Bang! (card game)

For other uses, see Bang (disambiguation).
Bang!
Designer(s) Emiliano Sciarra
Illustrator(s) Alex Pierangelini
Publisher(s) daVinci Games
Mayfair Games
Players 4–7 (3–8 with expansion sets)
Age range 10+
Setup time approx. 5 min.
Playing time 20–90 minutes
Random chance Card drawing
Skill(s) required Card playing

Bang! is a Wild West-themed card game, designed by Emiliano Sciarra and released by Italian publisher daVinci Editrice in 2002. In 2004, Bang! won the Origins Award for Best Traditional Card Game of 2003 and Best Graphic Design of a Card Game or Expansion.[1]

The game is known worldwide as Bang!, except in France, where it was known as Wanted! until September 2009.

Overview

The game is played by four to seven players (three to eight players with variants and expansions). Each player takes one of the following roles:

Each player also receives a unique character card with special abilities and a certain amount of 'bullets' (i.e. life-points).

The objective of the game is different for every role:

Game

Set up

Each player is randomly dealt a Character card and a Role card: there is always a Sheriff, two Outlaws and a Renegade. Roles depend on the number of players (for example, with 7 players there will be 1 Sheriff, 2 Deputies, 3 Outlaws and 1 Renegade). The Role cards are given face down to each player. The Sheriff shows his card. With the expansion, it is possible to play with only three players using a Deputy, an Outlaw and a Renegade.

Gameplay

The game is played in turns, in clockwise order. The Sheriff begins. Each player's turn is divided into three phases.

1. Draw two cards

2. Play any number of cards.

Each player can only have one weapon at a time. If you want to play a new weapon card when you already have one, you must discard the one you already have. This is explicitly noted in page 3 of the rules.[2]

When a card is played just follow the symbols on it. Cards can be played only during your turn (with the exception of Beer, Bang! and Missed!).

Normally a card has an effect which is immediately resolved, and then the card is discarded. However, blue-bordered cards, like weapons and horses, etc., have long-lasting effects, and are kept on the table face up in front of you. In the Dodge City expansion, green-bordered cards are played face up and cannot be used until the following round, then are discarded.

The effects of these cards (in play) lasts until they are discarded or removed somehow (e.g. Cat Balou or Panic) or a special event occurs (e.g. in the case of Jail or Dynamite.)

3. Discard excess cards.

Once the second phase is over (you do not want to or cannot play any more cards), then you must discard from your hand any cards exceeding your hand size limit. The hand size limit of a player (at the end of his turn) is equal to the number of bullets currently shown on the card that lies under his character card. Then it is the next player's turn, in clockwise order.

Game concepts

Generally speaking (as there are exceptions):

Penalties and rewards

Determining the winner

Once the Sheriff is killed, the game is over. If the only player left is a Renegade, the Renegade wins. However, if two or more players are still alive or the only remaining player is an Outlaw, all the Outlaws win, dead or alive.

On the other hand, if all Outlaws and Renegades are dead before the Sheriff dies, the Sheriff and all the Deputies win, dead or alive.

Strategy

The game is an interesting application of Game theory. As only the Sheriff is known, it is hard to know who has what role. Generally, a person's role is implied if he tries to shoot, or otherwise harm, the Sheriff. Others' role can be implied if they try to harm those who harmed the Sheriff. The advantage of keeping one's role hidden from enemies must be weighed against the need to accomplish one's goal.

