How to Play Nostra City

Game Objective

In Nostra City, players take on the role of lieutenants to Godfather Johnny Gota, who has been arrested and faces various charges. The main objective is to manage the Family's businesses and conspire to have the leader acquitted at trial. Initially, all players aim for the Godfather to be declared Innocent, by placing Bills on the Corruption Pile and accumulating more Respect points than others.

At the end of the game, if the Godfather is Innocent, the player with the most Respect points wins. However, some players may be "double agents" for the FBI. If a player buys an FBI Snitch Vendetta card, their victory condition changes: they must ensure the Godfather is found Guilty and have more Respect points than any other FBI Snitch to win.

Setup

To start playing Nostra City, follow these steps:

1. Separate the Wiseguys and Turfs cards into two distinct piles.
2. Shuffle the 20 Wiseguys cards. Deal three Wiseguys face-up in front of each player.
3. Shuffle the 14 Turfs cards. Deal one Turf face-up in front of each player, below their Wiseguys. The set of Wiseguys, Turfs, and Respects in front of a player constitutes their Territory.
4. Each player chooses a Made Man Token of one color and places it on space 0 of the Respect Track. Then, each player receives a set of 4 Location Cards of the same color as their Made Man Token.
5. Each player receives their starting money: two $5,000 Bills, one $10,000 Innocent Bill, and one $10,000 Guilty Bill. These Bills are placed face-down next to each player, forming their Bank.
6. The Street cards that were not dealt are shuffled and placed in a face-down pile next to the board. Four cards from this pile are then revealed and placed face-up in the four Street Spaces. Any Investigations cards revealed during this setup step are discarded and re-shuffled into the pile.
7. The Bills that were not dealt and the Police Raid card are shuffled and placed in a face-down pile next to the board. Discarded Bills during the game will be placed in a face-up pile next to this face-down pile. This discard pile cannot be consulted.
8. The Vendetta cards are shuffled and placed in a face-down pile next to the board.
9. The three End of Game Bonus cards are placed face-up next to the board. The three Zealous Corruptor cards are placed on top of these, and finally, the three Title cards are placed face-up on top of everything (so that when Titles are earned, the Zealous Corruptor cards become accessible, and then the End of Game Bonuses are available in time for the FINAL VERDICT).
10. The Verdict Token is placed in the Jury Box on the space indicated for the number of players (3, 4, or 5 players).
11. The Date Token is placed on the 1st Month (January) of the Calendar.
12. The oldest player is chosen as the First Player and receives the First Player card, which is placed in their Territory to indicate their status.

Game Flow

The game unfolds over 6 turns, called Months. Each Month is divided into 4 distinct phases:

1. THE BUSINESS
2. THE MEETING
3. THE TRIAL
4. THE RECEPTION

The First Player starts each phase of the Month. Each phase must be played by each player, clockwise, before the next phase can begin.

Each phase (except the RECEPTION) allows a player to perform a specific action. To perform this action, a player must choose one of their Free Wiseguys and place them in the Busy position. This is called Making a Wiseguy Busy. Similarly, it is possible to Make a Turf Busy during the BUSINESS phase.

In each phase, a player can choose to pass their turn and not perform the proposed action, in order to keep their Free Wiseguys for subsequent phases. A player can also choose to perform the proposed action multiple times, if they have enough Free Wiseguys that can be Made Busy.

A Wiseguy who has become Busy in one phase will remain so for the rest of the Month. This Wiseguy, therefore, cannot perform another action in a later phase.

At the end of each Month, up to the sixth, a new game turn begins. The FINAL VERDICT occurs at the end of the sixth Month and determines the winner.

Actions and How to Play

Actions in Nostra City are performed during the Month phases, using your Wiseguys and Turfs.

THE BUSINESS Phase

In this phase, players perform the Cash-in action to earn Bills. A player can pass their turn or perform the action multiple times, if they have enough Free Wiseguys.

The Cash-in action consists of:

1. Making one of your Free Wiseguys Busy.
2. Making a Turf from your Territory Busy. A Busy Turf cannot be used to initiate a Cash-in action, but a Turf in a player's Territory can be counted even if it is Busy.
3. Announcing to the other players the type of Cash-in they choose to make using that Turf: the Racket (color) or the Traffic (icon).
4. Counting the number of Turfs with the selected Traffic icon or Racket color present in all players' Territories. Turfs currently on the Street are not counted.
5. Drawing a number of Bills equal to the number of Turfs counted.
6. Giving one of these Bills to each player for each Turf that player possesses with that Traffic icon or Racket color. This distribution is optional (see Cheated Player). You cannot use Bills from your own Bank when distributing Bills after a Cash-in.

Police Raid: If, during a Cash-in, the Police Raid card appears on top of the Bills pile, no other Bill is drawn for that Cash-in, and the Bills pile is shuffled with its discard pile.

