Palermo in the 1930sPalermo, Sicily, in the 1930s—a time marked by power struggles and the strengthening of Mafia families. Palermo was the heart of Sicily, and a city of contrasts, where the beauty of its Baroque churches coexisted with an underworld of illicit dealings and dangerous alliances.Sicilian MafiaHistorically marked by poverty and the influence of rural landowners, the island saw the rise of a network of Mafia families that controlled everything from local commerce to international smuggling.These families, known as cosche, vied for territory and political influence. Power was wielded through extortion, trafficking, and money laundering—activities often masked by legitimate businesses such as fruit and wine exports, and construction. The Sicilian Mafia—Cosa Nostra—solidified itself as a quasi-corporate structure, characterized by a rigid hierarchy and codes of silence, most notably the famous omertà.In the city’s alleyways and cafés, alliances were forged and betrayed, while illicit money circulated among politicians, businesspeople, and criminals. Sicily in the 1930s was a chessboard of power—the perfect setting for a game like Sicilianos, which transforms this historical tension into a strategic contest between rival families.Let’s take a look at Sicilianos!Sicilianos - Game InfoSicilianos is a game for 3 to 6 players, age 11+, designed by Frank Czarnetzki—or simply Czarnè, as he is better known—who is also responsible for the game's artwork.Game BoxSicilianos was released in 2004 by Zoch Verlag. Its main mechanic is hand management.Game ComponentsPlaying the GameIt is the 1930s in Sicily, where illicit dealings thrive in the dark streets of Palermo. Six major families—Giuliano, Corleone, Venditti, Borsellino, Capone, and Masino—vie for control of comemrce and political power. These families attempt to run front businesses to launder "dirty money"—the Siciliano, the island's currency.However, when these families clash, it's like Mount Etna just erupted again! Palermo descends into chaos as everyone fights for their faction.This is the setting of Sicilianos!Before setting up the game, it is important to familiarize yourself with a few components:- Family cards;- Bomb and Turncoat cards;- Families;- Business cards;- Money and dice;Family cards feature a number representing their influence value within a family's specific color.Family CardsBomb and Turncoat Cards are special ones, with specific rules, shown in the image below:Bomb and Turncoat CardRegarding the Turncoat card shown in the previous image: if used to support the white family, it is worth 4 points; however, after providing this support, you cannot play any further cards—meaning its effect is a one-time action.There are also important details regarding the Bomb card: when playing a Bomb card during a gang war, you must decide:- whether to use the bomb as a standard family card—meaning you do not activate the Bomb effect and simply use its value of 5;- whether to use the Bomb itself and discard a family card matching one of the three colors shown on the Bomb card, and not use the bomb's value of 5 in the gang war.Bomb Card explanationAll the cards within each family range from number 1 to 11; as previously mentioned, this represents their influence value in a gang war.All cards from the black-colored familyIn every family deck, the card with a value of 1 is the Bodyguard; these cards always sacrifice themselves during a gang war when a Bomb is played. This is a game rule: if a Bomb is played against a family and that family has a Bodyguard, the Bodyguard is discarded; otherwise, the player who threw the Bomb chooses which card is sacrificed.Additionally, in all family decks, the card with a value of 5 is always the Bomb, and the card with a value of 8 is the Turncoat. The Turncoat takes on a value of 4 if they defect—that is, if they support another family, they become a card with value 4.There are 6 families in total:- Giuliano;- Corleone;- Venditti;- Borsellino;- Capone;- Masino.Family Cards and Business CardsNow it’s time for the Business cards; they have a “?” on the back. Each family has three businesses in their respective color: a restaurant, an antique shop, and a laundry. Quite fitting, isn’t it?Business Cards for the white-colored familyFinally, money and dice. The game's currency is the "Siciliano," and it comes in five different values and colors. The dice are used to select family members, a process that will be explained in a minute.Siciliano notes and the game's diceWith that settled, we can move on to the setup:- each player receives 2 banknotes of each type of Siciliano currency; the remaining money stays in the bank for the duration of the game;- the Family cards (featuring Family names on the back) are separated from the Business cards (featuring a question mark on the back) and sorted by color; this results in 6 Family card decks, which are shuffled individually and placed side-by-side, face-down, in the center of the table. The Business cards are also shuffled and placed face-down alongside the Family cards, matching their colors (red with red, blue with blue, etc.);- the player who makes the best spaghetti becomes the starting player;- starting with the first player, each player draws a Family card face-down, repeating the process until everyone holds 4 cards. These 4 cards must be of 4 different colors.Game SetupOn your turn, you must choose one of two actions:- roll the dice to select family members;- play cards to start a gang war.Both options are highly strategic; therefore, it is crucial that the backs of the cards in every player's hand remain visible at all times, so everyone knows how many members of families each player holds.Another important detail is that no player may hold more than 10 cards. If a player reaches this limit, they are required to start a gang war in their next turn.With that said, let's look at the details of rolling the dice to select family members. Whoever chooses this action rolls the 3 dice:- 1 influence die (with 3 different faces);- 2 color dice.The 3 diceThe symbol that appears on the influence die indicates which action the player can perform:- take 