In Sugartown each player tries to be the first to match a sequence of cards in full view of other players. At the beginning of play a "true story" is created by the dealer. The true story is a sequence of suspect, crime, victim and location cards describing a crime in Sugartown. Players draw cards in an attempt to match the sequence of cards in the true story. They can also play action cards that thwart another player's progress. Carefully time the placement of matches and be vigilant about watching the progress of opponents. Action cards represent film noir inspired twists. An "Interrogation" card allows a player to steal, an "Amnesia" card allows a player to block an opponents progress, a"Flashback" card allows a player to remove Amnesia cards or reveal matching cards hidden from view. A "Brainwash" card wipes out a player's decks causing them to begin from scratch but can be reversed with a "Turn the Tables" card. Game play varies from 15 to 30 minutes. Rules can be learned quickly and there are 100s of possible storylines, each using colorful characters, crimes and locales inspired by detective/gangster films.