Vendetta

From the DVG website:

Our first venture into the Euro/Mass Market!

A “Family” card game. It's a card game for 2 to 6 players. Each player plays a mob boss trying to take over the top spot in New York City. The game is designed to be a low complexity family game and takes about 45-60 minutes to play. The tone is very light and very socially interactive.

The goal is to take control of different places and people in the "Neighborhood". As you do so, you gain reputation. The first player to reach the reputation goal wins.

Here's the cool part of the game...

The cornerstone to the game is the "Vendetta" mechanic. If I take control of the local Delicatessen, I get some Reputation points. If you then come and Whack (destroy) the Deli, you take the Reputation points I gained from controlling Deli.

But wait!

There's more!

When you Whack my Deli, you must give me some of your Vendetta counters. The specific number is noted on the Deli card. If I attack you in the future, I can spend your Vendetta counters to pump up my attack against your places and people.

So, the more you Whack a player, the more bonuses they have in the future to Whack you back.

This does 2 cool things.

First, you get the whole "Grudge" or "Now it's personal" aspect of mob warfare.

Second, even if a player gets Whacked hard, he still has the resources to make a comeback. Which means until a player wins, everyone has a shot at winning.

The design came together very fast, and the artist, Jerry, is doing a great job of capturing the light feel we're going for.