Game Review
Week 6
Game Played: Bang
This past week in class we played Bang, which had a team based aspect but with an individual perspective. I would compare this game to Mafia- a game played without props. In Mafia you have an overseer who assigns each player a role secretly and then narrates the story. The whole premises of the game is not knowing which player is which character and you must narrow down guesses in order to determine who is apart of the mafia. Bang, on the other hand has a very similar role but with more structure and opportunity. In Bang’s western theme, you have a sherif, deputies, outlaws and a renegade. During the game you must figure out who is apart of which team without getting killed and protecting your “team”. The game gets interesting when it throws in extra lives so that you do not immediately die, and that you can counter an attack through action cards. Bang was able to take a simple context but put the fait into the players hands by letting them call the shots and react accordingly based on their hand.
While there were some struggles during the game and at times seemed frustrating to not know who was on which side, I admire the different mechanics woven into the game itself. It allowed for a good blend between saving yourself but also working towards a common goal. Because of this aspect, Bang is a very interactive game between players and calls for judgements to be made. In the end, you can progress through this game by analyzing the other players actions and expressions which is probably my favorite part.