Bang! (card game)

Overview

• Sheriff
• Deputy Sheriff
• Outlaw
• Renegade

• the Outlaws must kill the Sheriff;
• the Sheriff and his Deputies must kill the Outlaws and the Renegade;
• each Renegade's objective is to be the last character in play. The Renegade must kill all the characters with the sheriff being the last one dead.

  Game

Set up

Gameplay

• The active player draws the top two cards from the draw pile. He or she must do this at the beginning of his or her turn. As soon as the draw pile is empty, shuffle the discard pile to create a new playing deck. Some characters have abilities that vary the number of cards drawn per turn.

• Now the player may play to help himself or hurt the other players, trying to eliminate them. He is not forced to play cards during this phase. Any number of cards may be played; there are only two limitations.
• Only one Bang! card may be played per turn.
• No player can ever have two identical cards face up in front of him.

Game concepts

• Distance: Distance is defined as the smallest number of characters from one player to another. For example, at a table of four, the people to the left and right of the player are at a distance of 1, and the player across the table is at a distance of 2.
• Dealing damage: Cards bearing a "Bang!" icon are used to deal damage to other players.
• "Bang!" cards: Cards explicitly labeled "Bang!" can only be used in accordance with a player's range. By default, a player has a range of 1. If he has a weapon that can fire to a distance of 3, he can target any player at a distance of 3 or less. A player may play only one "Bang!" card during his turn. Other cards can be played without restriction during the turn.
• Avoiding damage: If a player is targeted by a "Bang!", he can play a "Missed" card to avoid getting shot; otherwise, he loses a bullet.
• Bullets: A player's life points are represented by bullets. When a player loses his last bullet, he is dead and removed from the game.
• Restoring bullets: Cards bearing beer icons are used to restore bullets up to the character's maximum. "Beer" cards can be used out-of-turn to prevent death and remain at 1 bullet.
• "Draw!": To "draw!" means to reveal the first card of the deck and check the card's suit and value. Some cards will trigger only when Hearts or Spades are revealed.

  Penalties and rewards

• If the Sheriff eliminates a Deputy, the Sheriff must discard all the cards he has in hand and in play.
• Any player eliminating an Outlaw must draw a reward of 3 cards from the deck.

  Determining the winner

Strategy

Official tournament score

Character descriptions

• Bart Cassidy = Butch Cassidy – Each time he loses a life point, he immediately draws a card from the deck.
• Black Jack = Tom Ketchum – During phase 1 of his turn, he must show the second card he draws: if it's a Heart or Diamond, he draws one additional card that turn.
• Calamity Janet = Calamity Jane – She can use "Bang!" cards as "Missed!" cards and vice versa. She is still subject to "Bang!" limitations: If she plays a Missed! card as a "Bang!", she cannot play another "Bang!" card that turn.
• El Gringo = gringo – Each time he loses a life point due to a card played by another player, he draws a random card from the hands of that player. If the player has no more cards, he does not draw.
• Jesse Jones = Jesse James – During phase 1 of his turn, he may choose to draw the first card from the deck, or randomly from the hand of any other player. Then he draws the second card from the deck.
• Jourdonnais = "Frenchy" Jourdonnais, the riverboat captain in The Big Sky novel and movie ' – He is considered to have Barrel in play at all times; he can "draw!" when he is the target of a Bang!, and on a Heart he is missed. If he has another real Barrel card in play he can count both of them, giving him two chances to cancel the Bang! before playing a Missed!
• Kit Carlson = Kit Carson – During the phase 1 of his turn, he looks at the top three cards of the deck: he chooses 2 to draw, and puts the other one back on the top of the deck, face down.
• Lucky Duke = Lucky Luke ' – Each time he is required to "draw!", he flips the top two cards from the deck, and chooses the result he prefers. Discard both cards afterward.
• Paul Regret = Paul Regret – The Comancheros – He is considered to have a Mustang in play at all times; all other players must add 1 to the distance to him. If he has another real Mustang in play, he can count both of them, increasing all distance to him by a total of 2.
• Pedro Ramirez = Tuco Ramirez – The Ugly in the film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ' – During phase 1 of his turn, he may choose to draw the first card from the top of the discard pile or from the deck. Then he draws the second card from the deck.
• Rose Doolan = She is considered to have a Scope in play at all times; she sees the other players at a distance decreased by 1. If she has another real Scope in play, she can count both of them, reducing her distance to all other players by a total of 2.
• Sid Ketchum = Tom Ketchum – At any time, he may discard 2 cards from his hand to regain one life point. If he is willing and able, he can use this ability more than once at a time.
• Slab the Killer = Angel Eyes, the Bad in the film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ' – Players trying to cancel his Bang! cards need to play 2 Missed!. The Barrel effect, if successfully used, only counts as one Missed!
• Suzy Lafayette = As soon as she has no cards in her hand, she instantly draws a card from the draw pile.
• Vulture Sam = Whenever a character is eliminated from the game, Sam takes all the cards that player had in his hand and in play, and adds them to his hand.
• Willy the Kid = Billy the Kid – He can play any number of "Bang!" cards.

