BANG!
Be the last one standing in this wild west shootout game with hidden roles.
"The Outlaws hunt the Sheriff. The Sheriff hunts the Outlaws. The Renegade plots secretly, ready to take one side or the other. Bullets fly. Who among the gunmen is a Deputy, ready to sacrifice himself for the Sheriff? And who is a merciless Outlaw, willing to kill him? If you want to find out, just draw (your cards)!" (From back of box)
The card game BANG! recreates an old-fashioned spaghetti western shoot-out, with each player randomly receiving a Character card to determine special abilities, and a secret Role card to determine their goal.
Four different Roles are available, each with a unique victory condition:
Sheriff - Kill all Outlaws and the Renegade
Deputy - Protect the Sheriff and kill any Outlaws
Outlaw - Kill the Sheriff
Renegade - Be the last person standing
A player's Role is kept secret, except for the Sheriff. Character cards are placed face up on table, and also track strength (hand limit) in addition to special ability.
There are 22 different types of cards in the draw deck. Most common are the BANG! cards, which let you shoot at another player, assuming the target is within "range" of your current gun. The target player can play a "MISSED!" card to dodge the shot. Other cards can provide temporary boosts while in play (for example, different guns to improve your firing range) and special one-time effects to help you or hinder your opponents (such as Beer to restore health, or Barrels to hide behind during a shootout). A horse is useful for keeping your distance from unruly neighbors, while the Winchester can hit a target at range 5. The Gatling is a deadly exception where range doesn't matter: it can only be used once, but targets all other players at the table!
Number of players: 4 - 7
Game duration: 17 mn
Complexity: 3 / 5
Play BANG! and 959 other games online.
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Play BANG! and 959 other games online.
No download necessary - play directly from your web browser.
With your friends and thousands of players from the whole world.
Free.
Rules summary
Objective
Each player has their own goal.
- Sheriff and Deputies: Kill all the Outlaws and the Renegade.
- Outlaws: Kill the Sheriff.
- Renegade: Kill all opponents with the Sheriff being last.
Everyone knows the Sheriff but all other characters are hidden.
The number of roles varies by player count as follows
- 4 players: 1 Sheriff, 1 Renegade, 2 Outlaws
- 5 players: 1 Sheriff, 1 Renegade, 2 Outlaws, 1 Deputy
- 6 players: 1 Sheriff, 1 Renegade, 3 Outlaws, 1 Deputy
- 7 players: 1 Sheriff, 1 Renegade, 3 Outlaws, 2 Deputy
Player's Turn
- Draw two cards from the draw pile.
- Play any number of cards, but only 1 Bang!
- Discard cards to your hand size limit (your life points).
Notes
- You can have only 1 copy of any card in play, unless the copy is from your character.
- You can only have 1 weapon. If you haven't played any weapons, you have Colt.45 (distance 1).
- Brown border cards have immediate effect while blue cards have effects that last until they are removed.
- The distance between players is the minimum number of places between them.
- The Sheriff starts with 1 extra life point.
- When you lose your last life point, you die unless you play a Beer.
- When you die, discard all your cards and show your role card to others.
- If the Sheriff kills a Deputy, they discards all cards they have in hand and in play.
- Anyone killing an Outlaw draws 3 cards.
- Beer has no effect when only 2 players are left
Rules
Talking/Writing in chat: talking "at the table" is part of the game, as is lying about your role. However, as expressly specified by Emiliano Sciarra (creator of Bang!) on boardgamegeek.com:
1) One "cannot say which cards are in your hand, nor you can ask directly another player whether he approves the playing of some card or not" (SOURCE: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2825319/tabletalk-and-bga)
2) One "may try to tell other players what to do: if they will obey, on the other hand, that's up to them (as well as finding a way to explain their behaviour...)" (SOURCE: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1474957/article/20986387#20986387).
