Ruthless Returns

Ruthless Returns is a satirical business board game for 1–6 players. Everyone takes their actions simultaneously each round, avoiding downtime as they compete to build a successful company through tactics ranging from making the best product to lawsuits and underhanded schemes.

Play your cards

Each fiscal year, you receive 8 cards. Choose one and pass the rest, using options such as hiring lawyers, launching shitstorms, planting shady evidence, poaching a neighbour’s star employee or building a strong product. Every path can win.

Lawsuits and bankruptcy

Lawsuits are resolved at the end of each year in a courtroom ceremony, with verdicts, gold and blood. Nine out of ten bankruptcies follow a lost case, and two commentators cover bankruptcies live.

Players and modes

Play solo against a sharp AI with three difficulty personalities, on a shared screen or online. Online play includes open lobbies, chat and team formats: 2v2, 2v2v2 and 3v3. Steam and browser players share the same online lobbies.

Cards and characters

The game includes 214 cards, each with its own artwork, and four expansions: The Board, Headhunters, Lobbyists and The Entrepreneurs. You can also choose from 14 entrepreneurs, each with unique perks and a fully voiced personality.

Corporate schemes

The game’s satirical setting features offshore accounts, greenwashing, spin doctors, lobbyists and a board of directors with demands. Its world draws on the Panama Papers, with players at the table doing the scheming.