  Official expansions

''High Noon''

• Blessing: the suit of all cards is Hearts.
• Curse: the suit of all cards is Spades.
• Ghost Town: during their turn, killed characters return in play as ghosts, with 3 cards. They cannot be killed but they leave the game immediately after their turn.
• Gold Rush: the game proceeds counterclockwise. Card effects proceed clockwise as usual.
• Hangover: all characters lose their special abilities.
• Shootout: each player can play a second Bang! card.
• The Daltons: when this card enters play, each player with at least one blue card discards one blue card at his choice.
• The Doctor: when this card enters play, the player with the fewest current life points regain 1 life point.
• The Reverend: players cannot play any Beer cards.
• The Sermon: players cannot use Bang! cards.
• Train Arrival: each player draws an additional card at the beginning of his turn.
• Thirst: each player draws one card fewer than normal at the beginning of his turn.
• High Noon: each player loses 1 life point at the start of his turn. This must be always the last card, and stays in play until the game ends.
• Schofield: A card that increases the player's distance by 2, but when combined with another Schofield, may form a Mustang or Wells Fargo.

  ''Dodge City''

• Apache Kid = The Apache Kid – Cards of Diamond played by other players do not affect him.
• Belle Star = Belle Starr – During her turn, cards in play in front of other players have no effect.
• Bill Noface = He draws 1 card, plus 1 card for each wound he has.
• Chuck Wengam = During his turn, he may choose to lose 1 life point to draw 2 cards. This ability can be used more than once in the same turn; however, the last life point cannot be lost.
• Doc Holyday = Doc Holliday – Once during his turn, he may discard 2 cards from the hand to shoot a Bang!. This ability does not count towards his limit of one Bang! card per turn.
• Elena Fuente = She may use any card in hand as Missed!.
• Greg Digger = Each time another player is eliminated, he regains 2 life points.
• Herb Hunter = Each time another player is eliminated, he draws 2 extra cards.
• Jose Delgado = Gordito Delgado ' – Twice in his turn, he may discard a blue card from the hand to draw 2 cards. In the first edition of the expansion, he could use his ability as long as he had blue cards in hand.
• Molly Stark = Each time she uses a card from her hand out of turn, she draws a card.
• Pat Brennan = Pat Brennan from The Tall T ' – Instead of drawing normally, he may draw only one card in play in front of any one player. It can be either a hand card, blue-bordered card, or a green-bordered card.
• Pixie Pete = He draws 3 cards instead of 2. In the first edition of the expansion, Pixie Pete draws 4 cards.
• Sean Mallory = John H. Mallory from Duck, You Sucker! – He may hold in his hand up to 10 cards. In the first edition of the expansion, he had no limit at all to the cards in his hand.
• Tequila Joe = Each time he plays a Beer, he regains 2 life points instead of 1.
• Vera Custer = For a whole round, she gains the same ability of another character in play of her choice until the beginning of her next turn.

''A Fistful Of Cards''

• Abandoned Mine: players draw from the discard pile and discard on the top of the deck.
• Ambush: the distance between players is 1. This is only modified by cards in play
• Blood Brothers: each player may choose to lose one of his life points to give to another player at the beginning of his turn.
• Dead Man: the first eliminated player returns in play with 2 life points and 2 cards.
• Hard Liquor: each player may forfeit his drawing phase to regain 1 life point.
• Lasso: cards in play in front of all players have no effect. "Draw!" is still required for Jail, but this Jail has no effect regardless the result of draw.
• Law of the West: players must show and play the second card they draw in their turn.
• Ranch: once at the end of his turn, each player may discard any number of cards from his hand to draw an equal number of cards from the deck.
• Ricochet: players may fire Bang! against cards in play: those cards are discarded unless the player controlling them plays a Missed!.
• Russian Roulette: when this card enters in play, starting from the Sheriff each player discards a Missed! or loses 2 life points.
• Sniper: players may discard 2 Bang! cards to target an opponent: this counts as a Bang! but 2 Missed! cards are required to cancel this effect.
• Peyote: players try to guess the suit of the card they draw and keep drawing until they are wrong.
• The Judge: players cannot play cards in front of themselves. Cards that are already placed in front of players will not be affected.
• Vendetta: players "draw!" at the end of their turn: on a Heart, they play an additional turn.
• A Fistful of Cards: at the beginning of his turn, each player is the target of as many Bang! as the number of cards in his hand. This must be always the last card, and stays in play until the game ends.