Since the Renegade loses if the Sheriff dies when there are still others in the game he must defend the Sheriff to some extent. On the other hand, his ultimate goal is killing the Sheriff. This leads to a "two faced" nature of the Renegade, trying to weaken each side (Outlaws and Deputies) while keeping the Sheriff alive until the end. This also makes it harder to ascertain who is an Outlaw, who is a Deputy, and who is a Renegade, as their actions may be similar.[3]

Official tournament score

An official scoring system can be found on daVinci web site, the official web site of the Italian editors of Bang!. The scoring rules are as follows:

  • If the Sheriff wins:
the Sheriff wins $1500 for every Outlaw;
the Deputies win $1000 for every Outlaw if they survived, and $700 if they died;
the Renegade wins $400 for every player if he died last, leaving the Sheriff alive alone.
  • If the Outlaws win:
the Renegade, if he is still alive at the end of the game, wins $300 for each player in the game;
the Outlaws, if they are alive, win $1000 for each Outlaw in the game, dead or alive; otherwise they win $800 for each Outlaw in the game.
  • If the Renegade wins:
the Sheriff wins $100 for each player in the game
the Renegade wins $1500 for each player in the game
  • Extra Penalty:
if a deputy kills a Sheriff, he loses $5000

Character descriptions

As the game constantly maintains an ironic point of view on the western clichés, some of the characters of Bang! are named after famous people. There are 16 different characters in the basic set:

Official expansions

High Noon

Released in 2003. A set of thirteen scenario cards that are given to the Sheriff, and revealed at the start of each of his turns – the card's scenario is effective until the next scenario card has been revealed. The name is inspired by the Western High Noon. The scenario cards have these effects:

Dodge City

Released in 2004. A set of fifteen new characters and 40 new play cards. There is also a set of 8 "role" cards (7 duplicates) allowing up to 8 people to play. The name is inspired by the Western, Dodge City. The new characters are:

Dodge City features also a new symbol, meaning "discard another card from your hand in order to play this card", and a new card type, the green-bordered cards: they are played like blue cards, cannot be used until the next opponent's turn (in case of a Missed! effect) or the owner's next turn (in all other cases) and are discarded immediately after they are used.

A Fistful Of Cards

Released in 2005. A set of fifteen new scenario cards, designed by players around the world selected by the original author, which can be mixed with the High Noon expansion. The name is inspired by the Western, A Fistful of Dollars. The cards include:

Player must choose either High Noon or A Fistful of Cards as the last scenario card when the two expansions are mixed together.

Wild West Show

Bang! Wild West Show! is an expansion released in August 2010 with characters that revolve not around historical figures but rather around actors iconic to the western movie genre. The expansion also includes cards and rules not seen in previous expansions.

The 8 new characters are:

The 10 special cards that come with Wild West Show! play similarly as the scenario cards in High Noon and A Fistful of Cards. A special card is revealed every time a Stagecoach or Wells Fargo is played.

The 10 new special cards are:

Gold Rush

Bang! Gold Rush was released in 2011. It introduced some innovative gameplay mechanics: thanks to the shadow-gunslinger game variant, players are never really out of the game. During his turn, the shadow-gunslinger temporarily re-enters the game and he can play as if he was still alive. With Bang! Gold Rush, the outcome of the match can even be determined by an eliminated player. – Players can collect gold nuggets to buy equipment. The purchase of an "equipment" card allows the player to selectively enhance his or her character and develop new strategies. The box contains:

The Valley of Shadows

This expansion consists of 20 cards, mostly playing cards and several new character cards. First unofficial version was released in September 2011 in Czech and Slovak Republic. It was officially released on October 16, 2014 by the Czech editor ALBI check ALBI webpage.[4]

5 new characters:

  1. Lemonade Jim – Lemonade Joe (fictional character) Each time another player plays Beer card, he may discard a card to regain 1 life point. (4 life points)
  2. Henry Block – Each time another player discards or draws card from Henry's hand or in front him, that player is the target of a Bang!. (4 life points)
  3. Evelyn Shebang – She may decide not to draw some number of cards in her draw phase. For each card skipped, she shoots a BANG! at a different target in reachable distance. (4 life points)
  4. Colorado Bill – Each time he plays a BANG! card, he does a "draw!": on Spades, the shot cannot be avoided. (4 life points)
  5. Mick Defender – Each time he is the solo target of a brown card other than BANG!, he may discard a Missed! card to avoid it. (4 life points)

3 bonus characters:

