ABG All Board Games
Contraband box art
Rich game profile

Contraband

One player takes on the role of Customs Agent (this rotates, though) while the others are all travelers who truthfully or falsely declare items in their luggage (four cards drawn from a deck of items including wine, cigars, cameras, necklaces, etc.) If the Customs Agent believes...

Players

3-6

Time

?-?

Age

7+

Weight

1.35

Rating

5.91

Should this hit the table?

Quick read before the metadata.

Contraband has a high level of direct confrontation and strategic depth, with frequent interaction among players. However, it does not require much cooperation.

Teach 2.3

Teaching signal

Replay 3.9

High replayability

Interaction 3.8

Highly interactive

Scaling 4.0

Scales well

Strategy 4.5

Deep strategy

Control 3.0

Luck-sensitive

Table feel

Contraband has a high level of direct confrontation and strategic depth, with frequent interaction among players. However, it does not require much cooperation.

Replay value

Contraband offers a high level of variability with its gameboard, allowing for different experiences each time it is played. The presence of expansions adds to the replay value, providing new content and gameplay elements. The game also offers deep strategic possibilities, allowing players to improve their strategies over time. The player interaction score is average, and the game scales well with different numbers of players. While it may not be the easiest game to learn, it offers a good balance between easiness and depth. Overall, Contraband has a strong replayability score of 7.88.

Luck profile

Contraband has a moderate influence of luck. Random elements have a notable but not exclusive impact on the game outcome. Players have substantial ability to mitigate randomness through strategic decisions and planning. The game outcome is primarily determined by player strategy and decisions, with luck playing a minor role.

Overview

What ABG knows about this game

One player takes on the role of Customs Agent (this rotates, though) while the others are all travelers who truthfully or falsely declare items in their luggage (four cards drawn from a deck of items including wine, cigars, cameras, necklaces, etc.) If the Customs Agent believes them, they simply pay a duty fee and then the next player repeats the process. If the Customs Agent does not believe the player, they may "search" the player's luggage (cards are revealed) with two results. If the player declared accurately, the Customs Agent must pay the player 200 for defamation of character. If the player declared incorrectly, he must pay the Customs Agent fines for all items in his luggage. Other players can also act as Informants and search luggage and there is also an attache case in the deck that can give someone diplomatic immunity and allow them to pass through Customs without being searched or paying duty fees. Of course one can bluff about having this in their hand, as well...

Media

Images and visual references

Images, galleries, and videos are grouped here so the page feels visual before every asset is fully hosted.

No media imported yet.

Editions

Versions and regional releases

Edition Year Language Publisher / Region
No editions imported yet.

Files and documents

Rules, aids, translations

No files imported yet.

Commerce mapping

Buying signals

No commerce mappings imported yet.

Credits

People and publishers

Designers

1
(Uncredited)

Publishers

4
Lagoon Games MB Jeux MB Spellen MB Spiele