''Wild West Show''

• Flint Westwood = During his turn, he may trade one card from hand with 2 cards at random from the hand of another player.
• Big Spencer = He starts with 5 cards. He cannot play Missed! cards.
• Lee Van Kliff = During his turn, he may discard one Bang! card to repeat the effect of a brown-bordered card he just played.
• Youl Grinner = Before drawing, players with more hand cards than him must give him one card of their choice.
• John Pain = If he has less than 6 cards in hand, each time any player must "draw!", John adds the card just drawn to his hand.
• Greygory Deck = At the start of his turn, he may draw 2 characters at random. He has all the abilities of the drawn characters. He can only draw characters from the basic game.
• Gary Looter = He draws all excess cards discarded by other players at the end of their turn.
• Teren Kill = Each time he would be eliminated, he must "draw!": if it is not Spades, Teren stays at 1 life point, and draws 1 card.

• Bone Orchard = At the beginnings of their turns, all eliminated players return permanently to game with 1 life point. Shuffle role cards and the returning player takes one random role card.
• Darling Valentine = Players discard all hand cards and then draw as many they had before their phase 1.
• Dorothy Rage = During each player's turn they may force any player to play one hand card. The player calls out the name of a card. If the target player does not have the card named, he must show his hand cards. If he has the card, he has to play that card like it was his turn, but the caller chooses the target.
• Gag = All players play without talking. Only gestures and sounds are allowed. Whoever breaks this rule loses 1 life point.
• Helena Zontoro = when Helena comes into play, "draw!": on heart or diamonds, shuffle all roles except the Sheriff and deal them out at random.
• Lady Rose Of Texas = Each player can swap place with player on his right. If he does, player on right move to place and skip his next turn.
• Miss Susanna = All players have to play at least 3 cards on their turn. If not, they lose 1 life point.
• Sacagaway = During their turn all players play with their hands revealed.
• Showdown = All cards may be played as if they were Bang! cards, and all Bang! cards may be played as if they were Missed! cards.
• Wild West Show = The goal of each player becomes "Be the last one in play". Roles still apply as normal, but killing the sheriff does not end the game.

  ''Gold Rush''

• 8 new characters
• * Don Bell – At the end of his turn, he must "draw!": On Diamond or Hearts he plays one extra turn. At the end of the extra turn, he doesn't "draw!" for another turn.
• * Dutch Will – In his phase 1, he draws 2 cards, he must discard one of them and gets 1 golden nugget. '
• * Jacky Murieta – By discarding 2 golden nuggets he shoots extra Bang! '
• * Josh McCloud – Once per turn, he may buy 1 random equipment by discarding 2 golden nuggets. '
• * Madam Yto – Each time a Beer card is played, she immediately draws a card. '
• * Pretty Luzena – Once per turn, she may buy 1 equipment for 1 less nugget than its cost. The equipment with 1 cost she buys for free once per turn. '
• * Raddie Snake – On his turn, he may draw a card by discarding 1 golden nugget, up to a maximum of 2 times per round. '
• * Simeon Picos – Whenever he is hit, he gets 1 golden nugget from bank.
• 24 equipment cards
• * Shot A player of your choice will refill 1 life point. You can select yourself, too.
• * Bottle You can play this as Bang!, Panic! or Beer.
• * Pardner You can play this as Cat Balou, Duel or General Store.
• * Union Pacific Draw 4 cards.
• * Gold Rush You end your turn and play another turn. Your life will restored to maximum.
• * Horseshoe Whenever you "draw!"'', you reveal 1 additional card and choose the result. Lucky Duke draws 3 cards with Horseshoe.
• * Wanted! Play in front any player. Anyone who eliminates a player with Wanted! draws 2 extra cards and takes 1 extra nugget.
• * Gun Belt Your limit for hand cards is 8 in your phase 3.
• * Gold Pan During your turn, you may discard 1 nugget to draw one card. This can be used up to 2 times per turn.
• * Lucky Charm For each lost life point, you take 1 golden nugget from the bank.
• * Boots For each lost life point, you draw 1 card from deck.
• * Calumet You are not affected by cards with the Diamond suit.
• * Pickaxe During your phase 1, you draw one additional card.
• * Rhum “Draw” 4 cards and regain 1 life point for each different suit.
• * Rucksack Pay 2 gold nuggets to regain 1 life point.
• 30 gold nuggets
• 1 "Shadow-Renegade" card

  ''The Valley of Shadows''

1. Lemonade Jim – Lemonade Joe Each time another player plays Beer card, he may discard a card to regain 1 life point.
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!
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. Colorado Bill – Each time he plays a Bang! card, he does a "draw!": on Spades, the shot cannot be avoided.
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.

