Scarface 1920

Scarface 1920 is one of those painful Redzen Kickstarters that went all out: an Elf Creek-scale production for a game by a not especially well-known designer and a first-time developer. There is one good thing about crowdfunding: a conventional publisher would have been unlikely to greenlight such an ambitious and expensive project. The production is superb, with quality on par with—perhaps even better than—Mindclash. The developer’s inexperience does show in the infuriating fact that the cube-shaped deluxe box cannot fit the small expansion and the KS exclusives. Thankfully, with a little spiritual guidance from the great masters of game packing, we eventually managed to get everything back inside.

At the table, it is exactly what it promises: a Prohibition-era gangster sandbox dressed up as a faux-Euro with engine building, worker placement, and area control. There are quite a few rules, but once you have played a little, the systems click into place, and by the second game the constant flipping through the manual drops off considerably. The issue is that the player aids, while resembling a deli menu, omit things you should be reminded about—such as taking the signet ring when hiring an assistant. Still, the game has flow and its mechanisms make sense, which is essential in a sandbox where a lopsided balance would have everyone farming the same thing.

The player interaction is not quite as punchy as I expected from a game with this theme and cards capable of blowing up your plans. It is, however, full-on Ameritrash nastiness: a random card can throw your plans apart or bring you back from irrelevance, while associate combos can become even wilder once the group learns them. The boss abilities are all so strong that if you do not play into the style they support, you fall behind. The game also ends quickly, especially once someone is first to upgrade hand size—strangely enough, that may not be the best first upgrade. The abrupt “game ends” feels anticlimactic, and I would rather add two more cards to the news deck instead of the fourth Prohibition Ends, so nobody knows whether it will end on the fourth, fifth, or sixth Extra! Extra!, and kingmaking is reduced.

Overall, I think it earns its price: it is distinctive, beautiful, and pleasant to play as long as your fellow players are not already exhausted by life. I do not see it as game of the year material or as a permanent fixture in my rotation, but it can absolutely deliver a good time. My advice is to try it with three players and, without question, use the associate draft variant.