Overview

Board Game Review 3

Bang!: The Dice Game is a fast and fun alternative to the original card game. It keeps much of the fun of the original game while streamlining it. Additionally, the play time (15-30 minutes) is heavily reduced. For this reason, the game is a fast, fun, and quick for 3-8 players.

How To Play

Depending on the number of players, a specific number of deputy, outlaw, renegade, and sheriff cards are taken from a deck and shuffled. Each player is then dealt one of these cards. They view this card secretly. The card denotes the player’s role/affiliation for the game. The sheriff reveals themselves at this time. They are the only player who announces their role. After this has been done, each player is given a special power from a deck of cards. This is placed face-up next to the player.

Once everybody has their cards, the sheriff begins the game by rolling the 5 dice. Each die has the same markings that represent: shooting somebody, healing somebody, dynamite, arrows, or Gatling gun symbols. Each player may keep or reroll any number of dice up to 3x on their turn. The exceptions to this being dynamite. If this symbol is rolled, then the player may not reroll that die. If they get 3 dynamite, they lose one health and may not reroll again.

Arrows and Gatling symbols are the only other “special” markings. An arrow requires the player who rolled it to take an arrow from a pool. If the pool runs out, Indians attack. This causes each player to loose damage equal to the number of arrows they have. The Gatling symbol is the only way to get rid of arrows before an attack (with dice). You do this by rolling 3 of them. This lets you discard your arrows in addition to dealing each player (aside from yourself) one damage.

Players take turns rolling the dice on their turn until one of the following outcomes is achieved: The sheriff dies, all outlaws are killed, the renegade kills everybody. The sheriff and deputies win if all outlaws are killed. The outlaws win if the sheriff dies. The renegade wins if he manages to kill everybody, but the sheriff has to die last. The renegade is the hardest victory to achieve of the three.

Final Thoughts & Where To Buy

Bang!: The Dice Game is much better than the card game. It’s faster and much easier, without losing the wild west feeling it brings. I’ve found the game to be very enjoyable with groups of 5-8. It’s often played several times in a row since games are quick. It is not super fun being the renegade, it’s very hard to win as him at any player count. Otherwise, the game generally feels balanced so long as you play with 5+ people. Any less than this, the game is slightly imbalanced and not as much fun.

I can safely recommend this game for people looking for a fast and easy party-style game. Since rolls are hidden, the social deduction element is present which makes for an interesting game almost every time. Bang!: The Dice Game, produced by daVinci Games, can be found at Coolstuff for $11.99 or in most local hobby shops. I’ve seen the game in some Wal-Mart’s and Target locations as well.

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