The King Of Bootlegging Demo

History is full of interesting periods that do not seem to make any sense when you analyze them now, but they certainly had an impact on the people living through them. Prohibition is a great example of this, because it sounds ludicrous that the US government would ban alcohol. Hence, instead of solving a problem, they managed to create an even bigger one: the bootleg mafia.

The King Of Bootlegging is an interesting combination of board game mechanics and CCG concepts that revolve around the 1920s mafia and the way people used alcohol to make money. In essence, your goal is to create a crew of gangsters and distribute illegal alcohol throughout the city, while also fighting against rival crews and winning territory by paying with blood.

You start by choosing a bonus to help you along, and each bonus provides you with a certain advantage at certain points throughout the game. Whether you start with more production facilities or you are able to draw more than one card every round, it’s important that you keep the starting bonus in mind when you decide on a strategy later on.

The other half of the game is all about positioning your gangsters on the map and making sure that you occupy new territory on a regular basis. It’s also important to fight the rival gangs and kick them out whenever they expand on your turf, because you are unable to reach the desired market if you do not have enough territory. Naturally, it’s all about money in the end.

As for the graphics, the top-down perspective makes it feel like a classic RTS, but the mechanics are obviously much simpler and to the point. You can only select your units and move them around, but at least you have the possibility to zoom in and get a better look at what’s going on. The music is decent as well, but don’t expect too much variety either, which means that it might get repetitive in a rush.

All things considered, The King Of Bootlegging is nowhere near complete yet, but it has the potential to become something quite good. However, it needs some artwork, a better tutorial and an easier interface, not to mention a lot more content in order to keep the players engaged.