Board Game Arena

There is a ton to like about this game. In particular the early part of the game where you are trying to figure out everybody's role, while trying to disguise your own. (Do you shoot the sheriff immediately if he's next to you, or delay that as long as possible so he thinks you might be the Deputy? and that sort of thing).

However, this is by far the most luck-based game I've ever played on here. I have played 2 games where I literally never got to take a turn because I was put in jail 2 or more times in a row, never drew a heart, and had to spend 20 minutes staring at my screen not even participating. Yes, this is a game design problem.

I had a game where I was the Renegade, got it down to the sheriff and me, he had the ability to draw from the discard pile. I had the ability to draw two cards when forced to draw. He played a Jail on me and for the rest of the game (at least 6 turns), I drew 2 cards per turn, never drew hearts once, and he simply picked up the Jail card each turn and played it on me again. I started with full health, a full hand of cards, and he was able to kill me over a long course of turns without me ever getting to take a turn.

These kinds of things are the rule, not the exception, in my experience. Combine that with players who either don't know how to play or are not trying to win (more than once as an Outlaw I have been attacked by every player in a 6-7 player game, which means all the other Outlaws are shooting at you for no apparent reason) and there is a LOT of not-fun to be had here.

Hey, life was tough in the Old West!

ha, true...

here's a new one....

in a game tonight the Sheriff is shooting the guy next to him up and the target starts blurting in chat: "I'm the deputy! Stop!!!"

clearly this is going to be a game that brings out the unsportsmanship in people in a major way. (Would you do that if you were playing with your real life friends?)

for those who are slow on the uptake: the Sheriff was playing brazenly, and bailing him out of that is actually cheating, because, for example in this case, I followed the Sheriff on the first turn as an Outlaw and didn't do anything to him in order keep the fog of war (which is why he started attacking the deputy on his other side when it came back around to him... he suspected I was his deputy). If there's not going to be any mystery then I'd just shoot up the sheriff on the first turn, and then it's literally just a Go Fish luck-based game.

The only part of this game that is interesting is the social aspect of trying to disguise your identity from the other players and now it seems that too is going to be screwed up.

Ze Monstah wrote: ↑01 March 2022, 08:04 You might like the social aspect of the game, as much as you want... but there is nowhere in the IN-BOX rules, or... on this official page of Frequently Asked Questions, that would consider everyone saying roles, cheating.
I think it is not cheating, since people can and do lie and bluff a lot, but it makes the game less interesting.

https://www.dvgiochi.com/giochi/bang/do ... AQ_ENG.pdf

Yup, a good sheriff will always be suspicious, and base his trust not in words, but on actions.
In uncertainty, he will spread his bullets - better to save them, but if you have too many cards … - and he will never take the life of someone who is not a definite bad guy.

I am the guy that shouts out I am a deputy, and I do it no matter what team I am on. This is the social aspect of the game for me and I absolutely and canonically disagree that this is cheating. This is standard, if not encouraged behaviour in any hidden role game. In fact whenever we've played this game in person, everyone claims to be the deputy. This makes it more fun as you see the Sheriff trying to figure out who's lying and who's not.

I have never seen a single person state in chat that they were the Deputy and be bluffing.

If in fact people were generally chatting and bluffing about the role they are, then it wouldn't be cheating. I find it hard to believe, given the large number of games I have played of Bang! since introduction, and having never once seen somebody bluffing in chat about their role, that this is the common behavior you claim it is.

If it's not cheating because it's not written in the rules then why is telling the sheriff which cards you are holding cheating? I don't believe that is written in the rules, either. Because it's just common sense and if you were sitting around a table with actual people you'd be ashamed to do it.

And yes, I have also seen people telling the sheriff, "I have a Beer card you should steal it from me". SMH.