2 cards;- take 1 card;- steal 1 card.Influence DieIf the take 2 cards face appears on the influence die, the player draws 2 Family cards face-down from the center of the table, matching the colors shown on the color dice. If there are no cards left of a specific color, the player simply does not draw one. Note: if the player already holds 9 cards when performing this action, they can only draw 1 additional Family card, due to the 10-card hand limit.If the draw 1 card face appears, the player has two options:- draw a Family card from any of the decks on the table, ignoring the colors shown on the dice;- take an entire deck of Family cards matching the color indicated by one of the color dice and choose one card. The player takes a card from that deck and adds it to their hand; the remaining cards are placed face-down in the center of the table without changing their order.Finally, for the steal 1 card face (the "little hand" icon), the player chooses one of the colors shown in the color dice and then steals a card of that color from another player's hand.After the dice roll and taking one or two cards—depending on the influence die result—it is the turn of the player to the left.However, the player might have chosen to play cards to start a gang war—a very important action, as this is the only way players can launder dirty money and open an antique shop, provided they hold the most powerful Family (cards of the same color).The player chooses any Family card from their hand and places it face-down in front of them. Next, they place a "Siciliano" money note of their choice next to the played card, indicating the amount of money they wish to launder during this gang war. Note that only one "Siciliano" money note is placed.Afterward, all other players decide whether or not to participate in the gang war. Those who decide to participate play a Family card of their choice from their hand—face-down—along with a money note, just like the first player. It is important to note that the Family card used by subsequent players cannot belong to the same Family (color) as a card already played by another player.Anyone holding only cards in colors already used by other players cannot participate in this family war. Thus, initiating a gang war is a highly strategic decision; observing opponents' Family card colors allows one to start a war in which not everyone can participate.At this stage—after every participant in the gang war has placed their card and "Siciliano" money note—everyone reveals their selected card. As previously explained, Family cards display a number representing their influence value.This is a crucial moment, as it reveals whether the war involves only standard Family cards (with their base influence) or if special cards—such as Bombs or the Deserter—have been played. If special cards are present, the player who played them must decide whether to activate their effect; if they choose not to, the card counts only for its initial influence value, as previously stated.The gang war continues after everyone has had the chance to play a card. Once again, the player who initiated the gang war may choose a Family card and place it face-down in front of them. Naturally, this card must belong to the same Family (color) as the first card played. Play continues according to the other players' turns, except for the player who played the Turncoat card; as previously explained, this player cannot play any more cards once they become a Turncoat, as they are now an ally of the Family they supported.At the end of each round of the war, all played cards are revealed. Any player who runs out of cards or chooses not to continue leaves their played cards—along with the associated money—face up in front of them until the war ends.An example Gang WarNow it is time to resolve the gang war and see who won. To do this, each player adds up the values of all the cards they played. This total must also include any turncoats from other players—now referred to as allies. The player with the most powerful family wins the gang war.Here is an important detail: if multiple families have the same total influence, they cancel each other out, and the family with the next-highest value wins.The green-colored Family wins due to a tie among the other FamiliesOnce the gang war is resolved—regardless of who won or lost—all used Family cards are discarded and placed under the decks of the corresponding color, and all money wagered by the Families that did not win is discarded and returned to the bank. The winner has the opportunity to do two things:- open a Business;- launder the dirty money.The winner must now open a Business—choosing from the three available options (provided they are still available) that match the color of the Family used to win the gang war. Simply take the Business card deck of the corresponding color, choose a Business, and place it face down in front of you. The remaining Business cards are returned face down.To launder the dirty money—regardless of whether the player managed to open a Business—they may launder the dirty money used during the gang war. The player keeps the "Siciliano" money note used to enter the gang war and collects another "Siciliano" money note of the same value from the bank. The money used to enter the gang war, combined with the money collected from the bank, now is their "clean" money.Keep your dirty money separate from your clean money! It is suggested that you place the "clean" money under or near one of your Business cards to distinguish it from the dirty money.If, by chance, the gang war is won by multiple players—specifically, a Family and an ally (a Turncoat)—the outcome differs slightly:- one player opens a Business;- the other player launders the dirty money.Note that the winning Family makes the decision; the ally gets whatever is left over. Regardless of who opens a Business or who launders the dirty money, the process is slightly different now: the player laundering the dirty money does not take a bonus bill from the bank; instead, they take the "Siciliano" money bill from the Winner or the ally—depending on who is performing the action—and add it to