How to play Deal or Death

Learn the rules to the board game Deal or Death quickly and concisely - This video has no distractions, just the rules.Show more

Don't own the game? Buy it here:
https://buy.triplesgames.com/DealOrDeath

RULES:
The object of the game for the executives is to make more deals with the shareholders than the other executive. The Shareholder’s objective is to close a deal with the winning executive as well as to collect the most paperclips. The anarchist and intern’s objective is for the executives to tie or fail to close any deals. The entrepreneur’s objective is to collect at least 5 paperclips (or 6 paperclips in a 9 or more-player game). The consultant’s objective is for the anarchist or entrepreneur to win. All roles are allowed to lie if they want except for the consultant, the consultant is not allowed to lie to the executives but may lie to any other player.

Each game must contain 2 executives, the anarchist, and 2 shareholders. When playing with more than 5 players, add extra roles to the game either randomly, or by picking which ones you want to add. Shuffle the role cards and deal 1 facedown to each player. Players secretly look at their role but keep it hidden from others. The players with the executive roles reveal their card and each of them takes 5 paperclips plus an additional paperclip for each player playing. Each shareholder secretly takes a paperclip token. All the other players secretly take a skull token. If playing with 7 or more players, each executive also takes a VP star token.

All the players close their eyes. The anarchist opens their eyes. Now the intern opens their eyes so the anarchist and intern can see each other. Then the intern closes their eyes and then every player simultaneously reveals their identity card faceup on the table so that only the anarchist can see them so they can identify who the entrepreneur and consultant are. After a long moment, everyone hides their card, then everyone can open their eyes.

Now, each executive picks a player to negotiate with. They can establish an order of who picks first, and if both executives want to negotiate with the same player, then that player can pick which executive to go with. Flip the 2-minute timer to start the negotiations. Both executives should be simultaneously and privately negotiating with different people. Players are allowed to physically distance themselves to keep their conversations private. Once the time is over, then the negotiations must stop, and each executive must negotiate with a different player whom they haven’t talked to yet. Each executive is allowed a single time extension for another 2 minutes that they can use once per game. Only the executive that used the extension is allowed to continue talking in their negotiation, the other executive may not talk to anyone unless they also use an extension. No paperclips are actually given to players during any of the negotiations but offers and prospective deals can be made. Executives may also give away their VP star if they want.

During negotiations, the players can write down notes. While the executives are negotiating, all the other players, called board members, are allowed to talk with each other, which is called networking. While networking, you are allowed to talk privately to another player, but you may not text or exchange hidden notes. During networking, a player may discard their token (without revealing the other side of it) or a VP star, to secretly see the identity card of the player they are talking to.

Once each executive has talked to every board member, then both executives get one final negotiation where they get to talk to any single board member they have already talked to, a second time, for 2 minutes. During this negotiation, Executives may not give out vp star tokens nor use their time extension. After the final 2-minute negotiation, the executives may secretly look at the discarded tokens, if they want, then the board meeting happens.

During the board meeting, each executive secretly writes down the deals that they are going to fulfill in the form of proposals. Executives may only propose to give out as many paperclips as they possess. Every board member must now secretly write 1 proposal for only 1 executive on what they are willing to accept. Once complete, all the players simultaneously reveal their proposals and deals are checked to see if any close. A deal closes if the paperclip amount offered by the executive matches or exceeds what the board member wrote to receive from that specific executive. Executives give out paperclips to their closed deals then the winners are determined.

The executive that closed the most deals with shareholders wins, and the shareholder with the most paperclips in that group wins as a majority shareholder. Paperclip tokens that were not discarded, count towards a shareholder's total score, while skull tokens do not. If the executives tie or fail to close any deals, then the anarchist, intern...