Crime Guys: The Crime Game

Become THE Crime Guy, when you play Crime Guys: The Crime Game! In Neo-Cityton you best become a Crime Guy or be crushed under the paw and hoof of your betters. Money is the name of the game. Get enough of it, and laws are only an inconvenience. 

In Crime Guys, you’re the big boss, playing the lesser syndicates like pieces on a game board. Build your HQs to turn your territories into money making machines. Place your association’s tag on the map to show everyone else just how much of the city is yours. Use your Lieutenants to Rat on your rivals, claim the city’s Contraband, protect yourself from the police, and pick the pockets of the passers by with Petty Theft.

This Neo-Cityton, which district will you take?

Rewards 

One of the best things about Crime Guys is everyone gets the best of the best, wooden meeples, metal coins, and high quality cardboard are coming in every box. 

We have several tiers planned including: 

$85 Early Bird - backing in the first 48 hours will get the backer a discount 

$90 Game Tier - the game without a discount 

$170 Library Copy Tier - a copy will be sent to a local library or game library at no charge to the library 

$500 Project Supporters Tier - comes with a copy of the game signed by the designers 

$350 Retailers Bundle - comes with five copies of the game for verified retailers
 

Why Kickstarter

Placeholder Games was started by a group of friends in 2024. Our goal was to become a studio in our own right to share quality games with people in our communities and beyond. In May of 2025 we published our first game, Campfire, on our own without any crowdfunding. It was a test for us to prove that we could not only not only come up with a cool idea but also make that idea real. We wanted to learn the processes and pitfalls of design and manufacturing with a relatively simple project. However, Crime Guys is a different beast. For this board game  we’ll need a little bit of help to push the game through manufacturing and reach a larger customer base than is possible for us alone. We want to realize the game we’ve designed in the high quality we feel it deserves.

We’ve chosen Kickstarter for its already thriving board game community. Some of our favorite games have gotten their start here. In fact, some of us even became friends in communities that came together around backing the same products. We’ve had the pleasure of backing successful projects and experienced the disappointment of seeing other projects fall short.  We’re determined not just to succeed, but to earn the respect and loyalty of our customers along the way. We want to make sure Placeholder Games becomes a name associated with quality, commitment, follow-through, and fun.

If all we wanted to do was to make a game we could play by ourselves, we could have stopped a long time ago and been satisfied. We’re looking to gather funding to produce a product we can be proud of, and expand our community base to deliver it to. The history of Kickstarter and its track record with supporting new and upcoming businesses, especially in games, gives us confidence that Kickstarter is right for our goals.

Game Play 

Components 

Depicted above includes the Game Box, Center Board, Polar Bonus Sliders, Player Boards, Raid Deck, Faction Deck, Rivalry Deck, 98 Custom Acrylic Polyominos, and Action Tokens. 

However, the box also includes Screenprinted Meeples and Unique Metal Currency Chits called Ubees depicted below. As well as a rulebook for the game. 

Meeple Art 

Metal Ubee Art