their own clean money.After rolling the dice to select family members or playing cards to start a gang war, it is the turn of the player to your left.That is how a turn in Sicilianos goes.Ending the GameA game of Sicilianos can end in two ways:- if a player acquires all 3 businesses of the same color;- if a player gets rid of all their dirty money.In either case, the game ends immediately.If a player acquires all 3 businesses of the same color—specifically the restaurant, the antique shop, and the laundry—that player wins the game and may call themselves the Boss (or Godfather).If this does not happen, the game ends as soon as a player no longer holds any dirty money. At that point, Payday occurs, followed by the final scoring.Payday proceeds as follows:- each player totals their laundered money and subtracts any remaining dirty money from that amount;- a potential bank bonus is added to this total in certain cases.The bank pays out bonuses of:- 50,000 Sicilianos to anyone who owns 3 different businesses in 3 different colors;- 100,000 Sicilianos to the owner of the most antique shops, the owner of the most restaurants, and the owner of the most laundries. If two or more players own the same number of establishments, none of them receives anything.Your final score is the sum of your laundered money total and any potential bank bonus.The player with the most Sicilianos wins the game.Strategy TipsSicilianos is undoubtedly about watching both your own game and your opponent's—and when I say "opponent's game," I mean their hand of cards.Let's start right off with the Golden Rule: keep an eye on your opponents' hands. This is crucial because the backs of the cards are always visible to all players; use that to your advantage.The general idea is to identify who is collecting Family cards of the same color. If an opponent holds many cards of a single type, they are likely preparing to start a war or trying to become the Godfather by securing all three businesses of that color. Stay alert!In these situations—provided you get help from the dice—the best strategy is to steal. If the influence die allows for the "Steal" action (indicated by the hand icon), use it to take a key card from an opponent who appears to be building a powerful family.Another thing to watch out for is the 10-card hand limit, which is a significant tactical constraint. If you hit this limit, you are forced to start a gang war on your next turn; again, it pays to keep an eye on how many cards your opponents are holding.This applies to you too, so avoid being predictable; try not to be forced into starting a war due to the hand limit, as that gives your opponents a chance to prepare. It is better to start a war voluntarily when you hold the strongest Family in a color that others cannot easily compete with. Strategy is everything!Bluffing is part of the game during a war; even if you have cards to play, try to goad your opponents into fighting each other—and perhaps tying—so you can claim victory through their stalemate. That’s a great outcome!Using the Bomb during a war is a powerful tool for sabotage. It can completely shift the tide of battle! Use it at the right moment!Alliances are useful, but timing is key; if you notice an opponent holds many cards of a specific Family while you lack strength in that area, an alliance is welcome—it allows you to take part in the "spoils."Stay focused on the immediate victory condition if you see an opponent collecting Businesses of the same color. If anyone is going to pull that off, make sure it’s you.If you plan to start wars, prioritize collecting Family members and initiating conflicts in colors where you already own Businesses; this helps consolidate your dominance in that color before your opponents can react.If no one wins by becoming the Godfather (the first victory condition), focus on Scoring Bonuses—try to acquire Businesses of different colors or concentrate on a single type of Business. Bonuses are incredibly helpful and can often make the difference between victory and defeat.With this in mind, keep an eye out for opportunities, craft your best strategy, watch your opponents closely, launder your money, and win at Sicilianos!Pedagogical TipsIf you’re looking for a game that’s easy to teach and understand, language-independent, and guaranteed to make kids laugh, Sicilianos is the game for you!Admittedly, the game isn't politically correct—that’s a fact—but let’s handle that lightly so the kids can get the most out of it:- gang wars: I suggest framing it as a contest to see who is the strongest;- money laundering: I recommend explaining that money is used for the contest, and the winner gets to open a business and earn even more money from it.There! We’ve taken crime off the game; now it’s just about enjoying the face-offs and seeing who can “collect” the most open businesses and cash. It’s that simple!With this approach, they’ll love competing to see who’s strongest, forming alliances with other families, tossing bombs, and so on. The gang war becomes lighthearted and fun.Rolling the dice brings that thrill of surprise—the kind only dice can provide and that kids love—creating that famous “good tension.” Drawing a family card or two, or stealing one from a friend—these are the moments that spark those little, suppressed giggles.Sicilianos offers plenty of fun, competitive moments that keep kids engaged and alert to what might happen next, as they constantly try to build up their strength, businesses, and cash.Sicilianos delivers all this, but beyond the fun, it gives kids the chance to exercise important skills, namely:- resource management: handling family cards in hand, open businesses, and cash;- strategy: knowing when and which families to use in contests;- decision-making: deciding whether or not it’s worth entering a fight;- logical-mathematical reasoning: calculating their strength and money.From an educational standpoint, Sicilianos covers resource management and fosters strategy, decision-making, and logical-mathematical reasoning—all while being fun!I highly recommend adding Sicilianos to your collection!!!
Реакции
0
0 Комментарии
Прокомментируйте первым