  1. Tuco Franziskaner - During his draw phase, he draws 2 extra cards if he has no blue cards in play. (5 life points)
  2. Black Flower - Once per turn, she can shoot an extra Bang! by discarding a Clubs card. (4 life points)
  3. Der Spot-Burst Ringer - Once per turn, he can play a Bang! card as Gatling. (4 life points)

5 new blue border cards:

  1. Shotgun – range 1, weapon – Each time a player is hit by a Bang! card from player with a SHOTGUN, that player discards 1 card of his choice from hand.
  2. Lemat – range 1, weapon – Any card (except Missed! cards) can be played as a Bang! card on the player's turn.
  3. Rattlesnake – Play in front any player. At the beginning that player's turn, he must "draw!": On Spades, he loses 1 life point.
  4. Bounty – Play in front any player. Players that hit that player with Bang! cards draw 1 card from the deck.
  5. Ghost – Play in front any eliminated player. That player returns to the game without his ability and cannot gain or lose life points. He plays as a normal player as long he has the Ghost card in front him.

10 new brown border cards:

  1. Escape – If you are the solo target of card, you may discard this card to avoid that card or its effect.
  2. Last Call – Regain one life point. (Different from Beer in that it can still be used when only 2 players are left, and it cannot be used out of turn to revive.)
  3. Poker – All others players discard a card. If no one discards an Ace card, you can draw 2 cards from the discarded cards.
  4. Wild Band – Others players may discard Bang! card or 2 cards from hand of his choice.
  5. Saved! – Play only out of your turn. Prevent any player from losing 1 life point. If this saves them from elimination, you draw 2 card from the hand of that player.
  6. BackFire – Counts as Missed!. Any player who targeted you with Bang! is now a target of Bang!.
  7. Tornado – Each player passes 2 cards of his choice to the left.
  8. Tomahawk – Bang! at distance 2.
  9. Fanning – Counts as Bang! at range. All players (except you) at distance 1 from primary target are also the target of Bang!.
  10. Aim – Play together with a Bang! card. If target player doesn't miss, he loses 2 life points instead 1. Only 1 Missed! is need to avoid this. (2 Missed! in the case of Slab The Killer).

Bang The Duel

This is a standalone game, without any need for prior possession of Bang! Expansions. It is for 2 players only. One player controls a team of law enforcers, while another player controls a team of bandits.

12 law charactes:

12 bandits characters:

  1. Sid Curry - (4 life points)
  2. Slim Poet - Each time your opponent makes Slim to lose a life point(except last one), you may discard a random card from your opponent's hand. (4 life points)
  3. Soundance Kid - One per turn, you may discard a card of your choice from hand to draw 2 cards.
  4. Toco Ramirez - You may use any card in hand as a COLT.
  5. Tom Thron - Each time become AC, your opponent's RC is target of the HIT.
  6. West Harding - You may play any number of BANG! cards on your turn.

Unofficial expansions

El Dorado

El Dorado was designed by Jidan, available here. The first unofficial expansion for BANG!, El Dorado is an expansion that provides event cards such as in Wild West Show that can be impacted by the cards a player plays and discards. In February 2011, El Dorado was retranslated into English and modified by Martin Pulido over at The BANG! Blog. Pictures of this new English edition are available below. It is available for download.

El Dorado Guidebook
Cover to the El Dorado Guidebook
Cards in the El Dorado Expansion
Cards in the El Dorado expansion
Changes in the English translation of El Dorado
Example of Changes in the new English translation
Changes in the English translation of El Dorado
Another look at changes in the new English translation
Back of an El Dorado card
Backside graphic for El Dorado cards

Death Mesa

Death Mesa[5] is an unofficial expansion to BANG! developed by Martin Pulido over at The BANG! Blog. The cardsheets for Death Mesa are also available for free online, and can be downloaded as 1 large zip file or a series of 9 PDFs.

