I’ve got a group of friends with whom I’ve played poker semi-regularly for going on 20 years. Some of the stories of epic hands or games have taken on a life of their own. There have been some nicknames that had their origin in a single hand, but over the course of years have more or less defined the playstyle of a given player. Bet-It Johnny. Check-Raise Brittany. All-In Luke. My friend Matt once lost his truck and signed a blank check to double down and win it back. Things have only gotten out of hand like that a couple times, but there are these through-lines that have defined the narrative of almost 20 years of playing cards. Mob Sitters is a game with enough bluffing and quick play to offer some incredible stories of hands or games, and possibly even elicit a few nicknames if you play with the same group over and over. Let’s dive in.
Each player in a game of Mob Sitters is a mobster earning some extra cash as a babysitter. The game supports 3-8 players with minimal downtime that scales up with player count. And while the downtime scales up with player count, so do the tension, decision space, and bluffing options players have on their turns. Regardless of player count, turns can and should be lightning quick. Players will resolve any remaining cards in their play area putting them in various locations depending on the card type, play 3 cards, and draw 3 cards (to make a hand of 6). That’s it.
Players each have individual decks which contain Job Cards (which earn money for doing jobs for “The Boss” but are vulnerable to Accusation Cards that “Squeal to the Cops”), Steal Cards (which earn money for the value of what was stolen, but are vulnerable to Accusation Cards that “Tell The Boss”), and Baby Sit Cards (which can earn a small nominal amount of money, in a way that might be a little too honest, but are not vulnerable to Accusation Cards). Accusation Cards are used to rat on other players, and cancel their Job and Steal Cards. The last type of card in a deck are Reaction Cards – It Was You Cards actually change the blame to another player and Got Away With It Cards skirt the Accusation altogether. The game also has Agenda Cards which were not provided with the prototype version I received to review and which I will not be able to discuss in any measure of detail here.
Players are trying to score any Job or Steal Cards they can, use Accusation Cards on other players’ higher value Job or Steal Cards and use Reaction Cards to protect against Accusation Cards. On the very first turn of the game, low to medium Job or Steal Cards are probably going to be placed face up to attempt to score them. The next player may play higher value Job or Steal Cards, add a face down card, or even play a face up Accusation Card. A face up Accusation Card can only target Job/Steal cards played on a previous turn. Face down Accusation Cards will resolve at the start of that player’s next turn. For this reason, Accusation Card played on the first turn of the game should always be played face down. Reaction cards will often be held until the largest value cards are in-hand. That way a large value card can be played with one or two face down Reaction Cards to protect the high value card. Any face up Job or Steal Cards that survive until a player’s next turn will score and be tallied at the end of the game. Any card can be played face down to bluff Reaction or Accusation Cards (these are just discarded at the start of the next turn).
Here’s where this game takes a step up in terms of strategy and design. Accusation Cards cause Job and Steal Cards to be accumulated in a penalty area. Reaction Cards can cause those cards to accumulate for someone else (It Was You) or to fizzle (Got Away With It). And Reaction Cards can chain together. In a 5 player game, I’ve seen player 3 accuse player 1 on the top value ($1000) card. Player 1 responded with It Was You (pointing to the right, Player 5). Player 5 responded with the same, now blaming Player 4. Player 4 had no Reaction Cards and was stuck adding the Job Card to their penalty area. The penalty areas don’t just subtract from player scores. At the end of the game, the player who has accumulated the most value in The Boss pile has got under the skin of The Boss and is eliminated from winning the game. The player who has accumulated the most value in The Cops pile has way too much evidence against them, is arrested, and is also eliminated from winning the game.
With a group of old college friends, games started to bleed together. Does DavO The Don still have any Reaction Cards left or is he bluffing by playing a Babysitting Card face down? Does Bad News Bakaric have enough Accusation Cards to cover both my high price Job and my high price Steal Cards this round? If I bluff Accusation Cards and play all 3 face down, can I trick these lackeys into making a mistake? After just 3 or 4 games (each lasting 15 minutes or less) we were holding some of the “Take That” play against each other. I found myself spending all of my Accusation Cards against one or two other players every game, regardless of what value cards they were trying to score. More than one “You dirty rat” was uttered in my direction. Drawing all that attention early lead players to burn through their Reaction Cards. That meant that my high value Job and Steal Cards, protected by my Reaction Cards, were less vulnerable to the Accusation, Reaction, Reaction (back) combo.
I really like that this game has the added depth of end-of-game player elimination. It’s a small part of the design, but it has a large impact and I really believe it enhances the strategy involved in such a simple quick game. Everyone is in it until the end, and if you think you’re in danger of elimination, you can change gears and start pointing the finger at another player. I love that just through a couple games patterns and a metagame started to form. Player interaction is very high in this game, and it can carry from one game to the next over and over. The tension of only playing 3 cards at a time provides a significant push-pull feeling and forces players to pick their spots for playing each kind of card.
One thing players really need to watch is saving Accusation Cards to the end of the game – otherwise the player that goes last might have a bit of an advantage. The game plays so quick, that it might be a good idea to set up a running tally for 3-4 games agenda. That said, a few small decks of cards can always find their way into a bag for game night, and that means this game can be part of a regular rotation very easily.
I think this is the kind of game that will really benefit from having a regular group to allow for an ongoing narrative. That said, the early roots of a narrative can get started after just a few games. The bluffing, the Reaction Cards, the chance to quote mobster movies at one another – this game packs a lot into a small package with simple gameplay. There’s as much about playing the players as playing the cards or the game in Mob Sitters. That can often lead to a good story or even a goofy nickname. For me, any time a game becomes more than a game, I try to pay attention to it.
Cheers!
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