I’M THE BOSS (Face 2 Face Games, 4-6 players, ages 12-88, 60 minutes; $35)
Wolfgang Kramer). Kohle
Kie$ & Knete
was originally published in 1994 by Schmidt Spiele
in Germany
and was nominated for
I’m the
Boss has a square track on its board, instead of the round one in KKK
and resulting rectangular deal marker tiles. The names of the Investor
families have been changed as has the artwork – neither a detriment nor an
improvement in my book. The money to be earned from the deals is now
represented by cards, making it easier to conceal your boodle. My only
criticisms of the new design is that the number of investors and number of shares on the
board should have been indicated by a larger font and should have been color
coded, so they could be distinguished easily from across the table, and the
game box could have used an insert to keep the components from sliding around.
Since KKK
has been OOP for several years, copies had been commanding a premium on
on-line auctions and through used game dealers in Europe, routinely fetching prices of $55-$85. Enter upstart
Because cards are still flying, the frenetic deal-making and raucous
laughter that existed in the earlier version of the game remain its main
appeal. The suggested rules variants tweak some perceived minor weaknesses
from the 1994 published rules. Let’s look at them one at a time:
1)
Turn order remains clockwise, even if a ‘Boss’ card had been played on the
previous deal.
I’ve mixed
emotions on this change, as the original rule gave players yet another reason
to manipulate who the Boss should be – to set up turn order for the
subsequent round of play.
2)
If you have 10 or more cards at the start of your turn you must initiate a
deal
This rule
makes a lot of sense and had become standard with many game groups. No need to
hoard cards to excess.
3)
A player must either be the Boss or have played a card to get money from a
deal
This closes
the loop-hole of an extortionist demanding compensation for not
playing a card.
4)
Players who lost their investor card can draw an extra 4th card,
those with 2 investors draw only 2 cards and those with 3 investors only draw
one card per turn.
I like the
reward of the 4th card to keep in the game those who have been targeted and
lost their investor through takeovers but we found the penalties for having multiple investors too steep. Keep the
normal 3 card draw for those with 1 or 2 investors and make the penalty of
only drawing 2 cards apply only to someone with 3 investors.
5)
You must have 4 or more cards at the start of your turn to initiate a deal
A good
deterrent from letting your hand size dwindle
6)
Hand limit of 10 cards starting with the 10th deal
I like the 12
card limit and see no reason to restrict its use late in the game
7)
Rules for 2
Forget about
it! I’m the Boss excels with 5 or 6 players and
loses much of its frenetic appeal with fewer players. Playing a multi-player
free-for-all 2-handed is absurd.
Face 2 Face Games should be applauded for making KKK available to the English speaking gaming world. We fervently hope that their desire to republish many of Sid Sackson’s OOP designs and prototypes comes to fruition. I’m the Boss is a great start. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Steve Kurzban
