Rules & Strategy Questions:
As gamers ourselves, we know the arguments that can occur over the pettiest of rule interpretations. We will continue to post rules questions, answers, clarifications and - dare we say - corrections, here in an attempt to save friendships and marriages. We will also be interested to hear your own house-rules, developments and suggestions - and we'll post those too!

1."When Players pay stolen goods cubes for movement, where do these go?"
This rules omission has been pointed out by a number of our players around the world; however, everybody did also assume the correct answer. All spent cubes go back to their respective warehouses, unless it's a market round. (NB: cubes can only be paid to the market in a market round AND if there is a space of the same colour available). This will be clarified in the next edition of the rules.

2."Why is Police Constable movement random? Why not pay to move the policemen?"
Not really a rules question this, but here goes... Whilst constable movement is random, it is also predictable: you know each policeman's potential position (1 of 6) at the end of each round, and so you have judge your play accordingly. We considered payment early on, but felt that the extra tier of economy made the game too long, too complicated, and distorted the dynamic. What's more, we felt that it distorted reality: it is, afterall, impossible to bribe any London Bobby!

3."When you choose to steal goods at up to three locations, but you only have two urchins on the board, can you use your third action to exchange goods, or do you only get two actions, as you only have two active urchins ??"
The rules (p.6) read: "Instead of stealing goods at a location, the player may choose to swap 3 goods cubes in hand (any colours) for one goods cube of a chosen colour...". Therefore, I reckon that an exchange has to replace one of one location earning, and in your scenario, that's one of the two active urchins - leaving one action unused.

4. "We found that the cost of moving up (or down) on the tracks was very high, compared with the relative ease at which you get bumped back by the copper or someone else. Is there something we are missing or doing wrong."
To be honest, you are the first to highlight the relative cost of movement as an issue. Bumping is designed to be an integral part of the game, so it needs to have an impact; clearly the more players, the more impact bumping will have. I don't suppose you're doing anything wrong, but this is a game that takes a few plays to 'get the hang of' (in the words of one of our previewers, this game will "...reward the skill and experience gained from repeated play..."). Once you get five urchins on the board, you should be able to optimise your earnings across 3 location tracks in order to maximise you chance of moving where you want to. Another tactic of course is to travel on the more expensive location tracks, where there are usually fewer players - and so less chance of getting bumped. The most successful of our play-testers usually took a position early on St Paul's in order to earn larger amounts for movement elsewhere. Moving on the The Thames is easy, but a lot of bumping goes on; that usually figures in the first 'Fagin-run'. In short, try to keep a couple of urchins out of trouble, so that they're in a position to earn their compatriots out of trouble. In our experience, if you treat all five urchins as potential 'Fagin-runners', you're lost. Remember: the first to get 3 urchins back to Fagin wins!
NB: Fewer players does allow for more active strategy; 2 players is very effective. 6 players can become a bit of a bumping free-for-all, making it quite a different animal.

5. "In the couple of games we have played, I have not seen the market empty at all. It generally had one or two segments still full (usually the 10 and the 12) where people had just sold cubes. Again what are we missing, how often did this happen in playtest (or were we the first?)"
You're missing nothing: Smithfield Market very rarely empties; the refill rule (Phase 3ii) is there largely to avoid a stalemate if it does. Yes, the expensive cubes do tend to get left, but then the price wheel should turn at the end of the round, creating another market opportunity for the next round (unless a 6 is rolled). This situation is engineered to ensure that the market rarely gets used more than once per round. Later in the game we have found that the more expensive cubes do get bought as they become more strategically valuable (as in many games with markets) - especially by players who have 'sacrifice urchins' earning big shillings on the purple and yellow locations. Our play-testers have had successful games in which they play the shillings and the market - rarely needing to take a commodity income at all.