Scarface 1920: Bloody Business

I had high hopes for Scarface 1920, which made the base game’s lukewarm landing sting rather more than it ought to have. Big sandbox Ameritrash designs promise the world, then sometimes hand you a large map on which nobody does anything worth caring about. So Bloody Business sat on the shelf with its assorted extras until I brought it back out almost by accident. Good thing I did.

At heart, Scarface 1920 is still about controlling areas, but now those areas are finally worth fighting over. Bloody Business, with its alternate event deck and new gangs, puts teeth into every move: you are not merely spreading across the board, but looking for the spot where you can squeeze an opponent, spoil a plan, or decide that gunfire is the sensible option.

As the rounds go by, the new material keeps the pressure on and makes interaction far more direct. You will block, hit, scheme, and watch somebody stare at territory they thought was safely theirs while you look innocent from across the table. This is the Scarface I wanted: not a quiet game of presence, but a fight in which players are constantly getting at one another.

This expansion should have been in the base box, because it turns indifferent area control into a substantial, nasty game with real tension. The cost is time: both of our four-player games ran beyond four hours. I had a brilliant time, but if you cannot stomach take-that, do not come near this table.