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Bang! (2002) is a card game set in the wild west where you take on different missions with a range of characters. You try and keep your target secret while building your weapon and defence cards. It's a game of bluffing where it's easier to shoot your neighbour than players sitting further away.
Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Bang! 18 months ago. It was re-examined by Rob Prior and updated 3 months ago.
Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Bang! 18 months ago. It was re-examined by Rob Prior and updated 3 months ago.
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Play Overview
Bang! is a card game set in the wild west where you take on different missions with a range of characters. You try and keep your target secret while building your weapon and defence cards. It's a game of bluffing where it's easier to shoot your neighbour than players sitting further away.
To start you receive a Role card to determine your mission and a Character card with special abilities and a certain number of bullets (which are lives in the game). The Outlaws hunt the Sheriff. The Sheriff hunts the Outlaws. The Renegade can choose which side they help and just try to survive.
You take turns to draw and play cards to shoot other players, regain lives or accumulate better weapons or horses. If you get shot, you need special Beer, Bang and Missed cards to escape without losing a life. The game is won when one of the players completes their mission.
It's a simple game made more tactical by some clever concepts. You can only shoot players if you have a weapon with a range equal to how many places away they are sitting from you around the table. You can play cards that increase or decrease this distance as the game develops. Then there are various other cards that let you avoid losing a life.
The result is a game of bluffing where you try and guess player's roles, while also push-you-luck to go after your targets without leaving yourself too vulnerable.
To start you receive a Role card to determine your mission and a Character card with special abilities and a certain number of bullets (which are lives in the game). The Outlaws hunt the Sheriff. The Sheriff hunts the Outlaws. The Renegade can choose which side they help and just try to survive.
You take turns to draw and play cards to shoot other players, regain lives or accumulate better weapons or horses. If you get shot, you need special Beer, Bang and Missed cards to escape without losing a life. The game is won when one of the players completes their mission.
It's a simple game made more tactical by some clever concepts. You can only shoot players if you have a weapon with a range equal to how many places away they are sitting from you around the table. You can play cards that increase or decrease this distance as the game develops. Then there are various other cards that let you avoid losing a life.
The result is a game of bluffing where you try and guess player's roles, while also push-you-luck to go after your targets without leaving yourself too vulnerable.
Play Style
This is a Collecting and Sequencing game with Battle, Communication, Push-Your-Luck and Role-Play elements. You can play with 4 to 7 players in the same room.
You can play this game in the following styles:
Duration
Learn to Play: This takes 15 minutes to learn. It's quite simple to learn, although you need to take care to track who can and can't shoot you as well as have a clear understanding of the different roles.
To get started, the following can help:
Play Time: This game will take between 20 minutes and 40 minutes to complete.
To get started, the following can help:
- Go through the roles with an example demonstration of who needs to shoot who.
- Introduce the different characters in turn and discuss their abilities.
- Play some trial hands where you demonstrate who can and can't be shot.
- Play a trial round or two where you try out the actions without worrying too much about lives.
Play Time: This game will take between 20 minutes and 40 minutes to complete.
Age Ratings
Skill Level
10+ year-olds usually have the required skill to enjoy this game. Younger players need to be able to keep information to themselves and to be comfortable with bluffing.
Content Rating
We rate this suitable for 7+ years-olds. The game includes the concept of shooting players until they are dead, drinking alcohol to avoid being shot and coming back from the dead as a ghost.
Costs
There are no additional in-game purchases, loot boxes, adverts or subscription costs.
There are expansions that offer new actions and characters:
There are expansions that offer new actions and characters:
- Bang! Dodge City (2004) - 15 new character cards, increasing the maximum number of players to 8. Adds new action cards that come into effect on the following turn.
- Bang! High Noon (2003) - 15 new Event cards that are played by the Sheriff as play proceeds that give both advantages and disadvantages to each player.
- Bang! A Fistful of Cards (2005) - - 15 new Event cards that are played by the Sheriff as play proceeds that give both advantages and disadvantages to each player.
- Bang! Wild West Show - 10 Event cards and 8 Character cards. The events are played when other actions happen to mix up the flow of play.
- Bang! The Valley of Shadows (2011) - 8 Character cards and 16 Action cards. The new actions expand options with features like Rattlesnake where you can shoot two people. Ghost action is a stand-out addition that brings dead players back into play.
- Bang! Gold Rush (2011) - Adds a new gold nugget play mechanic where you use them to buy Equipment cards. This, and the new shadow role features make it more complex but also refresh the game nicely.
- Bang! Armed & Dangerous (2017) - 8 Character cards. Adds new dangerous cards with tokens that slowly run out to trigger the effect.
Game Details
Release Date: 01/01/2002, updated in 2017
Skill Rating: 10+ year-olds
Players: 4-7
Genres: Collecting, Sequencing (Battle, Communication, Push-Your-Luck and Role-Play)
Accessibility: 0 features documented (Tweet Developer)
Components: Cards and Tokens
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