Sheriff of Nottingham

To set up the game, each player receives a merchant board, a merchant bag, and 50 gold coins. The player who is designated as the first Sheriff receives an additional 50 gold coins. The goods cards are shuffled and placed in a draw pile, and the discard pile is started. Each player draws six goods cards to form their starting hand. The Sheriff token is placed in the center of the table.

The main objective of Sheriff of Nottingham is to be the merchant with the most money at the end of the game. This is achieved by successfully bringing legal goods into Nottingham to sell, and by skillfully smuggling illegal goods past the Sheriff to gain higher profits. Players will also earn money through bonuses for collecting sets of goods and having the largest quantity of specific goods.

Each round, one player takes on the role of the Sheriff, while the other players act as merchants. Merchants choose up to five cards from their hand, declare one type of legal good they are carrying, and place them face down in their merchant bag. The Sheriff then decides whether to inspect each merchant's bag. If the Sheriff inspects a bag and finds illegal goods, the merchant pays a penalty. If the Sheriff inspects a bag and finds only legal goods, the Sheriff pays the merchant a compensation. Merchants can also try to bribe the Sheriff to let their goods pass without inspection.

At the end of the game, players score points based on the value of the goods they successfully brought into Nottingham. Legal goods have a base value printed on their cards. Illegal goods have a higher value. Additionally, players receive bonus points for having the most of each type of legal good (e.g., most apples, most cheese). There are also bonus points for collecting sets of specific goods.

The game concludes once every player has had the opportunity to be the Sheriff twice. After the final round, all players count their total gold coins, including the value of all goods in their market (both legal and illegal), and any bonus points from sets and majorities. The player with the highest total score is declared the winner and the wealthiest merchant in Nottingham.