Intrigue

Translated by Michael Schloth.

The Equipment

5 Playing Boards representing 5 different Palazzo in 5 different Italian cities. Each Palazzo is divided into 5 places of employment offering salaries from $10,000 to $100,000.
50 Tiles (10 in each of the 5 colors of the Palazzo). Your 10 represent your relatives who (whom?) you send to other Cities to look for work. The "relatives" all work in one of 5 different professions.
1 Island. Relatives who do not please employers or who outstay their welcome are banished to this Island.
1 Bundle of Money in $10,000, $50,000, and $100,000 bills.

Preparation

Each player receives:
- 1 Palazzo.
- 10 Relatives of the same color as the Palazzo.
- $320,000 in cash. Two bills of each type.
A player is selected as banker.
The Island is placed in the center of the table.

The Course of the Game

Oldest begins; clockwise thereafter. The order is the same throughout the game.
Each player must perform the following 3 actions in the following order:
1. Collect Income.
2. Assign Jobs.
3. Send relatives out to look for work.

Collect Income

All of your "relatives" given a job in another player's Palazzo will be receiving a salary. You total the salaries of all of your employed relatives and collect the total from the bank.

Assign Jobs

During the course of the game, other players (fulfilling Part 3 of their turns) will have sent their relatives to your Palazzo in the hope of finding employment with you. They wait at the bottom of your Palazzo in the Park.

Each of the 5 buildings in each Palazzo may employ only one relative. If you have as many open jobs (unoccupied buildings) in your Palazzo as there are job applicants in your Park, and all of the job applicants are from different professions (See Conflicts), then each applicant must be assigned by you to one of the open jobs in your Palazzo.

However, just because an applicant must get a job does not mean the job will be particularly high paying. You now solicit bribes. First, everyone can make threats and promises, then you ask for your bribes. Starting with the first player clockwise from you who has an applicant in your Park, you ask for a bribe. That player must state loudly and clearly the amount of the bribe and at the same time hand the amount of the bribe to you. Once you have received bribes from all of the applicants, you now assign them their jobs. You may give out the jobs as you see fit. No one can force you to give their applicant a high paying position no matter how high their bribe. Each applicant gets only one shot at a bribe and it must be at least $10,000.

Conflicts While Assigning Jobs

No two members of the same profession may be employed by the same Palazzo. Whenever two or more members of the same profession are on the same Palazzo, a conflict occurs.

There are 2 kinds of conflict: exterior and interior.

Exterior Conflict

If two or more applicants of the same profession are waiting in the same park then you have an exterior conflict. Again, the seating order determines who makes the first bribe. Also again, once the "landlord" of the Palazzo has collected all of the bribes he determines which one applicant of the conflicting profession will stay and get a job. The others are banished to the Island for the rest of the game.

Example 2

It is Player A's turn. In Player A's park are 4 applicants: B, C, D, and E.
B and D bribe first because their applications are conflict free.
Player A decides to put B into the $100,000 office and
D into the $10,000 office.
Next, Player A must resolve the exterior conflict.
C is the 1st clockwise player so he bribes first, then E.
E gets the nod and is placed into the $50,000 position.
C is banished to the Island.

Example 3

This is a rare situation that can happen only when there are 5 players. Here all applicants make their bribes in seating order and Player A gives jobs to 2 and sends the other 2 to the Island.

Internal Conflicts

In this case, a position has already been filled by one of the professions and an applicant (or applicants) of the same profession has shown up in the park looking to get the same job. The bribes are handled a little differently. You ignore the seating order.

The player who controls the playing piece that has the job makes the first bribe (it is protecting its position). Once the bribes have been paid, the landlord must decide if the "attacker" takes over and the "defender" goes to the Island; or if the "defender" stays and the "attacker" is banished.

If there a several Internal Conflicts, they are resolved in order of the value of the position being fought for from lowest to highest.

Example 4

Here there are three internal conflicts. The $20,000 conflict is resolved first. "d" bribes first, then E. E wins the position from "d". "d" is banished to the Island. Next, the $30,000 conflict. "c" bribes first, then B, then D. B wins the position from "c". Both "c" and D are banished.

Finally, the $100,000 conflict is decided. "b" bribes first followed by C. "b" is successful in defending his position and stays. C is banished. Note that the $30,000 conflict did not have to be resolved first as an outer conflict between B and D and then as an inner conflict between either B or D and "c". No matter how many of the same profession there are in a park, if the same profession also holds one of the 5 jobs in the Palazzo it is an inner conflict.

You always assign jobs in this order:

"No conflict" assignments.
"Outer conflict" assignments.
"Inner conflict" assignments (lowest to highest salary).

Seek Employment

You must send 2 of your relatives out to look for work.
They must be sent to two different parks.
They may be 2 of the same profession.
You may not send your own relatives to your own park.

There are no other restraints. In particular, a player does not have to evenly distribute his relatives among the other Palazzo.

For instance, it is possible that 5 of your relatives may win all of the jobs in another player's Palazzo (they must be of 5 different professions of course).

End of the Game

After the Sixth round, the game ends, then each player collects income one last time. The player with the most $ wins.

(Translation note: Some players think that this rule means that each player collects income only 6 times. I think it means that each player collects income 7 times. After all, in the 6th round you are still deciding the fate of the applicants placed by the last (in turn order) players from the 5th round).

Variant

When an applicant loses a conflict he is still banished to the island but now he gets his bribe money back.

Distributed by the Sumo Rules Bank.

The Game Cabinet - editor@gamecabinet.com - Ken Tidwell