Emiliano Sciarra is Alkan on BGG and you can review what they say on BGG here: https://boardgamegeek.com/article/browse/boardgame/0?username=Alkan&sort=recent
Note that these rules are community-maintained. Literally anyone can write anything here. When in doubt, refer to the Official Rule Book (en - https://www.dvgiochi.com/giochi/bang/download/Bang_rules_ENG.pdf, it - https://www.dvgiochi.com/giochi/bang/download/Bang_rules_ITA.pdf), the Official FAQ (en - https://www.dvgiochi.com/giochi/bang/download/Bang!_FAQ_ENG.pdf, it - https://www.dvgiochi.com/giochi/bang/download/Bang!_FAQ_ITA.pdf), or stuff that is stated by the creator (see link above).
People often like to make up rules. Refer to the infamous definition of a "scrub" by game designer David Sirlin: https://www.sirlin.net/ptw-book/introducingthe-scrub. Don't be that scrub!
High Noon expansion
The High Noon cards apply from the Sheriff's second turn. A new card (which is visible to the left of the active card) is activated before each of the Sheriff's turns. (The next card is then dimly revealed to the left.)
End of Game
- If the Sheriff is killed, Outlaws win unless the Renegade is the last one standing, which he wins.
- If all the Outlaws and the Renegade are killed, the Sheriff and his Deputies win.
Characters
- Bart Cassidy (4): Each time he loses a life point, he draws a card.
- Black Jack (4): Show his second card: if it is red he draws an additional card.
- Calamity Janet (4): She can use Bang! as Missed! and vice versa.
- El Gringo (3): When he losses a life point, he draws a random card from the player that caused his life loss.
- Jesse Jones (4): He may draw his first card from any other player instead of from the deck.
- Jourdonnais (4): He has a Barrel in play at all times.
- Kit Carlson (4): He looks at the top 3 cards in the deck when he draws: draw 2 and put the other on top of the deck.
- Lucky Duke (4): He chooses the result of a draw! from 2 cards.
- Paul Regret (3): He has a Mustang in play at all times.
- Pedro Ramirez (4): He may draw his first card from the discard pile.
- Rose Doolan (4): She has a Scope in play at all times.
- Sid Ketchum (4): He may discard 2 cards to regain 1 life point at any time.
- Slab the Killer (4): 2 Missed! must be played to cancel his Bang!
- Suzy Lafayette (4): She draws a card when she has no cards.
- Vulture Sam (4): He takes all the cards of that player when a player dies.
- Willy the Kid (4): He can play any number of Bang! during his turn.
Card List
Brown Cards: Immediate Effect (63)
- Bang!: Target a player that you can reach. They lose 1 life point unless they can play a Missed! (25)
- Missed!: Cancel a Bang! (12)
- Beer: Regain 1 life point. Can be played when receiving a lethal hit. (6)
- Saloon: All players regain 1 life point. Cannot be played out of turn. (1)
- Stagecoach & Wells Fargo: Draw 2 or 3 cards. (2) and (1)
- General Store: Draw cards equal to number of alive players. Everyone chose a card starting from you. (2)
- Panic!: Draw a card from a player with distance 1. (4)
- Cat Balou: Force a player to discard a card. (4)
- Gatling: All other players lose 1 life point. (1)
- Indians: All other players discard a Bang! or lose 1 life point. (2)
- Duel: Challenge a player. The challenged and the challenger take turns to discard a Bang! and the first player failing loses 1 life point. (3)
Blue Cards: Continuous Effect (17)
- Weapons: They change the maximum distance that you can hit, except the Volcanic which allows you to play any number of Bang! (8)
- Mustang: All other players see you with a distance increased by 1. (2)
- Scope: You see all other players with a distance decreased by 1, but at least 1. (1)
- Barrel: When you are targeted with a Bang!-card, draw a card from the deck. If it is a heart, you are Missed! (2)
- Jail: Play this card on another player. That player draw! and escapes if it is a heart, otherwise his turn is skipped. Jail cannot be played on the Sheriff.(3)
- Dynamite: When this card is in front of you, draw! and it explodes when it is a spades 2-9 (you lose 3 life points), otherwise pass it. (1)
