Objective of the Game

Welcome to Nottingham, fellow merchants! Prince John's taxes are outrageous, and the greedy Sheriff is making life impossible. But fear not, for you know the Sheriff better than Prince John does. He's not above a well-placed bribe to look the other way!

In Sheriff of Nottingham, you are a merchant trying to deliver your Goods to market. Players take turns assuming the role of the Sheriff, who must decide which merchants' bags to inspect and which to let pass. As a merchant, your goal is to convince the Sheriff to let you in—by any means necessary! At the end of the game, the merchant with the most wealth wins!

Preparation (Setup)

Let's get this market ready! Here’s how to set up your game:

1. Each player takes a Merchant Stand along with the matching Merchant Bag, and places them in front of themselves.
2. Choose one player to be the "banker." The banker gives each player (including themselves) 50 Gold. The rest of the Gold coins are kept by the banker for change. Make sure the banker doesn't mix their personal stash with the bank's funds!
3. For your first few games, it's recommended to play the basic game without the Royal Goods cards. Remove the twelve Royal Goods cards from the deck and return them to the box.
4. Shuffle the remaining Goods cards together and deal six cards face down to each player.
5. Place the rest of the cards face down to form a draw pile.
6. Turn over five cards from the draw pile to form a discard pile.
7. Turn over another five cards from the draw pile to form a second discard pile. Yes, two discard piles! All players can examine the cards in both discard piles at any time.
8. Finally, the player with the highest value of actual cash on their person will be the first Sheriff. Give that player the Sheriff marker. If there's a tie (or no one has any money!), choose the Sheriff randomly.

For 3-Player Games: Before shuffling, remove all cards with the "4+" icon (all 36 Bread cards, four Pepper, five Mead, and three Silk). If playing with Royal Goods, also remove one Bleu Cheese, one Golden Apples, one Pumpernickel Bread, one Royal Rooster, and two Rye Bread. The game will continue until all players have been the Sheriff three times.

The Game Round

The game is played over a series of rounds. In each round, one player is the Sheriff, and the others are merchants. A round consists of five phases, played in order:

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

The Sheriff only actively participates in the Inspection Phase and End of Round Phase, but they should definitely observe what the other merchants are up to!

Phase 1: Market

This is your chance to fine-tune your hand! Starting with the player to the Sheriff's left and going clockwise, each merchant player takes a turn. On your turn, you may:

• Set aside up to five unwanted cards from your hand (face down).
• Draw back up to six cards. You can draw from the top of either discard pile or the draw pile.
• Remember: You must draw cards from the discard piles before drawing from the draw pile. You can't mix and match!
• After drawing, place the cards you set aside at the beginning of this phase on top of one of the discard piles, face up, in any order you choose.

Playing hint: Drawing from the discard pile can get you specific cards, but it also reveals your intentions to the Sheriff. Or, perhaps, it's a clever bluff!

Phase 2: Load Merchant Bag

Time to pack your bags for market! All merchant players simultaneously place Goods in their Merchant Bags.

• You can place anywhere from one to five Goods cards in your bag. You cannot place zero or more than five.
• Be sneaky! Don't let the Sheriff or other merchants see what you're putting in.
• Once you're satisfied, snap your bag closed and place it on the table in front of you. No changing your mind after it's sealed!

Phase 3: Declaration

Here's where the fun begins! Starting with the player to the Sheriff's left and going clockwise, each merchant player must look the Sheriff in the eyes and declare what Goods they are taking to market. Then, hand your sealed Merchant Bag to the Sheriff.

Important: The Sheriff cannot look inside the bags yet!

When making your declaration, you must follow these three conditions:

• You can only declare Legal Goods (Apples, Cheese, Bread, Chickens).
• You can only declare one kind of Goods (e.g., "four Chickens," not "two Chickens and two Cheese").
• You must declare the exact number of cards in your Merchant Bag.

Feel free to lie! In fact, you'll probably have to at some point to smuggle in those valuable Contraband items!

Phase 4: Inspection

Now, the power is in the Sheriff's hands! As the Sheriff, you decide the order in which to inspect bags. You can inspect any number of bags, or even none at all!

