2023 · Economic
Scarface 1920
Players lead a Prohibition-era criminal organization competing to control Chicago’s underworld. They recruit associates, expand rackets and bootlegging operations, place thugs on the streets, and upgrade their headquarters while managing influence, money, and police attention. The game combines worker placement and deck-building: allocate actions, draft and improve cards, and execute dirty jobs, bribes, and confrontations. Each gang has a unique boss ability, and players pursue different strategies to dominate territory, grow income, and evade law enforcement and rival outfits.
- Players
- 1–4 best 3
- Playing time
- 90–150 min
- Age
- 14+
- Complexity
- 3.8 / 5
About the game
- Publisher
Expansions
See them in Ludoya
Scarface 1920: The Enforcers Expansion2023
Scarface 1920: Bloody Business2025
Scarface 1920: Paperboy2023
Scarface 1920: The Red Dragons Tong2025
Scarface 1920: The Golden Oaks Gang2025
Scarface 1920: Night Deck2025
Scarface 1920: Melvin Purvis2025
Scarface 1920: Rum Vessel Promo Tile2024
Scarface 1920: Dice Tower Promo News Cards2025Photos from Ludoya tables
All photos in Ludoya
On Ludoya's tables
Full stats in Ludoya- 131
- Plays logged
- 232
- Players
- 3h 28m
- Average play
- 56
- In collections
- 21
- On wishlists
- 2
- Pre-ordered
7.2/10
from 30 Ludoya reviews
Balleflass5.0 The game has some really cool actions for what is essentially a worker placement game where both spots has infinite space. I loved the part of getting deals, executing them to make money and such, but the problem arose during the mid-game and continued in a more intense way all the way to the finish line. Problem 1: Horrendous downtime between turns where there is very little interaction as trying to move around and actually do stuff to your opponents will cost you a lot of turns and action cards for even the smallest gain like taking 1 neighborhood. Problem 2: Both games ended in intense raiding over and over again. Some rounds it raided 3-4 times during my opponents turn before It was my turn again which made the game just suddenly end. Feels like too many associates has effects to increase every players raid value. Problem 3: The game takes way too much space relative to what is essentially a worker placement game with 2 spots.
Шикарная, большая, сложная игра - играть в которую нужно учиться на практике, а не только прочитав правила. Игрок возглавляет ассиметричную банду и пытается привести её к процветанию и богатству, но каким путём решать вам. Либо грабить оппонентов, либо развивать бизнес в кварталах, либо наниматься в сложные работы. Для разных подходов нужны рзные ресурсы, потому игра становится интересной.
Rules questions
Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.
When does a Federal Raid happen — immediately when my Crime Rate hits 11 or only at the end of the round?
A Raid is triggered as soon as your Crime Rate marker reaches Level 11 and is resolved immediately after the effect that caused it finishes; after resolving the Raid play continues where it left off (see p. 9 and Raid!, p. 19).
Do matching skills on cards activate automatically or do I need something in my Plan to use them?
Matching skills only activate if your Plan contains one of the crime types shown in the skill’s requirement; standard skills can be used anytime during your turn before or after your main action (see Skills, p. 10).
If I play few or no cards for my Plan, can my Crime Rate go down?
No — when you lay out your Plan you adjust Crime Rate by (cards played − 2), but your Crime Rate cannot decrease even if you play 1 card or none (see Taking an Action, p. 9).
When I make a sale in a Neighborhood, how do trucks and police affect the cost and how many times can I sell there?
Each truck in the district reduces the goods required for that Neighborhood sale by 1 (to a minimum of 0), and after the sale you must pay $2 per police car in the district; you may make sales up to your Influence but you cannot sell in the same Neighborhood more than once with a single action (see Make Sales, p. 13).
How do I calculate a Neighborhood’s defense when trying to seize it — do cars and rival thugs change the value?
Neighborhood defense = the tile’s printed value +2 if it’s controlled by a rival +1 per police car +1 for each rival thug/car in the district −1 for each of your thug/car there; also, cars add +1 to your Muscle when seizing (see Seize a Neighborhood, p. 15).
When I upgrade a stat on my gang board, does that increase my Crime Rate and do I get any boss bonuses?
Yes — placing an upgrade cube increases the indicated Crime Rate (which may trigger a Raid), you remove the cube ahead of your Boss to take any bonus shown under it, then place the cube on the stat and advance your Boss figure (see Upgrade your Gang, p. 16).
Free, on web, Android and iOS
Play Scarface 1920 with Ludoya
- Keep it in your collectionTrack your copy and its expansions, lend it to friends, or put it on your wishlist and get told when the price drops.Add it to your collection
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- Settle rules questionsAsk anything about the rules and get an answer from the rulebook, with the page to check it on.Ask the rules assistant
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Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.