I shot il scerrifo (and his lousy deputy, too)

Having now met in person my brother-in-blog Andre Harden and his extremely entertaining family, I have been initiated into the wonderful world of card and board games that don't suck. I loved all the standards as a kid, but they stopped interesting me several years ago, and I've never truly cared for turn-based strategies like Risk et. al. And so, I wrote card and board games off. Mistake!

Apparently, there's a universe out there just waiting for people like me. I've seen a game called Red Dragon Inn (not related to that old BBS DOS classic Legend of the Red Dragon), which I can only describe as a cross between blackjack, Clue, Monopoly, and a drinking game, all while being reasonably family-friendly (the goal is to gamble and/or drink the other players out of the bar until you're the last one there). I've played something called The Last Night on Earth, a zombie scenario Clue-ish board game which I think I would really have enjoyed had it not been way past my bedtime. But my favourite so far? Bang!

Bang! is a card game based on spaghetti westerns. Yes, spaghetti westerns. Ideally played by six, each player is randomly dealt their role: outlaw, renegade, deputy, or sherrif. The outlaws (three in all) win if the sherrif dies. The deputy wins if the sherrif stays alive. The sherrif wins if the outlaws and the renegade die. And the renegade wins by killing everyone except the sherrif, and then killing the sherrif. The sherrif is exposed to everyone at the start of the game, but it's usually simple to discern who is who within a few turns. Some very interesting dynamics come into play - the renegade is a help to the sherrif, while the outlaws are still in, and the deputy could potentially mask his identity by taking a few shots at the sherrif...but then runs the risk of killing or being killed by the same. A relatively simple game, and yet...

Everyone is also dealt to character cards from which to choose, with every character having a different skill that can become a disadvantage based on how you play and what cards you're dealt. The gameplay itself is ingeniously simple. Everyone starts out being able to shoot or otherwise interact with the player one seat away from them, but this changes with cards like ranged weapons or hideouts. There are also one-use defense cards, like tin plates a la Fistful of Dollars, or Bibles. There are cards that get you free cards, like stagecoach cards or cards that allow you to steal from another player. There are cards that allow you to discard any card from another player, the funniest of these being the Cat Ballou card. And then there are cards like the one that incites a brawl, which, on first viewing, caused me to say "what the !?" in front of the Harden's 7 year-old son.

All in all, Bang! is an interesting and highly entertaining mix between strategy and chance, an highly evolved (and far more fun) version of Mafia. We plan on picking this one up, and then we shall own our very first non-electronic game. Hooray! Who knows now what this strange new future will hold?