Getting Past that Pesky Sheriff

While King Richard is off fighting the Crusades, his brother, Prince John has been put in charge. He’s concerned about all the contraband goods that have been flowing into Nottingham market lately, so he’s put his best man on the job, the Sheriff. Now, the Sheriff has put up checkpoints and roadblocks all around the approaches to the town. Merchants are being searched, and those found carrying anything diferent from what they declare is being fined. However, with so many merchants coming through, the Sheriff can’t always check everyone. Plus, the thing about putting unscrupulous types in charge of anything, they can be bought, and the merchants have learned that a well-placed bribe can really grease the wheels when it comes time to go through their wagons. The goal for all the merchants, of course, is to get the most gold they can in the Nottingham Market, and that’s just what players will be trying to do in Sheriff of Nottingham. CMON is coming out with a 2nd edition of this popular bluffing game. Let’s take a look at the game for veterans and new merchants alike.

In Sheriff of Nottingham (2nd Edition), players take on the role of merchants looking to stock their stalls in the Nottingham marketplace. However, they’ll have to get their goods past the Sheriff. Each round, a diferent player takes on the role of the Sheriff, deciding who they will and won’t inspect as they try and go past them. At the start of the round, players take cards from their hand and place it into their envelopes, representing their merchant caravan. Next, each merchant must declare what they are transporting. The declaration must be the right number of cards they placed in their envelope but must be only one type of good. For example, they would say “I’m transporting 4 apples.” They couldn’t say, “I’m transporting 2 apples, 1 cheeses, and 1 pepper.” Of course, they could actually be transporting what they say they are. Players certainly don’t have to lie if they don’t want to. And, sometimes, that will be to their benefit.