Gameplay
The four Acts of Speakeasy, what you do on a turn, how turn order and Casino skim work, and the key concepts: Operating buildings, the Golden Rule, attack and defence, Associates, Goons and laundering.
This guide follows the English rulebook, version 19c (2026), and the publisher’s April 2026 FAQ.
Act structure
Prohibition lasts 13 years, and so does the game: the Setup Round (1920), 11 player rounds and the Final Scoring Round (1933). The rounds are grouped into four Acts. Each Act runs these phases in order:
| Phase | Act 1 | Act 2 | Act 3 | Act 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Return Capos | — (you start with 4) | take back 3, box 1 | take back 3 | take back 1, box 2 |
| 2. Player rounds | 4 rounds | 3 rounds | 3 rounds | 1 round |
| 3. Lucky Luciano Phase | yes | yes | yes | — |
| 4. Final Scoring | — | — | — | yes |
You keep playing rounds in an Act until nobody has a Capo left on their Operations board.
Return Capos
At the start of Acts 2, 3 and 4 you take Capos back from the main board to your Operations board: 3 in Act 2 (the fourth goes to the box), 3 in Act 3, and only 1 in Act 4 (the other two go to the box). So you place 4, 3, 3 and 1 Capos in the four Acts.
Your turn
In each player round, everyone takes one turn in turn order (left to right along the top row of the Turn Order track). On your turn:
- Helper card (optional). Use the lower half of one Helper card lying face up beside your board, then put it behind your Safe screen. It cannot be used again, but it still scores at the end (Helper cards).
- Send a Capo (mandatory). Put one Capo on a free Person of Interest at one of the eight locations and perform that person’s actions. Each person talks to only one Capo per Act; the Restaurant takes any number.
- Draw one Operations card from the top of any of the four decks. There is no hand limit.
Turn order and Casino skim
Turn order changes only through the Restaurant: a player who goes there moves their Turn Order marker down to any empty space of the lower row. At the end of a round in which at least one marker sits on the lower row:
- Every player gains
$3 cash for each Operating Casino they have ($5 in a 2-player or solo game). - Slide the markers still on the top row, keeping their order, so the spaces above the lower-row markers are free.
- Move the lower-row markers straight up. That is the new order.
The column your marker sits in also sets the Leverage price of Get Protection: 4 per Family Member in the leftmost column, then 3, 2 and 1. Going later is cheaper.
With three players a Blocked District marker covers the fourth space of both rows.
Key concepts
Operating buildings and the Golden Rule
A building of yours is Operating when there is no 
Cop in its district, or a Family Member protects it (or both).
Golden Rule: a building that is not Operating counts as if it did not exist. It cannot receive, produce, deliver or sell barrels, and it does not count for district control or final scoring. It is still on the board and can operate again later once you protect it.
Only Crate tiles and Central Park goals marked with 
ignore the Golden Rule.
You may open a building in a district with a Cop — it just will not operate until a Family Member protects it.
Attacking and defending
Mobsters attack your buildings in a Mob War; you attack Mobster Speakeasies (take over) and Rum-runner Ships (ambush).
- To win an attack you must beat the defence: attack strength greater than defence strength. A Mobster at 5 needs 6 from you.
- To defend you only need to match: a Mobster attacking at 7 is stopped by a defence of 7.
Your strength starts from your 
Strength level (1–5) and goes up with Goons and a paid Associate. Each fight is checked for one building at a time.
Associates
At the Commission you can take a Mobster from the Mobster board as your Associate (one at a time). Each time you want their help you pay the fee printed on the left of the tile; then their strength is added to your attack (taking over Mobster Speakeasies) or to your defence (in a Mob War). You can never use an Associate against a Rum-runner. Mobsters of decks A–C also have a power, immediate or lasting.
“Honour among thieves”: you may not take over Mobster Speakeasies in your Associate’s district (your Associate marker shows which).
Goons
Each Goon you return to the supply adds +1 to one attack or one defence. Hire them at the price printed on the cheapest empty Goon space of your board ($0 to $5); when you return one, always return the most expensive.
Cash and the safe
Money in front of your screen is cash; money behind it is in your safe. You can spend both at any time, but safe money must be laundered 2 for 1: spending $1 from the safe costs $2. Barrel sales, Crates and Casino skim pay cash; Cooked Books and the Luciano payout go to the safe. Everything counts at the end.
Blocked districts
In a 2-player or solo game, five districts carry a Blocked District marker. Nobody may build there, but ports still work, Trucks can drive through and Cops can still be placed there.
Variant: rebuild your Stills
Recommended for first games: if a Mob War destroys your Stills, put it back on your Operations board instead of in the box, so you can open it again later. While it is off the map you may lose the discount of the group it belongs to (Building groups).