How to Play the Peaky Blinders Card Game
Want to learn how to play the Peaky Blinders card game, Peaky Blinders: Faster Than Truth? You’re in the right place! We’ve got a video guide and step-by-step tutorial that’ll have you dominating your rivals in no time.
(If you don’t yet have this in your arsenal of games yet, you can pick up a copy here.)
How to Play Tutorial Video
Join Jamie Giblin for a quick walkthrough of how to set up and play.
Money. Muscle. Prestige. Step into the lawless streets of 1920s Birmingham, where lies travel faster than the truth.
How to Win
As an aspiring gangster in the roaring 20’s, you’ll need to outsmart your opponents by gathering resources right under their noses. Your aim is to stash five of any one resource type. If you begin a turn with five of the same resource type in your stash, you win!
Designed for 3-6 players, Peaky Blinders: Faster than Truth will have you bluffing, double-bluffing, and backstabbing your way to the top. But remember: it’s just a game — so NO. FIGHTING!
Set Up
Set up begins by shuffling the intrigue card, and dealing four to each player. The remaining cards are placed within easy reach to create the intrigue deck.
Then, separate the resource cards into their respective types (Muscle, Prestige, Money) and place them face up in the middle of the table. This is called the reserve.
Take one of each resource type per player, shuffle them, and deal three face down to each player. These cards are your stash.
Each player should then look at their cards, and turn two of their choice face up. Any cards face down in your stash are considered hidden.
You win by having five of the same resource cards, so think carefully about what cards to hide! Hiding cards from your opponents will keep them guessing about what resource type you’re collecting..
How it Works
Choose a player to go first. Then, play proceeds clockwise.
If you have less than four intrigue cards in your hand at the start of your turn, draw cards until you have four. Then, choose two intrigue cards to play.
Intrigue cards have a variety of effects. Some let you gain resources, while others can hinder your rivals or even steal their resources. Read each card to see how it can help you, and carefully watch each rival’s stash.
Playing Intrigue Cards
When playing an intrigue card, place it face down in front of you and declare what card it is.
And here’s the devious bit:
When you declare what card you’re playing, you can either play it safe and say the card’s actual name (shown at the top of the card), or gamble and say the name printed at the bottom above the gamble text instead.
Once you’ve resolved two intrigue cards, the player on your left goes next (clockwise).
Important note: Each card has a number printed on it, telling you how many of this card type are in the deck. Keep track of which cards you’ve seen. Sometimes, you can catch a rival in a gamble if you know all cards of that type have been played, or are in your hand!
But wait: you didn’t think you could gamble willy-nilly and just get away with it, did you?
Challenging a Rival
Think someone’s gambling? If you’re feeling confident, challenge them and catch them in a lie!
Only one player can challenge a card, and they need to have at least one resource to do it.
Once you’ve decided whether you’re challenging — or not — the intrigue card is revealed. Here’s what happens next:
THERE WASN’T A CHALLENGE, AND THE PLAYER PLAYED IT SAFE
No one challenged, and it’s a good thing, too. Turns out the player wasn’t gambling.
Resolve the card’s ‘play it safe’ effect.
THERE WASN’T A CHALLENGE, AND THE PLAYER GAMBLED
No one challenged. That’s a shame, because the player was gambling.
Resolve the card’s ‘gamble’ effect.
THERE WAS A CHALLENGE, BUT THE PLAYER PLAYED IT SAFE
Someone got too cocky and made a challenge when the player wasn’t gambling.
The card’s play it safe effect is resolved. The player then takes a resource card from the rival that challenged them and adds it to their own stash face up.
THERE WAS A CHALLENGE, AND THE PLAYER GAMBLED
Called their bluff! Now, you’ll reap the rewards.
The card is discarded without effect. The rival that made the challenge then takes a resource card from the player that played the card, and adds it to their own stash face up.
Only one player can challenge a card, but that doesn’t stop you from talking about it first. You’re free to discuss whether you think someone’s gambled. The trick is to make your rivals second guess themselves. Trick them into letting you gamble successfully, or catch them out with an honest card when you’re acting suspiciously.
Winning the Game
Keep going until a player has five or more resource cards of a single type in their stash (face up and/or hidden). If this happens to you, you must immediately declare you have enough resources to win the game.
Then, if you manage to begin your next turn with five (or more) resource cards of one type still in your stash, that means you’ve gathered enough power to take over your rivals’ businesses and territory, which means you win the game!
So. Think you’ve got what it takes to bluff and trick your way to the top?
And if you want to check out the rulebook, with fuller explanations and keyword breakdowns, you can download it free from our Resource Vault:
