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Outlaws and Bounty Hunters
Bang is a "hunting" game: it rewards you whenever you eliminate outlaws. So, let's discuss how that happens in real life, particularly how it happened in the wild west.
In the 18th century, a bounty hunter was a regular person, a civilian, that captured escaped criminals, that is, outlaws, in exchange for money. This was a common job in the United States.
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In certain situations, the American justice departments even granted nearly unlimited jurisdiction to these hunters. They could break into a house without a warrant, for instance. Imagine that happening nowadays!
In Bang, the Sheriff and their deputies hunt outlaws for rewards. These outlaws, in turn, challenge law and order, alongside Renegades, who just want their cut. Which side are you on?
Game Info
Bang is a party game, a classic, for 4 to 7 players, aged 8 and up, by designer Emiliano Sciarra. It was illustrated by Alessandro Pierangelini.
It was released in 2002 by DV Games. Its basic mechanics are: card-driven battles, variable player powers, team-based strategies, bluffing and betting, deduction, player elimination, take that, hidden roles, and hand management.
When Bang was first released, in 2002, it was nominated for multiple awards. Most notably, Best Advanced Game, by Japan Boardgame Prize, and Best Original Game by Lucca Games. In 2003, it won the Best Card Game Design and the Best Traditional Card Game categories at the Origins Awards. In 2007, it was nominated for the Best Card Game and Best Party Board Game categories at Golden Geek. Finally, in 2017, it was nominated for the Best Parlor Game category at Guldbrikken*.
The Game
In Bang, the Sheriff is exposed while they play their role. They'll have help, but, at the same time, everyone will be shooting at each other - and I mean everyone: the Sheriff, the deputies, the outlaws, and the renegades. The Native Americans will also attack during the shootout, and people will be arrested, all at the same time.
This game is about bluffing, and everything is solved with bullets. You'll have to pick a target and shoot. Knowing who's on your side or not is the difference between life and death.
That's Bang!
At the beginning of the game, each player has their own goal. You'll each get a paper, and, depending on what you get, your goal will be to:
After you get your roles, the only one that has to identify themselves is the Sheriff. The other players keep their identities hidden, and that's precisely why this game is so great: you have to bluff! Who will help the Sheriff, or pretend they're helping the Sheriff and are a deputy, but, in fact, are the renegade, or even an outlaw?
Next, everyone gets a character card with unique abilities. They'll be critical for the game, and, at the same time, increase its replayability by a lot That's a point for Bang!
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This character card determines how many life points you have, or how many bullets you can take. This will be represented by bullet tokens.
Each player also gets their own individual board, where they can put the paper they got at the beginning of the game, their character card, and their initial weapon, besides your bullets.
Otherwise, you'll get a full hand of action cards, which you'll use to attack and defend yourself:
Now, it's time to shoot everyone and try to keep yourself alive. That is, it's your turn:
Drawing 2 cards is quite simple. Just draw 2 cards from the top of the draw pile and put them in your hand. Other players can't see them, after all, these are your action, attack, and defense cards.
Playing cards is the basis of this game. Obviously, you can just pass your turn at this point, but, my friend, in Bang, you need to attack, or you'll die. So, you should attack. At this point, you can play any number of cards from your hand, with only 2 exceptions:
After that, just try to focus on your individual goal. Anything can happen in the middle of a shootout: people will dodge bullets, recover from bullet wounds, steal items, and use machine guns. Native Americans will attack you, there will be duels, people will be arrested, escape on horseback, hide behind kegs, and even throw dynamite at you. It's chaos!
After you play your cards and face all of this, you'll only have to discard any excess cards, which is, actually, tied to how many life points you have. This means you'll naturally have less cards in hand as you play if you don't heal yourself.
Then, just pass the turn to the player on your left.
End of the Match
The match ends when:
It's that simple!
Tips and Strategies
Bang has a bit of everything, and everyone will bluff:
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In the end, there's only one, simple truth: everyone may say they'll help you, but, when the shooting starts, only the Sheriff will have to figure out who is who. It won't be easy: they might, accidentally, shoot a deputy, considering weapons in this game have a certain reach. You'll have to aim carefully, but you'll still probably hit a deputy, and that is natural. A lot of other stuff will happen too.
For the Sheriff, I highly recommend you shoot first and ask questions later.
A few action cards let you draw more cards, and that will be perfect to fill your hand and get more options to attack and defend yourself. Use this in your favor.
Others, like the machine gun, shoot more bullets. A few other weapons can hit faraway targets. Another important tip: get horses when you need to run, as that's how you'll put some distance between you and whoever is shooting at you. As everyone can see everyone's weapons, always keep yourself as far away as possible from anyone who has great weapons.
Overall, the best tip is to get as many cards as you can, besides the two you draw every turn, so you can play more strategies. Use any cards you can, and then discard excess cards if you have any.
Unboxing, Rules, and Gameplay Videos
Check out this unboxing:
Learn the rules:
Watch some gameplay:
Teaching Moments
Bang is not exactly everyone's cup of tea, and there are many questionable things in it. That being said, if you can work around this and play "cops and robbers" with the same innocence you did when you were a kid, you'll have a lot of fun with your friends.
And, if you want to work on your decision-making, math, and logic skills, as well as your strategies, Bang might be perfect for you!
You'll have to make decisions at all times, after all, on your turn, you'll have to pick an "outlaw" to try to kill. If you're the "outlaw", you'll have to decide between disguising yourself and attacking another character to confuse your opponents, or trying to eliminate the Sheriff. This will be a common dilemma, so you'll have to work "under pressure" and make fast decisions.
You'll need math to calculate, at all times, how many "life points" you have, and this will make you tense in a good way, as that's when you'll laugh the most. You'll also have to calculate your opponent's life total so you know who to target.
As the game goes on and a few players reveal their identities, if you're not using a long-reach weapon, you'll need to create your own strategies. You'll have to eliminate a few players to get closer to your real target. So, you'll have to apologize to your friends, convince them you're their ally, and this will make everyone laugh.
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Bang is a lot of fun, as well as a lesson in decision-making, strategy, math, and logic!
I highly recommend Bang for your collection!
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