Game Objective

In Sheriff of Nottingham, you are a merchant trying to deliver your Goods to market. However, the greedy Sheriff of Nottingham is checking everyone for Contraband. Your goal is to get your goods past the Sheriff—whether by telling the truth, bluffing, or offering a bribe—to accumulate the most wealth. The merchant with the most wealth at the end of the game wins!

Setup

1. Each player takes a Merchant Stand and a matching Merchant Bag, placing them in front of them.
2. One player is chosen as the banker, who gives each player (including themselves) 50 Gold.
3. Card Preparation:
   • For the basic game, remove the 12 Royal Goods cards.
   • Shuffle the remaining Goods cards and deal six cards face down to each player.
   • Place the remaining cards in a face down draw pile.
   • Turn over five cards from the draw pile to form a first discard pile, and another five cards to form a second discard pile. Both piles are open for all players to examine.
4. The First Sheriff: The player with the highest value of actual cash on their person becomes the first Sheriff and receives the Sheriff marker. If there is a tie or no one has money, choose the Sheriff randomly.

Game Flow

The game is played over a series of rounds. In each round, one player acts as the Sheriff while the others act as merchants. Each round consists of five phases played in this specific order:

1. Market
2. Load Merchant Bag
3. Declaration
4. Inspection
5. End of Round

The Sheriff only participates in the Inspection and End of Round phases. At the end of each round, the Sheriff marker is passed to the left. The game ends when each player has been the Sheriff twice (or three times in a three-player game).

Actions and How to Play

Phase 1: Market

Starting with the player to the Sheriff's left and moving clockwise, each merchant may set aside up to five cards from their hand (face down) and draw back up to six cards. You must draw from the discard piles before drawing from the draw pile. After drawing, place your set-aside cards face up on one of the discard piles.

Phase 2: Load Merchant Bag

All merchants simultaneously place between one and five Goods cards into their Merchant Bag. You cannot place zero or more than five cards. Once the bag is snapped closed, the contents cannot be changed.

Phase 3: Declaration

Starting with the player to the Sheriff's left, each merchant tells the Sheriff what they are bringing to market and hands over their Merchant Bag. You must follow these rules:

• You can only declare Legal Goods.
• You can only declare one kind of Goods.
• You must declare the exact number of cards currently in your Merchant Bag.

Phase 4: Inspection

The Sheriff decides the order of inspections and may choose to inspect any number of bags or none at all. Before inspecting, the Sheriff may threaten the owner, who can offer a bribe. Bribes can include Gold, Legal Goods or Contraband from the Merchant Stand, Goods from the Merchant Bag, or promises of future favors. You cannot offer cards from your hand as a bribe.

If the Sheriff lets you pass: You reveal the cards in your bag to other players. Legal Goods go face up on your Merchant Stand. Contraband is kept secret; you reveal the number of cards but not their type, placing them face down at the top of your Merchant Stand.

If the Sheriff inspects your bag:

• If you told the truth: The Sheriff pays you Gold equal to the Penalty on every Legal Good in your bag. The goods are added to your Merchant Stand.
• If you lied: Any truthfully declared Goods are added to your Merchant Stand. All other Goods are confiscated (placed in a discard pile), and you must pay the Sheriff a fine equal to the Penalty shown on each confiscated card.

Phase 5: End of Round

The Sheriff marker is passed to the left. All players draw cards until they have six cards in hand. The next round then begins with the Market phase.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends immediately after all players have been the Sheriff twice (three times in a three-player game). Players discard any cards remaining in their hands.

Final Score Calculation:

• The value of all Goods (Legal and Contraband) in the Merchant Stand.
• All Gold coins on hand.
• King and Queen bonuses for having the most and second-most of a specific Legal Good:
  • Apples: King 20 / Queen 10
  • Cheese: King 15 / Queen 10
  • Bread: King 15 / Queen 10
  • Chickens: King 10 / Queen 5

The player with the most points wins. Ties are broken by the player with the most Legal Goods, and then by the player with the most Contraband Goods.

Tips for Winning

• Strategic Drawing: Drawing from the discard pile is a great way to get the cards you need, but remember that it reveals your intentions to the Sheriff—which you can use to trick them.
• Bribe Calculation: When offering a bribe, remember that you would have to pay the Penalty for any confiscated Goods anyway; sometimes it is cheaper to offer a slightly higher bribe to avoid losing the cards entirely.