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

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 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.

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.
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 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..

    ''Bang The Duel''

1. Alan Pinkertoon
2. Annie Oakey
3. Bart Masterson
4. Bill Tightman
5. Buffalo Bell
6. Dalon Ranger
7. Jango
8. Pat Garret
9. Tex Killer
10. The Stranger
11. Wild Bill
12. Wyatt Ear

1. Babe Leroy
2. Bull Anderson
3. Cattle Katie
4. Dalton Bros
5. Jack Ransome
6. Pearl Hat
7. Sid Curry –
8. Slim Poet – Each time your opponent makes Slim lose a life point, you may discard a random card from your opponent's hand.
9. Soundance Kid – Once per turn, you may discard a card of your choice from hand to draw 2 cards.
10. Toco Ramirez – You may use any card in hand as a COLT.
11. Tom Thron – Each time he becomes AC, your opponent's RC is the target of the HIT.
12. West Harding – You may play any number of Bang! cards on your turn.

    ''Armed & Dangerous''

• 8 characters

1. Al Preacher – If another player plays a blue or orange-bordered card, you may pay 2 Loads to draw 1 card from deck.
2. Bass Grevees – Once during your turn, you may discard 1 card from your hand to add 2 Loads too one of your cards.
3. Bloody Mary – Each time your Bang! is canceled, draw 1 card from the deck.
4. Frankie Canton – Once during your turn, you may take 1 Load from any card and move it here.
5. Julie Cutter – Each time a player makes you lose at least 1 life point, reveal: One Hearts or Diamond, they are target of a Bang!
6. Ms. Abigail – You may ignore the effects of brown-border cards with values J, Q, K and A if you are only target.
7. Mexicali Kid – Once during your turn, you may pay 2 Loads to shoot extra Bang!.
8. Red Ringo – Start with 4 Loads. During your turn, you may move up to 2 Loads from here to your cards.

• 13 orange-border card

1. Ace up the Sleeve – 2 Loads: draw 1 card from the deck.
2. Bandolier – 1 Load: Once during your turn, you may play one extra Bang! card.
3. Big Fifty – 1 Load: Cancel the target player's ability and cards in play.
4. Bell Tower – 1 Load: You can use your next card with distance 1 to all other players.
5. Thunderer – - 1 Load: Get your used Bang! back.
6. Tumbleweed – 1 Load: Force a player to “Draw!” one more time.
7. Crate - 2 Load: Same as Missed!.
8. Bomb - The player “Draw!”: If it is hearts or diamonds, give it to another player. Else, remove 2 load. If the player has no more load, the player losses 2 life points.
9. Buntline Special – 1 Load: If the Bang! is missed, the target must discard one card.
10. Whip - 3 Load: Discard any card.
11. Beer Keg - 3 Load: Gain 1 life point.
12. Lock Pick - 3 Load: Draw 1 card from any player.
13. Double Barrel – - 1 Load: If you use a diamond Bang! card, the target cannot use Missed!.

    Deluxe version: Bang! The Bullet!

• A Sheriff's Badge
• Three special character cards:
• *Uncle Will – Once during his turn, he may play any card from hand as a General Store. This card is a reference to Will Niebling, former CEO of Mayfair Games.
• *Johnny Kisch – Each time he puts a card into play, all other cards in play with the same name are discarded. This card is a reference to Jo Nikisch, CEO of Abacus Spiele, the German publisher of the game.
• *Claus "The Saint" – He draws one more card than the number of players, keeps 2 for himself, then gives 1 to each player. This card was a bonus, "unglued" card originally included in the online daVinci newsletter. The author considers this card to be quite unbalanced and not suited for serious play
• Two additional High Noon cards:
• *New Identity – At the beginning of their turn each player looks at the character he is using to keep track of his life points. He may switch to the new identity for the rest of the game, starting with 2 life points.
• *Handcuffs – After drawing his cards in phase 1, the player whose turn it is names a suit: he can only play cards of that suit during his turn.
• Two blank cards – one for a character and one for a normal card.

Bang! 10th Anniversary Edition

• Apache Kid, Chuck Wengam, Jose' Delgado, and Pixie Pete
• Big Spencer and Youl Grinner
• Madam Yto
• Colorado Bill and Henry Block
• Annie Versary : She may use any card as a Bang! card.

  Video game

Online Version

Lawsuit