)
17 Special cards:
- 8x Event cards: Raid, Drive By, Robbery, Poker Round, Mamas Dinner, New Hand, Revenge, Fake Money
- 9x Action cards: Hitman, Burglary, Money Laundry, Godfather, Funeral, Interrogation, Horse Betting, Key, Accountant
Starting cards:
- 6x Safe
Box:
- 1x Bank
- 1x Betting Office
Note (editor): the printed property card total reads 120, but the individual counts listed above add up to 124. The counts are transcribed as printed.
Game Preparation
Example of the game preparation for 3 Dons.
The following describes the game setup as seen in the example.
- Each Don receives 1 random safe and places it in front of him. The Don with the lowest safe number starts the game. In our example, this is Don Carlo with safe number 1.
- Shuffle all the property cards and place them in the center of the table as a face down draw pile. Draw the top 3 cards from the draw pile and place them face up next to it as another pile. They form the black market.
- Each Don receives 4 hand cards from the draw pile. Always keep your hand cards secret.
- Draw 6 cards sight unseen from the draw pile and place them face down in the bank. You will find the bank in the bottom of the game box. (During the course of the game, special card effects may move more cards into the bank.)
- Draw another 1 card sight unseen from the draw pile and place it face down in the betting office. You will find the betting office in the lid of the game box. (During the course of the game, special card effects may move additional cards into the betting office.)
- Search the special cards for the action card key and set it aside.
- Separate the remaining action cards and event cards from each other and build a facedown supply pile for each type. Shuffle both supply piles separately, then draw 7 random action cards and 7 random event cards from each pile. Shuffle these together with the action card key that was set aside earlier into the draw pile without looking at them. Place the two supply piles next to their respective markers (the action card marker and the event card marker) on the side of the bank.
Note: The safe is an important and central game element that helps you protect your most valuable property from other Dons attacks. During the game, try to collect as many cards as possible in your safe to ensure a good starting position for the scoring at the end of the game.
Gameplay Overview
In your turn perform the following 3 phases:
- Phase 1: If you have no cards in your hand, fill up your hand to 4 cards.
- Phase 2: Choose 1 of the following 5 action options:
- Investment (Starting Bonus)
- Black Market (Starting Bonus)
- Attack (Looting Bonus)
- Action Card
- Planning
- Phase 3: Fill up your hand to 4 cards.
After that, your turn ends and is followed by the next Don clockwise.
Phase 1: No Hand Cards
If you've exhausted yourself in the last round, here comes a handful of new options.
In the rare case that the Don has no cards in his hand, he first fills up his hand to 4 cards. To do this, he draws the cards one after another from the draw pile. If he has at least 1 card in his hand at the beginning of his turn, he skips this phase!
Phase 2: The 5 Action Options
1. Investment
Demonstrate your financial superiority by playing property cards from your hand.
If the Don has 2 identical property cards in his hand, he can play them as a set in front of his safe. The gold and diamond cards serve as joker cards and can be used instead of a second property card. In this case, the joker card is placed under the property card that was used to form the set. However, the Don may never play 2 joker cards as a set!
The Don may only play exactly 1 set of 2 property cards, even if he has other identical property cards or other sets in his hand. It is also not allowed to add cards to already played sets!
Any sets you play during the game or place in front of your safe through successful attacks will be rotated by 90 degrees on top of any card sets you may have already played.
Be a little patient. Attacks will be explained later.
STARTING BONUS: If there was no set in front of the Don's safe before the "Investment" action, he may additionally move 1 property card from his hand into his safe.
Example of the "Investment" action: Don Jonny uses the "Investment" action 3 rounds in a row undisturbed by the other Dons. He plays 1 set of money bags in front of his safe in the first round and uses the STARTING BONUS to move 1 gold from his hand into his safe. In the second round he plays 1 set of luxury cars, using a diamond (joker) instead of a second luxury car. He places the diamond under the luxury car because it is a joker card. Note that he now no longer receives a STARTING BONUS, since there was already a set in front of his safe before his second "Investment". His money bag set is now protected from attacks of the other Dons. His just played luxury car set is now in danger, as it is his new top set. In the third round, Don Jonny plays out another luxury car set and places the set rotated by 90 degrees on top of his previously played luxury car set.
Note that the new luxury car set, like any new set, must also be placed rotated by 90 degrees, as a new independent set.
2. Black Market
On the black market, there are always opportunities to get good deals. Keep your eyes open and hit the best offer at the right moment!
If the Don has a property card in his hand that is identical to the top card of the black market, he may play it along with the black market card as 1 set in front of his safe. Only one of the two property cards used to form the set may be a joker card. In this case, the joker card is placed under the property card.
STARTING BONUS: If there was no set in front of the Don's safe before the "Black Market" action, he may additionally move 1 property card from his hand into his safe.
3. Attack
Use your hand cards to attack your opponents and take their property by force. But expect resistance!
The Don has the option to attack the top set of another Don, provided that the attacked Don has at least played out 1 set in front of his safe.
Note: Cards in safes can NOT be attacked by this action!
