It’s 1920 and the start of prohibition in Manhattan. Mobsters have taken over pockets of the city under the oversight of Lucky Luciano. Mobsters are expanding their operations, police presence is growing, and you’re working to find ways to profit in this new world. Speakeasy is designed by Vital Lacerda with outstanding artwork from Ian O’Toole, being published by Eagle-Gryphon Games.
Welcome to the Big Apple
Manhattan, NY has been divided up into three zones on the central board for Speakeasy. In the three zones are a number of districts that players and mobsters are asserting dominance over, popping up “legitimate” businesses. Over the course of four rounds that represent the 13 years of prohibition, new and more powerful mobsters will enter the city. With each passing round, more police presence will arrive and you’ll rely on your family to protect your empire.
Speakeasy is a worker placement game with area control and pick-up and deliver thrown into the mix. The double-sided board is created for a 2-player (or solo) game on one side and 3 to 4-player game on the other side. The game scales really well with parts of Manhattan being blocked off in a 2-player game, leading to more interaction.
Action spaces across the top of the board is where you will place a Capo on your turn. You’ll have four Capos in the first round, three in rounds 2 and 3, and only a single Capo in the final round of the game. It would be laborious to try and explain every action available. Instead, I’m going to give you an overall feel of what you’re doing in this trip back to the early 1900’s.
Players are establishing speakeasy’s, a still to make liquor, night clubs, and casinos. The speakeasy’s are affordable to drop into the city but gives you the smallest return when selling liquor from these locations. Night clubs and casinos will give you a nice profit for selling alcohol and the casino can earn you cash when the player turn order changes.
Stills will produce alcohol and your fleet of trucks can transport these across the city as you look for the most profit. Rum runner ships are positioned around the edge of the city and are packed with barrels of liquor and cash. You can buy from these boats and keep everything on the up and up, or send a crew to the docks to take what you want by force.
It’s Strictly Business
At the end of each of the four rounds, players will resolve the “Lucky Luciano phase”. This is when more mobsters are introduced to the city. Mob war will break out in contested districts, new police will be added to the board, and control of each zone will be evaluated. Players earn “vaulted” money from Lucky based on how many districts they control during this phase.
What is “vaulted” money? So glad you asked! The money you earn in Speakeasy is either “cash in hand” or “money in your vault”. Your cash in hand is kept outside your vault for all your opponents to see. Money in your vault is kept secret and has to be laundered before it’s spent. Money spent from your vault is worth 2:1 when you buy something. For example, buying something for $5 from your vault will cost you $10. All your money (in hand and vaulted) is counted as victory points when doing final scoring at the end of the game. Be cautious on how you’re spending throughout the game. You want to be the wealthiest at the table at the end of the game.
If you’re going to survive in Speakeasy, you probably need to associate with a mobster at some point. When you’re associated with a mobster, you can’t take over their buildings but you will have access to their strength when protecting yourself (for a price). Players can choose to move on to associate with stronger mobsters as the game advances. Those will come with an even higher price.
Moving the Booze
Players manage a hand of operation cards throughout the game, gaining a new card at the end of each turn. Your player board will keep track of your VIP, party, still, fleet, and strength level in Speakeasy. Each level you advance will give you more control in each area of the game. Pushing up any of these values will increase your Infamy along the right side of the main board. This Infamy level will unlock more possibilities along the way.
The design of these player boards is really fantastic. As you play new cards, you’re sliding them into thematic windows representing each operation. This is another layer of polish that draws players into this world.
One of the primary money makers in Speakeasy is moving, then selling liquor at your buildings. But, your building must follow the Golden Rule. Your building must be “operating” in order to be considered for selling liquor and being counted for district control. You MUST have a family member protecting your building when a cop is present in your district. You can send your fleet vehicles to pick up alcohol from your still or from a rum runner where you can purchase barrels.
Barrel prices and the number of barrels you can sell are all controlled by your operation levels. To earn the most money, players have to invest in raising their status in the game, earning the right to make top dollar for their liquor.
By the fourth round of the game, you’ll only have a single Capo to place as the game comes to an end. You’ll need to rely on the structure you’ve built over the previous three rounds and find creative ways to squeeze the most out of this final push. Speakeasy ends with players counting all their cash, being paid for their protected buildings, and earning money from helper cards earned during the game.
A Life of Crime
I could write another 1,000 words trying to explain how Speakeasy works and how everything in this game is structured. It’s a Lacerda design so you already know it’s a heavy game that is sure to challenge your brain. What impressed me the most about Speakeasy is how this mob controlled world plays out on the board.
Players are looking for areas of the board to control, but have to take into account what’s coming to that district. Police presence will eventually come to every district, forcing players to spend family members to protect their buildings.
There’s plenty of paths to take in Speakeasy as you vie for control over the city, earn money, rob rum runners, and align yourself with powerful mobsters. Players will often take some of the easiest districts on the board early in the game. If you haven’t prepared for the more powerful mob forces in the late game, you could be locked out of expanding your control over Manhattan.
Throughout the game, you’ll work on leveling up in the five different operation tracks on your players board. I really enjoy the balancing act as you invest in these tracks and choose the best spot for your Capo to take an action each turn. You’ll only send your Capos out a total of eleven times, which really isn’t a lot. Learning the best ways to maximize these turns is a big piece of the puzzle in Speakeasy.
The setup for Speakeasy is every bit of 20 minutes, but you’ll never experience the exact same game twice. Tiles, mobsters, boat locations, police tokens, and even objectives are all randomly dealt each game. Speakeasy is immersive and a beautiful game that challenges players enough that you’ll want to revisit Manhattan again and again. Eagle-Gryphon Games is known for their level of polish and component quality and Speakeasy is no different.
In the realm of Lacerda games, Speakeasy will fall somewhere in the middle when it comes to difficulty. For me, it’s one of the best when talking about the thematic connection and artwork. All of it works so well together to immerse the player in an iconic era of American history.
Speakeasy is launching on Kickstarter on September 26, 2024. Join the campaign today to jump into the world of Prohibition Era crime from Eagle-Gryphon Games.
A prototype of the game was provided for this coverage. Components and rules covered in this preview are not finalized. Read more about our preview policies at One Board Family.
