Kacper Ryx i Król Żebraków (2016)

Kacper Ryx i Król Żebraków ("Kacper Ryx and the King of Beggars") is a picaresque board game for 2-5 players, based on the motifs of the novel series about sixteenth-century Cracow detective Kacper (eng. Casper) Ryx written by a Polish writer Mariusz Wollny.

Players assume the role of gangs ringleaders, who fight for the title of the King of Beggars, the ruler of the Cracow underworld. The winner will be the one who at the end of the game will have the highest value of points of influence (respect). The players score points by performing tasks described on the objective cards which they are drawing at the start of each turn. Many objectives will require a capture of taverns, which will become bases of operation for players and will allow to take control over districts of the Renaissance Cracow.

Each turn is divided into 4 phases. In the income phase players collect tribute, fill their ranks with new thugs and draw special cards according to the value provided by each inn they control. They also draw new objectives (3 cards are always kept in hand) and heal each ringleader wounded in the previous turn.
In the action phase players operate on a beautiful board depicting the Cracow from the days of yore. They usually perform 8 basic actions (movement, brawl, stealing, begging, murder, trade, bribery, recruitment) and use special action cards. All 8 basic actions are printed on four 2-sided cards, one on each side. Each player has his own set of cards. At any given moment a player can perform only the action that is visible to him, that's why players must always plan on how and when to use their basic actions in order to fulfill their secret objectives in the best way possible. Each action has its cost in the form of ducats (game currency) and/or action points. A player usually can't spend more than 10 action points per turn. After the action phase comes the objective phase, in which the players reveal each task they did perform in the action phase. For those, they receive points of influence.

Investigation phase is the final step of each turn. At this point, the players reveal investigation cards they previously collected. Those cards are obtained as the result of various crimes conducted in the action phase and simulate the inquiry of the title detective Kacper Ryx. Many of those cards will cost us the loss of money (ducats), thugs or will block any income that our taverns may generate in the coming turn. In addition, the investigation cards are a key factor in ending the game. Each of them will add more points to the investigation pool, common to all players. Investigation Track coincides with the Time Track. With the passage of time and the disclosure of new crimes conducted by players, both the time and investigation marker, which start at the opposing end of the time-investigation track, will move closer to each other. When they meet the game ends and the player who scores most points of influence will be the new King of Beggars.

A 2 players variant follows a somewhat different principles. The map of Cracow is limited to 6 districts, players do not use time/investigation track as well as the influence track. Instead they compete for fulfillment of the 4 explicit objectives drawn from separate "duel deck" set next to the board. Upon completion of a task, the player takes the duel card to his pool and draws new one to replace the one he took. The player who first accumulates 4 objective cards wins the game. Thanks to these modifications the game is as playable as the 3-5 players variant, but much shorter.