Cheated Player: When a player distributes the Bills from their Cash-in, they can choose, or be forced, not to give Bills to one or more players who should have received them. A player who does not receive the exact amount of Bills they should is considered Cheated. For each Bill the player did not receive, a Cheated player draws a Vendetta card. A player who does not keep a Bill for themselves is never considered Cheated.

First Player Card: When distributing the Bills from a Cash-in, the owner of the First Player card can give it to another player instead of a Bill. This player is not considered Cheated. The current phase order is not changed, and the player who just received the card will become the First Player at the start of the next phase. The First Player card cannot change owners more than once per Month.

Two-Color Turfs: The Connecticut and New-Jersey cards count for two Racket colors, but have no Traffic icon and are never counted for this type of Cash-in. They are worth bonus Respect.

Atlantic City: Is a Vendetta card that is immediately placed in the Territory of the player who draws it. It is treated as a Turf counted for all Traffic Cash-ins, but never for Rackets. This card can never become Busy to initiate a Cash-in.

Maximum Cash-in per Phase: A player cannot perform more than one Cash-in on a given Traffic icon and can only perform one Racket Cash-in. In total, a player can only Cash-in 4 times on their turn: one Traffic, one Traffic, one Traffic, and only one Racket. Of course, the player must have enough Wiseguys and Turfs to Make Busy.

THE MEETING Phase

In this phase, players perform the Auction action to acquire Street cards. A player can pass their turn or perform the action multiple times, if they have enough Free Wiseguys.

The Auction action consists of:

1. Making one of your Free Wiseguys Busy.
2. Placing on that Wiseguy the Location Card, face-down, corresponding to the Street Space of the card they want.
3. Placing on that Wiseguy, under the Location Card, a number of Bills from their Bank, face-down, equal to their Bid (with a minimum of one Bill).

The Location Cards and Bills are placed face-down. The number of Bills in each player's Bid can be counted. You cannot announce, using a number, the value of your own Bid or that of another player.

The number of Auctions a player can perform is limited by the number of Location Cards they possess and the number of Free Wiseguys in their Territory.

When all players have played, the Location Cards placed on the Wiseguys are revealed simultaneously. The Auctions are resolved in Street order: from Space #1 to Space #4.

Auction Resolution:

• If a player was the only one to Bid on a card, they automatically win it. They choose one of the Bills from their Bid that they keep and discard the rest. They do not need to reveal the value of their Bid.
• If multiple players Bid on the same card, they reveal their Bills. The highest bidder wins the card. All Bills are discarded.
• In case of a tie in an Auction, no one wins the card and all Bills are discarded. This card remains in its Space for the next Meeting.

Cards won during the MEETING are immediately placed as follows:

• Wiseguys, in the Free position, in the player's Territory next to the other Wiseguys.
• Turfs, in the Free position, in the player's Territory next to the other Turfs.
• Respects, face-up, next to the Wiseguys. The player's Respect Score is updated on the Respect Track.

Investigations: Cause a negative effect on all players while they are on the Street. To remove them, one or more Auctions must be held in their Space. Players' Bids are combined. If the sum is greater than or equal to the Investigation's Backhander value, it is removed and its effect stops. The player who made the highest Bid wins the card, places it in their Territory, and moves their Made Man Token one space on the Respect Track. If there is a tie in the winning Bids, no one wins the card, and it is removed from the game. If the sum of the Bids is less than the Backhander value, the card remains in its Space. Each Investigation not removed from the Street generates one Guilt point at the end of each Month.

Underboss, Consigliere, and Primo Capo Cards: At the end of the second Month, the Underboss card is placed in the first Free Space on the Street. The player who wins it receives three Respect points and must give the Consigliere card to another player of their choice. The player who receives the Consigliere card gains two Respect points and must give the Primo Capo card to another player of their choice, who is not the Underboss. The player who receives the Primo Capo card gains one Respect point. Any player who does not receive a Title is considered Cheated and draws a Vendetta card.

Player Cheated during the Meeting: A player who performed at least one Auction and does not win any card during this phase is considered Cheated and draws a Vendetta card.

THE TRIAL Phase

In this phase, players perform the Corruption action to influence the FINAL VERDICT. A player can pass their turn or perform the action multiple times, if they have enough Free Wiseguys.

The Corruption action consists of:

1. Making one of your Free Wiseguys Busy.
2. Placing a single Bill from their Bank, face-down, on the Corruption Pile on the board.

Zealous Corruptor: Starting from the fourth Month (April), if a player is the only one to perform one or more Corruption actions during the TRIAL, they win a Zealous Corruptor card, which grants them one Respect point. If multiple players perform Corruption actions, no one wins a Zealous Corruptor card.

THE RECEPTION Phase

This is a maintenance phase where players do not perform actions. It happens in the following order:

1. Players return their Wiseguys to the Free position.
2. Players check if