Post by Gilvan Blight on Feb 25, 2008 12:06:21 GMT -5
Quickly: a rather cool card game that has some interesting RPG elements.
[glow=blue,2,300]Summary:[/glow]In Bang! the players get together to play out a Spaghetti style western. Each player is assigned a role which is either The Sheriff, a Deputy, an Outlaw or the Renegade. This is done secretly for all roles except the Sheriff. A players role determines what they need to do to win the game. The Sheriff must kill all the Outlaws. The Deputies help the sheriff kill the outlaws. The outlaws must kill the Sheriff and the Renegade must be the last man standing killing the sheriff last.
Once roles are assigned players are randomly given two characters to chose from. These characters determine your starting life (number of cards you can hold as well as Hit Points) and your special ability. The second character card is flipped over and used to track your wounds during the game.
Once characters and roles are chosen players get a starting hand of cards. There are a variety of cards ranging from Blue equipment cards to Bang! cards. Equipment cards can be equipped during a players turn and do things like give them guns that increase their range (normally you can only shoot at the two players sitting next to you), give them cover and hideouts that make them harder to hit (either giving a chance a shot will miss or increasing a players range). Events like Indian attacks and Howitzer shots which hit all players for one damage if they can't play the appropriate card. Miss and duck cards which let you dodge a shot and the Bang! cards which allow you to shoot at other players. There are quite a few more card types especially with the expansions. Generally they either let you equip something, shoot one or more people, steal one or more cards, draw more cards, getting health back by drinking beers or dodge taking damage in some way.
Play goes around the table starting with the Sheriff with each player drawing two cards and then playing any number of cards. Some cards must be played a round in advance of being able to use them. By the end of their turn a player can only hold as many cards as they have life left, making getting hurt a dangerous prospect as your options become quickly limited. When a player is out of life they get one last chance to heal themselves, and if they cannot then they are out of the game. The dead player reveals what Role they had and players check to see if any of their victory conditions have been met. Some players may get bonus cards depending on who got killed as well (players get three cards for killing an outlaw for example). Play continues until one player or group of players complete their goal.
[glow=green,2,300]The Good:[/glow]I really liked the RPG feel of this game. First off getting a role, then picking between a couple of characters started this feeling. Then being able to equip a variety of equipment including hideouts and horses along with weapons just felt very pen and paper rpg like. The characters were interesting enough that most people in the games we played took on the role of that character somewhat, which was rather cool. The game plays quick, and is pretty easy to pick up (once you figure out what all the symbols on the cards mean). The whole hidden role thing is interesting and made for some interesting judgment calls (some wrong) during the games we played. I was very impressed with the production quality of the Bullet edition of the game. The bullet itself is metal and opens up horizontally with some great pockets for the various cards. The cards themselves are full sized, well coated and had very cool appropriate art on them. Thumbs up for the included Sheriff's badge as well.
[glow=yellow,2,300]The Bad:[/glow]I would have liked to see a clue like system where you could call someone out. Not sure exactly how this would work but I think it would add another level to the game. With both games we played with the group we had people weren't too secretive about their roles with the outlaws all basically just opening fire on the sheriff with no real repercussions. This happened both games and both games the Outlaws won. I'm sure this would be different with different groups, but in both the games we played it felt like a cheap victory (I was an outlaw both games).
[glow=red,2,300]The Ugly:[/glow]Not a problem in our games but I have seen many games like this with hidden roles and players working against each other then can end up in arguments and bad feelings. Just make sure the people you are playing with aren't the type to get upset about being lied to in a game about lying.
[glow=purple,2,300]Overall:[/glow]I'm pretty impressed by this game. Friends of mine have been going on about it for quite some time so I was very glad to try it out. I definitely enjoyed it, especially the RPG elements of character 'creation' and equipment. Both games I played in were very quick without much strategy though, I hope this was only due to the group we had playing, and not a fault of the game (which I have been assured by fans of the game, it was just the group dynamic). I will be adding this one to my wish list as it's definately worth picking up.
