Moneybags ふくろと金貨

Jun Sasaki, the mastermind behind Oink Games, has brought us two news games this year -- Zogen, and Moneybags. Zogen is a game of speedy response, similar to Slapjack / Geistesblitz. I am slow in response, and have a low propensity to games of that nature. Moneybags, on the other hand, is single-handedly the most heavy-weight of all games from Oink, literally -- tightly packed with 67 gold coins for your next time to the video game arcade all your jiggling urges. Game rules are simple but devilish, and are highly capable to break a friendship or two -- that's how pirate friendship works anyway right? Judging from the trial games I watched at the Oink Games booth, the game has been well received by old and young, boys and girls.

In this game, players are a bunch of scurvy dogs on a pirate ship ready to divide up the loot. Actually, the loot is divided up by the boss (the source of all evil) into different bags, so nobody except the boss knows exactly how many coins there are in the bags, other than a rough estimate by jiggling the bags. (Pirates aren't the best mathematicians anyway.) Every player has a chance to steal from another player in the name of justice, but don't be greedy -- the one who got stolen can propose a challenge. Then both players need to immediately empty their bags and compare contents, by the quick primitive way of -- you guessed it -- stacking up the contents and compare the height. (Though there is a diamond in the loot somewhere that will screw you up.) The one with the taller share gets the boot, while the one with the shorter share takes all!

Moneybags
(3-6 players; 30 minutes)

Contents:
- Gold Coins: 67 pieces
- Diamond

- Score Counters: 3 types, 3 pieces each

- Boss Marker
- 6 Money Bags

Setup
- Everyone takes a money bag.
- Determine the "Boss," who receives the Boss Marker, and pours all coins and the diamond into the game box lid. Then the Boss in secret distribute the loot into each player's money bag (including the boss') At least one coin needs to be in each bag.

How to hold the bag
(1) Players cannot look inside any money bag at any time (including their own)
(2) Players cannot hold the money bag by the bottom. They must hold the bag by the top.
(3) When stealing coins from another player's money bag, the stealer can hold the bag by the bottom.

On a player's turn
- A round start with the player on the Boss' left, goes clockwise two times, and ends when the Boss has taken his second turn.
- A player in his turn may ask other player(s) to jiggle his money bag, and the other player(s) must oblige.
- A player can do A, B or C on his turn.

(A) Steal from another player
- Choose another player, take their money bag, steal some coins or diamond (or none just for bluff), and put into your own money bag. Remember: do not look inside the money bags, and make sure nobody else can see how much you actually steal.
- Return the money bag to the owner, and slowly count down from five. Before counting down to zero, the player who got stolen must declare if they would propose a Challenge (A-1).

(A-1) Challenge
- The player who got stolen may propose a challenge, if he believes he has fewer coins now than the stealer.
- Both players empty their money bags, stack up the contents and compare the height.
- If a player has the diamond, he needs to stack (*note) the diamond on top of the coin pile and compare height that way.
- If the challenger's pile is as tall as or taller than the stealer's pile, the challenger is eliminated from the round. Surrender all coins and diamond to the stealer, and no longer take any turns in that round.
- On the other hand, if the stealer's pile is taller than the challenger's pile, the stealer is eliminated from the round. Surrender all coins and diamond to the challenger, and no longer take any turns in that round.

(B) Stand by -- do not steal from any player's bag and end your turn.

(C) Close your money bag -- pull the drawstring on your money bag and close it. Nobody can now steal coins from your bag. You also cannot take any more turns in that round, and can no longer steal from other players.

End of round
- The round ends when the Boss has finished his second turn.
- All players empty their money bags and compare contents.
- The player with the tallest stack wins the round. In case of a draw, the player who takes turn earlier wins the round.

(*Note: The English rulebook says "may stack,"but the Japanese rulebook says "will stack." I follow the Japanese rulebook.)

Oink Games HP: https://oinkgms.com/en/
BGG Link: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/251622/moneybags