Bang! The Dice Game
Overall Rating: 10/10
Age: 8+
GLAM Age Range: 7-Adult
Number of Players: 3-8
Playing Time: 15 min
Publisher: dV GIOCHI
Complexity: High
Available At: Amazon.com
Quick Take: Standout game. You know that thing where Europeans are weirdly obsessed with the American wild west? Well, this game is the result of a very Italian viewpoint of the old west where everyone is trying to take out everyone else and you need to watch out for dynamite, arrows from Indians, and even a gattling gun attack. But don't worry, if you roll a beer that helps restore your life points ... that was really fun to explain to my seven year old. Hilarious. We love this game, it packs a lot of strategy and variety into a short amount of game time.
How to Play: I highly recommend watching a video on how to play this game. It isn't tricky once you play a round or two but there are intricacies of play that are easy to miss when doing a quick readthrough of the rules. There are different ways to win depending on how many players are in the game. You're either a Sheriff, a Renegade, or an Outlaw. With more players you can have Deputies on the Sheriff's team, additional Renegades, or additional Outlaws. The Sheriff wins if all the Outlaws and Renegades have been eliminated, the Outlaws win if the Sheriff is eliminated, and the Renegade wins only if they are the last man standing. In addition to these general roles, there are also character cards that you draw at random that each have special abilities of their own. On each turn you roll five dice that are either an Indian arrow, dynamite, Bull's Eye 1, Bull's Eye 2, Beer, or a Gatling Gun. You get three rolls to try to score maximum damage against your opponents. Beers heal you if you roll three dynamite you sustain one life point of damage and your turn is immediately over. The trick is, only the Sheriff reveals his role at the beginning of the game, the rest of the players must keep their roles secret. Particularly in a larger game, this adds a level of luck and complexity to the game.
Variations: With younger kids we just reveal all the roles and don't keep them a secret. The game is complex enough with adding that in and our kids aren't good at secrets anyway. If you really love this game and want more there is a longer board game version called Bang!
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