Death Mesa is designed to improve the element of player elimination in BANG! by having eliminated players remain in and influence the game as ghosts, who are able to impact the game's outcome, help their teammates, and even succeed in their roles. Ghosts have no life points, no distance constraints, cannot die, and also draw from a specialized deck of cards called the Dead Men's Deck. Cards from this deck allow the ghosts to possess the living, bequeath items from their will, inspire or weaken others, reveal information on cards in player's hands, warn of impending doom, and so forth. Ghosts however, can spoil each other's plans. With a strong thematic background, Death Mesa should add to the fun of BANG! and draw new fans to it who could not stand the player elimination. For more information on Death Mesa, visit the BANG! Blog.

Picture of a Death Mesa card sheet
Example of a Death Mesa card sheet
Another picture of a card sheet
Another card sheet example
Back of a Death Mesa card
Backside graphic for Death Mesa cards
Another picture of a card sheet
Card explanations in the Death Mesa Guidebook

Robber's Roost

Robber's Roost Cover Card

Robber's Roost[6] is an unofficial BANG! expansion under development by Martin Pulido over at The BANG! Blog. The alpha version of Robber's Roost was made available free to the public on April 26, 2011. The expansion can be downloaded as a series of 12 PDFs. Robber's Roost is a comparable expansion to Dodge City. Besides adding 16 new characters, it also adds 56 new playing cards to BANG!, with many of them being new "orange cards," which are played differently from the others.

Orange cards can never be played on your turn. Instead, they are played at or during events on other players’ turns, as specified on each orange card. Most orange cards are designed to enhance teamplay (Deputies with the Sheriff, Outlaws amongst each other, and the Renegade with whatever group he chooses), as they only occasionally help you directly. They are also designed to speed up the game, and make you more involved in the game when it is not your turn. Thus, orange cards allow players to do actions like these: back up another player when he shoots at someone, push a player out of harm's way when he is shot at (or dive and take a hit for him), confiscate a card in play in front of a player for a round, give a card from your hand to another player, shoot at a player when he shoots at someone else, add/remove distance modifiers to another player for a round, taunt another player which forces him to shoot at you if he can, and so forth.

Orange cards are placed face down in front of you whenever they are acquired. You may look at them whenever you wish, but they are not for the eyes of other players. When you use orange cards at the appropriate events, flip the card over and do as it specifies. There is a "grace period" when orange cards are played. As long as they are played in a timely manner, they count. If orange cards are laid quickly in succession of one another, treat them as simultaneous. Thus, if 1 orange card is contrary to another, they are nullified. However, if the orange cards are the same, temporality dictates the order and validity of the cards.

Orange cards may be directly discarded. However, they cannot be directly stolen. When a player attempts to steal an orange card, the orange cards are brought into your hand, shuffled, and then a card is randomly stolen from your hand instead. Afterwards, place down your remaining orange cards.

While the orange cards function in the above specified way at the beginning of the game, some of them change when the game reduces to 2 players or your team is eliminated. Orange cards that are designed to solely help team mates provide an option to function as different cards in these situations. Their optional function is specified in the bottom right hand corner of the card. They are placed face down like usual, but these optional functions can only be used on your turn. Altered play is activated for the following: for an Outlaw when he is the last of his team remaining; for a Sheriff when there are no Deputies or Renegades remaining; for Renegades, Sheriffs, and Outlaws when there are only 2 players remaining. Finally, the addition of orange cards also affects card limits. Every player is allowed 1 extra card to their limit, as long as that 1 card is orange. After this card, all orange cards contribute to your limit.

Robber's Roost also adds a large variety of new character cards that will continue to provide a balance between defensive, offensive, and neutral abilities. Some of the characters will have some really unique abilities that are unlike any BANG! characters from before. Some examples of Robber's Roost characters are provided below. For more information on Robber's Roost, visit the BANG! Blog.