Before inspecting a bag, you can threaten its owner. That player may offer you a bribe to avoid inspection. A bribe can be almost anything: Gold, Legal Goods or Contraband from their Merchant Stand, Goods currently in their bag, or even promises of future favors (though future favors aren't binding!). You cannot offer cards from your hand as part of a bribe.

After hearing an offer (and any negotiation), the Sheriff must either:

• Allow the merchant to pass: Accept any bribe, hand back the Merchant Bag.
• Inspect the bag: Refuse any bribe, and open the Merchant Bag.

Once the Sheriff makes a choice (by unsnapping a bag or handing it back), it cannot be changed!

If the Sheriff Lets You Pass:

You must show the cards in your bag to the other players. All Legal Goods are placed face up in the matching spaces of your Merchant Stand. All Contraband is kept secret! Reveal the number of Contraband cards you smuggled, but not their type, and place them face down at the top of your Merchant Stand.

If the Sheriff Inspects Your Bag:

Two outcomes are possible:

• If you were telling the truth: If your bag contains exactly what you declared, the Sheriff must pay you Gold equal to the Penalty on every Legal Good in your bag. Your Legal Goods are then added to your Merchant Stand.
• If you were lying:
  1. Any Goods you declared truthfully are allowed into the market and placed on your Merchant Stand.
  2. Any Goods you did not truthfully declare are confiscated! The Sheriff takes these Goods and places them on one of the discard piles, in any order they choose.
  3. You must pay a fine to the Sheriff for all confiscated Goods. The fine is equal to the Penalty shown at the bottom of each card.

Playing hint: When bribing, remember you'll pay a penalty for confiscated goods anyway. Sometimes, a slightly higher bribe is worth avoiding confiscation!

Honor Among Thieves

Most deals are binding, but there are exceptions:

• Promises of future favors (after the current inspection phase) are not binding.
• If a merchant promises Goods from their bag as a bribe and is allowed to pass, they only have to pay the Sheriff the Goods that actually exist in their bag upon revealing its contents.

Phase 5: End of Round

If all players have been the Sheriff twice (three times in a three-player game), the game ends immediately!

Otherwise:

• The player who was the Sheriff passes the Sheriff marker to the player on their left. This new player will be the Sheriff next round.
• All players draw cards until they again have six cards in hand. (The outgoing Sheriff should already have six cards from the previous round).
• The next round begins with Phase 1: Market.

End of Game and Scoring

The game concludes after all players have had two turns (or three turns in a three-player game) as the Sheriff. At the end of the last round, all players discard any cards remaining in their hand—they're not worth points!

Then, reveal your Contraband cards and tally your score. You earn points equal to:

• The Value of all Goods (Legal and Contraband) in your Merchant Stand.
• Any Gold coins you have.
• Any bonuses you've earned for being the "King" or "Queen" of a type of Good.

The player with the most points wins!

Tie-breaking: If there's a tie, the player with the most Legal Goods wins. If still tied, the player with the most Contraband Goods wins.

King and Queen Bonuses

The player who has successfully delivered the most and the second most of each type of Legal Good is declared the "King" and "Queen," respectively, of that Good. They receive bonus points:

• Apples: King 20, Queen 10
• Cheese: King 15, Queen 10
• Bread: King 15, Queen 10
• Chickens: King 10, Queen 5

If there's a tie for the King's Bonus, add the King and Queen bonuses together and divide the total equally among all tied players (rounding down). No second-place bonuses are paid in this case. If there's a tie for the Queen's Bonus, divide those points equally among the tied players (rounding down).

Tips for Winning

1. Master the Bluff (and the Truth!): Don't always lie, and don't always tell the truth! A well-timed honest declaration can earn you money from the Sheriff, while a convincing lie can smuggle in valuable Contraband. Keep the Sheriff guessing!
2. Bribe Smart: Sometimes, paying a small bribe is better than risking inspection and losing valuable Contraband (and paying a larger penalty!). Consider the Penalty value of your goods when negotiating.
3. Watch the Discard Piles: Pay attention to what other players discard and what they draw from the discard piles. This can give you clues about what they might be trying to smuggle or collect, helping you as the Sheriff, or informing your own strategy as a merchant.