Bang!

(Courtesy of BoardGameGeek)

Another new game by Emiliano Sciarra. This game has its setting during the Cowboy Era in the US-Mexico area. The objective is to eliminate players according to the respective roles. The Sheriff has to hunt down all outlaws and the renegade. The outlaws must eliminate the Sheriff. The Deputy Sheriff has to protect the Sheriff and shares the aim of Sheriff as well. The Renegade must be the last person in play. Therefore, there is a possibility of having one or more winners. The catch is this: only the Sheriff exposes his/her identity. Other players will not expose anything. This means that everyone knows who's the sheriff including the deputy and but the sheriff doesn't which is which, including his/her own deputies!

Besides being a Sheriff, outlaw, deputy or Renegade, each player will also have be playing a special character such as Jesse Jones, El Gringo or Lucky Duke. These characters have unique abilities only for that particular player and will remain with the player till the end.

Like Catan, any player can play as many cards as possible in his/her turn with the exception for Bang Cards (see below). However, distance must be noted. Each player can only bang the player at position 1 (the one next to him/her - left or right). This also applies to some other cards such as Volcanic. However, symbols on cards will tell if distance matters or not. However, there are two types of cards - the blue and brown card. The brown cards are action cards - they are to be played and discarded. The blue cards are avatar cards - they represent your weapons and will stay with you till the end of the game once you display them (except for Prison and Dynamite). However, you cannot display two same avatar cards. Take note also that a Panic Card can force you to part with one of your avatar cards. Functions of each card are too many to be elaborated here. Please download the definition list at BoardGameGeek.

At each round, each player will draw two cards if the player is not under the influence of Prison and Dynamite card. A player can play or display as many cards as possible but at the end of his/her turn, the maximum cards he can hold at hand (excluding those displayed) must be equal to the player's life points (eg If a player has 3 life points, he can only hold a maximum of three cards at hand). A player is eliminated if he/she has no more life points. If he is hit, he can play a Missed card or Beer Card. Bear in mind that a player can only play a Saloon card at his/her turn.

A bit of strategy here....if you are the Renegade and the Sheriff appears defenseless, perhaps you should protect the Sheriff for that moment. The game will officially end once the sheriff is eliminated. Therefore, Renegade, who is supposed to be the last in play, will fail his/her mission.

Although this is a game of emotion and friendship as well, the mission is clear. Being a game which is short and sweet, Bang! definitely has the ingredients to spice up a party. It's easy to learn compared to many other designer games and there's no talent involved. Its low price adds to its competitiveness. A game which must be played.