Review Details

Bang! The Dice Game

Product Review (submitted on September 28, 2015):

So, for a dozen dollars, you can fill out your $100 order and take a chance on a new game. That's what I was doing when I bought Bang! The Dice Game. Was it a good choice? Let's find out.

For your money, you get a hand full of role and character cards, a rule sheet, some bullet and some arrow tokens, and 5 dice. The cards and tokens are of decent quality and good art--the names of some of the characters are quite funny when you get the joke. The rules are short, simple, and understandable. The dice are of good quality and I really like them.

The game can play up to 8 people, but at least 3 are needed to start. There are some cards that help you randomly determine which side you are on in this chaotic shoot-out: The Law (1 Sheriff and up to 2 Deputies), The Outlaws (up to 3), or the Renegades (up to 2). If you are the Sheriff, reveal your role; otherwise, keep it hidden from the other players. Also, there are several personas you can play, each with their own special ability. These are also randomly dealt out to the players, though this time do it face up.

So, what are we doing here? Having us a shoot out, of course! The goal to winning the game depends on who side you are on--keep in mind, you win as a team, even if you die (unless you are the Sheriff). The game ends if the Sheriff is killed. If the Renegades are the only ones left, they win. Otherwise the Outlaws win. If all of the Outlaws and Renegades are taken out while the Sheriff still stands, the Law wins.
.
So how do you play? By rolling dice and making the choice of pushing your luck through rerolls. While I am not going to go through all of the different results of the dice, let's just say that the between the Indians shooting arrows at you, the mishandling of the some dynamite, and some craziness with the Gatling gun along with taking shots at people you hope aren't on your side, there can be some big shenanigans going on in which even the Sheriff can be shot by his/her own teammates.

Finally, is it worth the money? First, let me say two things. The game gets better when there are more players (adds a bit more uncertainty to who is who). A 3 player game is playable and okay, but is a little lacking when compared to larger player counts. Second, the special abilities of the personas coupled with the push-your-luck mechanic makes the dice rolls more exciting and suspenseful than they should be. I gave the Value a 5 because we had a blast.
Is it worth having? I say, absolutely! Its quick (played 8 games in about an hour the first time the family set down to play it) and its pretty fun, with lots of laughs when the dice don't go your way and some Oh, Snaps! when they do. Pick it up for some great filler gaming or for a quick shootout during lunch.