The Don chooses another Don's top set as an attack target by playing 1 property card (or a joker) from his hand that corresponds to the opponent's top set. The attacked Don may defend himself by also playing 1 property card (or a joker) corresponding to his set. The attack may be continued by the attacker with another matching property card (or a joker) until one of the Dons can't or won't do it anymore.
The winner of the attack (attacker or defender) places not only the attacked set but also all the cards used for the attack and defense in front of his safe as 1 set. All jokers just played must be placed under the set.
LOOTING BONUS: The WINNER of the attack moves any 1 card of this set into his safe! Always note that the rest of the set can never consist exclusively of 2 jokers!
Note: Unlike in front of your safe, you collect all the cards in your safe in a single, open pile. Whenever you move cards into your safe, they will be placed all the way to the bottom without changing the order. You must always be honest about the NUMBER of cards under your safe when asked. Action cards can also end up in your safe due to card effects.
At first the LOSER (attacker or defender) fills up his hand to 4 cards, then the winner. Remember to draw the cards one after another from the draw pile.
Example of the "Attack" action: 1 Don Carlo chooses Don Jonny's luxury car set as an attack target by playing 1 diamond card (joker). 2 Don Jonny defends himself with 1 luxury car. 3 Don Carlo plays 1 more luxury car. Don Jonny has no other suitable hand card to defend. 4 Don Carlo now places Don Jonny's attacked luxury car set and all the 3 played cards as 1 set in front of his safe. 5 As the winner of the attack, Don Carlo decides to move the diamond under his safe as his LOOTING BONUS. Then, starting with Don Jonny as the loser of the attack, both Dons refill their hand to 4 cards by drawing them one after another from the draw pile.
4. Action Card
In the fight for big money, nothing is too extreme to eliminate your opponents!
The Don chooses an action card from his hand, places it face up on the table, and reads its effect aloud. Starting with the Don who played the action card, the effect is dealt clockwise, and the card is discarded afterwards. There are action cards that stay in play for 1 round. Place them in front of you as a reminder and discard them at the beginning of your next turn. Just always follow the instructions on the card.
Note: If Dons lose cards from their hand (action or property cards) due to card effects, they may not fill up their hand cards from the draw pile immediately.
Example: Don Otti plays the action card Hitman. He reads the title and the card's effect aloud. According to the card effect, all other Dons discard their jokers onto the discard pile. Then Don Otti discards the Hitman onto the discard pile. The other Dons cannot draw cards if they had to discard joker cards due to the Hitman!
5. Planning
Take a break and plan your next move so you're prepared for everything.
If the Don cannot or does not want to perform any other actions, he first draws 1 card from the draw pile. Then he discards 1 property or action card. Property cards are placed on the black market, action cards are discarded to the discard pile.
Note: Generally, whenever cards are discarded, place them face up on the discard pile. You will find the discard pile on the side of the bank.
Phase 3: Refill Hand Cards
Here you get supplies for your hand to be prepared against attacks from the other Dons.
The Don fills up his hand to 4 cards at the end of his turn. He does this by drawing cards one after another from the draw pile.
There is no hand card limit in the game! Note: During the course of the game, special card effects may add more cards to your hand. If the Don already has 4 or more cards in his hand, he cannot refill his hand and therefore does not draw any cards.
Note: Whenever an event card is drawn, you immediately pause the game! The card is placed face up on the table and its title and effect are read aloud. Then the card's effect is dealt clockwise, starting with the Don who drew the event, and then discarded to the discard pile. Event cards are never taken into the hand!
Important: Whenever you draw an event card from the draw pile, draw another card from the draw pile after the event has been dealt and discarded. This can cause a sequence of events if a Don draws several event cards in a row. In that case, simply repeat this step until you have drawn only action cards and/or property cards!
Game End and Scoring
Once the draw pile is empty and 1 Don has no cards left in his hand, the game ends immediately. The Don who owns the key now reveals it and performs its effect. If no Don owns the key, the bank will not be scored.
All Dons discard their remaining hand cards unscored!
Note: Being able to score the contents of the bank at the end of the game can give you the necessary edge to win the game. The best-case scenario is that you manage to get hold of the key at a tactically favorable time (as late in the game as possible) and hope for a high payout.
Now turn all the cards from the betting office face up. The revealed property cards increase the value of cards of the same type in the possession of each Don by an additional bonus multiplier. Each card revealed increases the value of each corresponding property card by an additional factor of +1.
Example: In the betting office, 2 money bags and 1 diamond are revealed. All players may score all their money bags with multiplier 3 (3x10k = 30k per money bag) and all their diamonds with multiplier 2 (2x100k = 200k per diamond).
Each Don now adds up the values of all the property cards in front of and in his safe. Any action cards in your safe have a value of 0.
Note: Some businesses are more lucrative than others and no Don knows at the beginning of the game which property is particularly high in price. However, if you manage to manipulate the betting office in your favor, or take a look at the cards in the betting office, you may be able to make easy money on your way to victory.
The Don with the most money wins! In case of a tie, the Don with the most property cards wins instead. If there is also a tie here, you have to play again!