BANG!

OBJECTIVE OF BANG!: The objective of Bang! is to survive by taking out your opponents before they do!

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2

MATERIALS: 110 cards, including 7 rôle cards, 16 character cards, 80 playing cards, 7 summary cards, 30 bullets, 7 player boards

TYPE OF GAME: Fast paced shootout card game with hidden roles

AUDIENCE: Teen, Family, Adult

OVERVIEW OF BANG!

It’s the general fight in Bangtown, it’s hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys! The Sheriff, who everyone knows, is trying to eliminate the Outlaws and the renegade. Among the other cowboys, the Sheriff’s Deputies try to protect the Sheriff, while the Outlaws want to get rid of the Sheriff. Finally, the vile renegade wants to become Sheriff instead of the Sheriff. So everyone will have to distinguish between his accomplices and his enemies and aim for the truth! 

SETUP

Role Assignment – Shuffle the role cards by taking :

  • the Sheriff and the renegade, always present…
  • 2 Outlaws with 4 or 5 players, 3 to 6 or 7 players
  • 1 assistant to 5 or 6 players, 2 to 7 players

Deal a card to each player, face down. Then the Sheriff (and only him) reveals his role.

Character Assignment – Shuffle the character cards. Each player picks a character and reads its characteristics aloud. The number of hit points of the character is indicated by the number of cartridges. The Sheriff, however, is entitled to one extra hit point. To count his hit points, each player places a number of cartridges equal to the number indicated on his character card on his personal board, in the cartridge slots.

Dealing the playing cards – Shuffle the playing cards and place them in the center of the table. Each player draws as many playing cards as they have hit points.


Example of a 5 player setup (erratum: the Sheriff – bottom left player – should have 5 cards!)

GAMEPLAY

Sheriff’s starting the game. One at a time, each player in turn:

  • Must draw two cards from the deck.
  • Can play one or more cards from his hand
  • Must discard excess cards (a player cannot have more cards in their hand than they have hit points left).

Playing Cards

  • The blue cards are placed in front of the player and their effect lasts until they are removed. Brown cards are immediately applied and discarded.
  • The player may not have two blue cards with the same name in front of him.
  • Weapons have a limited shooting range, indicated by the number in the target icon. The distance between two players corresponds to the layout of the table. Two neighboring players are at a distance of 1, two players separated by another player are at a distance of 2, etc. By default, each player has a Colt 45 with a shooting range of 1. The shooting range can be enhanced by the weapon cards, but can also be influenced by the Mustang and Appaloosa cards.
  • Each new weapon played by a player is placed in front of him, and replaces the previous one which must be discarded.
  • A player can never have more hit points than his starting hit points.
  • The Beer card can be played during a player’s turn or during the turn of other players when the player loses his last hit point, to regain a hit point in extremis.

Eliminate a player

  • When a character has no more hit points, he is eliminated from the game and must reveal his role.
  • If the Sheriff eliminates one of his Deputies, he is penalized and must discard all of his cards in hand as well as those placed in front of him.
  • When a player eliminates an Outlaw, he is rewarded and draws 3 cards.

The bottom right player plays two Indians cards, forcing everyone to discard Bang! Cards. He then plays a Bang! against the Sheriff (to his left), and finally a Beer card to regain one hit point.

Card symbols – the symbols on cards indicate the effects of the cards and combine to give many effects:

  • barred cartridge: BANG! Make the target player lose one hit point
  • pierced hat: MISSED! Cancel one BANG! played against you
  • cartridge with a green plus: earn one hit point
  • hand holding a card: draw a card from the deck if this symbol is the only one on the card played, or steal a card from another player (randomly taken from his hand, or chosen by you from among his cards in play) if this symbol is associated with a hat
  • strikeout card: force a player to discard a card (randomly taken from their hand, or chosen by you from their playing cards).
  • hat: the effect of the card played targets the player of your choice, regardless of distance
  • three hats: the effect of the card played applies to all players (except you) regardless of distance
  • hat in a target: the effect of the card played applies to the player of your choice, taking into account the distances
  • number in a target: the effect of the card played applies to the player of your choice as long as he is at a distance less than or equal to the number in the target.
  • poker card: “Draw!” the player draws a card, if the number and symbol in the lower left corner of the card drawn matches the number and symbol of the card played, the player can activate the “Draw!” effect (example: with the Dynamite card, the player receiving the Dynamite card must Draw at the beginning of his turn. If he draws a card between 2 and 9 of Spades, the dynamite explodes and he loses 3 hit points, otherwise he passes the dynamite to the next player)

END OF GAME

The game ends on following events:

  • the Sheriff is eliminated:
    • if the renegade is the only survivor, he wins the game.
    • or else the Outlaws win the game.
  • all Outlaws and the renegade are eliminated: the Sheriff and his Deputies (if any remain) win the game.

The Sheriff, Sam the Gunslinger, starts his turn with a dynamite in front of him. He draws a card but it’s not a Spade between 2 and 9, so he loses his two last hit points. Game end ! The Outlaws win.
Nakoa Davis
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