LogFAQs > #896818333

57. Ca$h 'n Guns
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/155362/cah-n-guns-second-edition

Genre/mechanics: Take that, bluffing, set collection
Rules complexity: 1/10
Game length: 20-30 minutes
Player count: 4-8
Experience: 10+ games with 5-8 players
First played: 2016

Ca$h 'n Guns is a game where you play as successful, armed robbers divvying loot. The game is played over eight rounds, and in each round, you compete for the best share of the loot. The primary mechanics of the game are the simultaneous "hold-up" phase - in which you point your gun at a fellow player (with a real or fake bullet) - and the subsequent "courage" phase, in which everyone simultaneously decides whether to drop out (losing out on the loot) or stay in (and risk getting shot).

Design - I love everything about this game's design. Any discussion here has to start with the foam gun you're given. There's something viscerally pleasing about pointing a foam gun (and rapidly! - as everyone does this at the same time). Your character is represented by a super-cartoonish cardboard cut-out, and when you drop out or a round (or are shot), you have to knock it over. Staying in requires you to declare you are staying in by yelling, "BANZAI!" Also, the entire flow of the game is written handily on the back of the Godfather piece, and the Godfather is supposed to narrate the game. Perfect component.

Experience - Somehow, this game usually doesn't quite hit the spot. And that's probably because of the people I've played with. Whine incoming, but the flow of the game is extremely simple, and the rules requiring you to knock down your character and lower your gun are intuitive, and the steps are written right on the back of the Godfather's card. So it can be extremely off-putting to have to remind the Godfather player each round to narrate the phases, or have to remind people to put their guns down, or to remind people to shout 'BANZAI!' if they're staying in.

Which isn't to say that it's not fun with the right group. My average game hasn't been very good, but I've had a few games that flowed the way it's supposed to, with lots of guns being pointed at one person, complaints about "WHAT?! Why would you shoot a real bullet on round one?!" or people going from zero wounds to dead in a single ill-advised round.

Future - I actually own CnG, and I have a vested interest in reaching the point where I can reliably pull it out for a solid game or two on a game night. It's gonna come out again, I just need to get people used to it enough where it's effortless. Hopefully.

Bonus question - What are your favorite props in tabletop games?

Hint for #55 - devil and the white city
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yet all sailors of all sorts are more or less capricious and unreliable - they live in the varying outer weather, and they inhale its fickleness