Sheriff of Nottingham

Today's game review is of the 2014 release, Sheriff of Nottingham.  For 3-5 players, it plays in 60 minutes.

Overview
You are a merchant trying to get as many goods into Nottingham as possible.  Each turn, you get to stuff your sack with wares, then tell the sheriff what you have.  You could be truthful, or try to sneak a little contraband in on the side.  Both legitimate (bread, chickens, cheese, apples) and prohibited goods have a value (that you'll earn at the end of the game) if you can get them into your market.  Beware, though- if the sheriff chooses to inspect your sack, you get penalized for any unannounced good.  So put on your poker face and get all you can into Nottingham!


Simplified Gameplay
To start, each player draws 6 cards, giving them initial goods/contraband.  Each turn, one player is the sheriff while the others are merchants.  Perform the following phases:

1. Market- in clockwise order, each merchant discards up to 5 cards and draws that many from the discard and/or draw piles.
2. Load Merchant Bag- simultaneously, each merchant puts up to 5 cards from their hand into their sack and seals it when complete.
3. Declaration- in clockwise order, each merchant tells the sheriff what goods they have in their sack.  Of course, you can lie!  But there are three conditions:
• You can only declare legal goods
• You can only declare one type of good
• You must declare only the exact number of cards in your bag
4. Inspection- the sheriff decides which bag(s), if any to 'inspect' (open and examine).  
• You can bribe the sheriff if you get concerned (the sheriff doesn't have to take the bribe)
• The sheriff must choose to open a bag or let it pass
• If the sheriff lets it pass:
• Declare all of your legitimate goods and place them on the slots indicated on your merchant card (see image 1 below)
• Keep your contraband cards hidden under the appropriate slot on the merchant card
• If the sheriff opens it:
• If you were lying during the declaration phase about any portion of the contents, you get penalized the stated amount on the card(s) you lied about, they get confiscated, and you must pay the sheriff accordingly (but you get to keep any goods that were legitimately declared and place them in your market)
• If you were 100% telling the truth, the sheriff  must pay you the stated amount on the card(s) and you get to place your goods in the market
5. End of Round- pass the sheriff token to the next player and start phase 1 again. After each player has been the sheriff twice, the game ends, and victory points are totaled by adding all the values of your goods (legitimate and contraband), your gold, and other modifiers as indicated in the rules

Image 1, from here

Image 2, showing the sheriff and all market cards (from here)

Review
This is a fun party game based on bluffing.  The rules are easy to pick up and it's an enjoyable social experience.  I'm not a huge bluffer (I'm not good at it), so I don't see me playing this too often.  And the Robin Hood theme is completed pasted on (which disappointed me).  Still, it's highly rated for a reason, and worth checking out if you enjoy such mechanics.

Rules can be found here, and watch it played if you like.

Rating: B+