Robber's Roost Orange Cards
Orange Cards in Robber's Root
Robber's Roost Orange Cards
More Orange Cards
Robber's Roost Brown and Blue Cards
Other New Player Cards from Robber's Roost
Robber's Roost Characters
Custom Characters from Robber's Roost
More Robber's Roost Characters
More Characters from Robber's Roost

Cusp of Carabelli

Cusp of Carabelli is an unofficial expansion to BANG! the card game, designed by Quincy Thompson and tested with the help of fellow dental students. Cusp of Carabelli is a comparable expansion to Dodge City. Besides adding 17 new characters, it also adds 36 more playing cards to BANG!. It is named after a dental term along with many of the character names coming from famous dentists and current faculty at his dental school. Many of the other cards are inspired by and use the artwork from the custom cards made in the various unofficial expansions created on The BANG! Blog.

Team Fortress Expansion

Team Fortress Expansion is an unofficial expansion to BANG! the card game, designed by Ferenc Asztalos. It combines the classic western game with the popular first-person shooter Team Fortress 2, containing 9 characters, 20 playing cards and 13 event cards. The balance of the original game considering both the ratio of playing cards and the poker numbers has been kept owing to the long testing phase, and the high-quality design provides a great experience for the fans.

Deluxe version: Bang! The Bullet!

A deluxe version of Bang!, called Bang! The Bullet!, was released in 2007.[7][8]

This set included three of the official expansions, High Noon (second edition), Dodge City, and A Fistful of Cards (second edition), along with several extras:

The 2007 release of Bang! the Bullet! game follows the 3rd edition rules of the basic game and the 2nd edition rules of Dodge City.

The 2009 reprint of Bang! the Bullet! game follows the 4th edition rules of the basic game and the 3rd edition rules of Dodge City. It does not include the player mats nor bullet tokens as found in the boxed version of Bang! 4th edition.

BANG! 10th Anniversary Edition

This edition was released in 2012. It comes in a metal tin, and contains the complete most recent version of the base game with original 16 characters. It also contains 30 wooden bullet markers for keeping track of health, 7 player boards each with different artwork, and 10 bonus characters.

The 10 extra characters are as follows:

Video game

On October 29, 2009, Palzoun entertainment (which acquired the official license from DaVinci Games) officially announced the development of Bang! The Card Game into a video game. The game will be developed in partnership with SpinVector.[10]

During the Lucca Comics&Games 2010 Palzoun has announced that BANG! The Official Videogame would have been available on Christmas 2010 on different platforms, including iPhone, iPad, Samsung Wave (BADA), PC and Atom Netbook (APPUP). The iPhone App has been published on the iTunes App Store on December 18, 2010. A console version was also expected to arrive in March 2011 but has been delayed.

With a future update, Bang! The Video Game will be the first video game ever to support the "MULTICROSS-PLATFORM", an online infrastructure which will permit the players to play against each other regardless of the platform possessed.

A live action trailer of the game was released on November 2, 2010.

Online Version

On May 14, 2012, Christopher Gordon Carr's Software Developer Portfolio[11] released Kraplow! an open source online Bang! clone. You can play this in your browser with AI or with other people. Kraplow! features all the rules from version 4.0 of Bang! and is free to use and open source.

The Starcraft II mod Barcraft[12] is a copy of Bang! that replaces the wild west theme with themes and characters from the Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo franchises.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Origins Award Winners (2003)". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on 2008-01-06. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
  2. ↑ "daVinci Second Edition Rules (English)".
  3. ↑ "Strategy tips by the author on BoardGameGeek".
  4. ↑ "BANG! The Valley of Shadows - Board Game - BoardGameGeek".
  5. ↑ "Death Mesa Expansion.". The BANG! Blog. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  6. ↑ "Robber's Roost Expansion.". The BANG! Blog. Retrieved 2011-01-27.
  7. ↑ "Fórum - BANG.cz".
  8. ↑ "BANG! The Bullet! - Board Game - BoardGameGeek".
  9. ↑ "Fórum - BANG.cz".
  10. ↑ "Palzoun & daVinci present BANG! The videogame." (PDF). daVinci Games. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
  11. ↑ Carr, Christopher. "Software Developer". tulip.io. Christopher Gordon Carr. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  12. ↑ "Arcade Highlight: BarCraft".

External links

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