How to play BANG!

Learn the rules to the card game BANG! quickly and concisely - This visually rich video has no distractions, just the rules.

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RULES:

Each player has his own objective: The Sheriff and deputies must eliminate all the outlaws and renegade. The Outlaws must eliminate the Sheriff. The Renegade wants to be the last player left in the game

Shuffle the character cards and deal two to each player, who then picks one. The number of bullets on a card determines the max health that player can have. The text at the bottom determines their special ability. Place your character on the game mat and receive bullet tokens based on how many bullets your character has. This is your life. If your are the Sheriff, you have 1 additional bullet. When a player loses his last bullet he is eliminated from the game.

Shuffle the playing cards and give each player 1 for every bullet he has. Place the deck in the center of the table. At the end of each player’s turn, they cannot hold a number cards in their hand if it exceeds the number of bullets they have. They must discard the excess.

Bullets replenish health. If you see a card with a bullet on it you know it deal with life. An “X” with a bullet is called a BANG! and takes away life, a “+” adds life up to your maximum bullet limit. You do not gain life if it will exceed your character’s limit.

Whenever you are attacked with a bang card, you can play a miss card to cancel the effect of the Bang. The hand on a card means drawing a card. A card with an “X” through it means discard a card. A cowboy hat means choose a player, 3 cowboy hats means every other player. A scope with a hat in it means any player within reachable distance, and a scope with a number in it means any player within a distance of that number or less. All these symbols can be referenced during the game on a summary card.

Distance is how many seats away a player is. If a player is sitting next to you, they are 1 away. For each player in between you and that player, increase their distance by one. So a player who is the 3rd person away from you is seen at a distance of 3.

Each turn you are allowed to play 1 bang against anyone you choose who’s within your range. Everyone starts the game with the ability to hit only the players that are 1 away. To increase your range, you need to play a gun in front of you. The number on the gun tells you the range you can hit. Remember, a gun increases YOUR range, it doesn’t decrease their distance.

A brown-bordered card plays to the discard pile and is a one time use. A Blue-boarder card play in front of you and remain there until discarded, stolen, or replaced.

The sheriff starts the game and play proceeds clockwise. There are 3 phases in a turn. 1st is the draw phase where you draw 2 cards from the deck, if ever the deck is empty, shuffle the discard into a new draw deck.

In the 2nd phase you play cards from your hand, you can play as many cards as you like as long as they follow the limitations which are: you may only play 1 BANG card per turn. You may only have 1 copy of a card in front of you at a time, there is no limit to the cards that can be in front of you, however they just can’t share the same name. And, you may only have 1 weapon in play at a time. On your turn you don’t have to play any cards if you can’t or don’t want to.

The 3rd phase is when you discard excess cards. If your hand size is larger than the number of bullets your character currently has, then you must discard cards until your hand size matches your life.

If ever you lose your last bullet, you are eliminated from the game, unless you have a beer you can play. Normally a beer can only be played on your turn to regain a health. However, if you may play a beer during another player’s turn if you are about to be eliminated. The beer prevents elimination and keeps you at 1 bullet. When there are 2 players left, beer has no effect.

When you are eliminated from the game, discard all the cards in your hand and in play in front of you and reveal your identity card to everyone. If you were an outlaw, whoever eliminated you draws 3 cards. If you were a deputy and the sheriff eliminated you, then the sheriff must discard his hand and all the cards he has in play.

The game ends when all the outlaws and renegade are killed or when the sheriff dies. When the sheriff dies, if the renegade is the only one alive then he wins, otherwise the outlaws win. If all the outlaws and the renegade die, then the sheriff and the deputies win.

There are a few cards worth noting their special effects. Flipping cards. The barrel, jail, and dynamite have an “=” symbol. This means that you discard the top card of the draw deck without effect and you look in the corner at the number and suit. If it matches the requirement on your card, it activates, otherwise it doesn’t.