Bang! is a wild west themed card game, where players take on the role of sheriff, deputy, outcast, and more to face off against other players. Each player starts off with a certain amount of health points and cards, and has to collect cards to take down their opponents’ health points. Furthermore, each player has a role, which is secret for all but the sheriff. The player’s role determines their win conditions. When playing Bang! gameplay fell into the pattern of the three-act structure of the story of a game.
Act One:
This was the start of the game. The first few turns were tricky. It wasn’t until every player had had multiple turns that the gameplay and end aim of the game became clearer, which launched us into act two right around the third round of turns.
Act Two:
This was the longest part of the game. At this point, everyone was oriented with the gameplay and their goals. Now players continually used their turn to use bang cards on the other players to try to get them a step closer to elimination, while other players fended off bang cards using missed cards. Additionally players utilized beer cards to restore some of their health to stay in the game. However, the game hit a turning point when a dynamite card got thrown around. The dynamite card would take away three health points. The player it was thrown at had only two left, and when they failed to pull the card out of the pile that would fend off the dynamite, their game was over.
Act Three:
With the first player eliminated, the game reached the third act. The gameplay was intensified as the players made final plays to win the game. Victory went to those playing the roles of rogues and outcasts. They managed to whittle down the last health points of the sheriff, which ended the game.