High Noon (Bang!)

The call of the west has brought you to this here town.  Layin' low, tryin' to make ends meet.  The Sheriff is who knows where, while the deputy has been keepin' an eye on ya.  Carefully, you glance over to your buddy, who nods.  You look the deputy deep in the eyes, makin' sure you know that he knows you ain't goin' for your gun. BANG!  The deputy drops.  BANG!  You look down and see blood on your shirt.  looking back up, you see the smoking gun that killed you.  Quite simply, you were betrayed.



BACKGROUND:  Bang! is a hidden role card game created by Emiliano Sciarra & Alessandro Pierangelini, and published by dV Giochi for 4-7 players.  Each person takes a role of either Sheriff, Deputy, Outlaw, or Renegade, and try to make the faction the last one standing.

GAMEPLAY:  The Sheriff is revealed, but all other players keep their role hidden.  Each player also takes a character card with an ability and Bullets equal to the number on their card.  The Bullets determine the health of the player, as well as the maximum size of the their hand.  Players start by drawing two cards, playing any number of cards, and finally discarding down to the number of Bullets left.



BORDERS:  There are 2 types of cards, Blue-bordered cards, which are played in front, and Brown-bordered, which are played and discarded.  In order to hit an opponent, a player generally plays a Bang card, and the number on the gun determines the 'distance', or how far away opponents are.  To start, each opponent to a players left and right is 1 space away, with the number increasing both by the number of player between the two.

WINNING:  When you lose your last Bullet, you are eliminated from the game, unless a card says otherwise.  When you are eliminated from the game, show your role card and discard all the cards you have in hand and in play.  The Sheriff and Deputy's win when all Outlaws and the Renegade are eliminated.  The Outlaws win when the Sheriff and Deputies are all eliminated.  The Renegade only wins when every other role card is eliminated.

CONCLUSION:  Bang is a more aggressive version of Resistance or Secret Hitler.  Instead of playing your opponents slowly and politicking between turns, your actions moreso than most games show your plans, and you play the field quickly.  Obviously, for mechanics sake, players shouldn't know who's who, but that is going to turn off a fair amount of people.  However, if you're looking for a Wild West style of Mafia, or just have really wanted to try to shoot someone in Werewolf, mosey on down to your local game store and pick it up.