[glow=blue,2,300]Summary:[/glow]In Bang! the players get together to play out a Spaghetti style western. Each player is assigned a role which is either The Sheriff, a Deputy, an Outlaw or the Renegade. This is done secretly for all roles except the Sheriff. A players role determines what they need to do to win the game. The Sheriff must kill all the Outlaws. The Deputies help the sheriff kill the outlaws. The outlaws must kill the Sheriff and the Renegade must be the last man standing killing the sheriff last.
Once roles are assigned players are randomly given two characters to chose from. These characters determine your starting life (number of cards you can hold as well as Hit Points) and your special ability. The second character card is flipped over and used to track your wounds during the game.
Once characters and roles are chosen players get a starting hand of cards. There are a variety of cards ranging from Blue equipment cards to Bang! cards. Equipment cards can be equipped during a players turn and do things like give them guns that increase their range (normally you can only shoot at the two players sitting next to you), give them cover and hideouts that make them harder to hit (either giving a chance a shot will miss or increasing a players range). Events like Indian attacks and Howitzer shots which hit all players for one damage if they can't play the appropriate card. Miss and duck cards which let you dodge a shot and the Bang! cards which allow you to shoot at other players. There are quite a few more card types especially with the expansions. Generally they either let you equip something, shoot one or more people, steal one or more cards, draw more cards, getting health back by drinking beers or dodge taking damage in some way.
Play goes around the table starting with the Sheriff with each player drawing two cards and then playing any number of cards. Some cards must be played a round in advance of being able to use them. By the end of their turn a player can only hold as many cards as they have life left, making getting hurt a dangerous prospect as your options become quickly limited. When a player is out of life they get one last chance to heal themselves, and if they cannot then they are out of the game. The dead player reveals what Role they had and players check to see if any of their victory conditions have been met. Some players may get bonus cards depending on who got killed as well (players get three cards for killing an outlaw for example). Play continues until one player or group of players complete their goal.
[glow=green,2,300]The Good:[/glow]I really liked the RPG feel of this game. First off getting a role, then picking between a couple of characters started this feeling. Then being able to equip a variety of equipment including hideouts and horses along with weapons just felt very pen and paper rpg like. The characters were interesting enough that most people in the games we played took on the role of that character somewhat, which was rather cool. The game plays quick, and is pretty easy to pick up (once you figure out what all the symbols on the cards mean). The whole hidden role thing is interesting and made for some interesting judgment calls (some wrong) during the games we played. I was very impressed with the production quality of the Bullet edition of the game. The bullet itself is metal and opens up horizontally with some great pockets for the various cards. The cards themselves are full sized, well coated and had very cool appropriate art on them. Thumbs up for the included Sheriff's badge as well.
[glow=yellow,2,300]The Bad:[/glow]I would have liked to see a clue like system where you could call someone out. Not sure exactly how this would work but I think it would add another level to the game. With both games we played with the group we had people weren't too secretive about their roles with the outlaws all basically just opening fire on the sheriff with no real repercussions. This happened both games and both games the Outlaws won. I'm sure this would be different with different groups, but in both the games we played it felt like a cheap victory (I was an outlaw both games).
[glow=red,2,300]The Ugly:[/glow]Not a problem in our games but I have seen many games like this with hidden roles and players working against each other then can end up in arguments and bad feelings. Just make sure the people you are playing with aren't the type to get upset about being lied to in a game about lying.
[glow=purple,2,300]Overall:[/glow]I'm pretty impressed by this game. Friends of mine have been going on about it for quite some time so I was very glad to try it out. I definitely enjoyed it, especially the RPG elements of character 'creation' and equipment. Both games I played in were very quick without much strategy though, I hope this was only due to the group we had playing, and not a fault of the game (which I have been assured by fans of the game, it was just the group dynamic). I will be adding this one to my wish list as it's definately worth picking up.