There are over 2500 personal comments on Bang!, and they range from passionate love to raging hatred. My children happen to enjoy Bang!, and although it's not their all time favorite game, they've had a lot of fun playing it. Looking at the personal comments and ratings of other users, it's clear that many people can't stand the game, however. The haters are entitled to their opinion, of course. But then again, why should their opinion be more valid than that of children? So I figured: why not let my 9 year old, 11 year old, and 13 year old take on the harsh critics of BGG? What if I throw at them some of the strongest criticisms people have leveled against Bang!, and let them come to its defense? Read on to find out, because that's exactly what happened. I've picked out several quotations that illustrate the more common criticisms of Bang. In their own words, here's what my children had to say in response. Agree or disagree, read on to find out the reasons why some people despise this game, or for that matter, some suggested responses from kids as to why the case against Bang! really isn't that watertight!



Let's start by establishing the credentials of our three juvenile game experts:

Q: How many different games would you have played in the last 12 months?

9yo: 37.
11yo: Say about 20.
13yo: Maybe 50. At least.

Q: How many different games do you know how to play?

9yo: About 80.
11yo: 95. About.
13yo: 100. At least.

Q: How often have you played Bang?

9yo: About 20 times.
11yo: Not that often. Sometimes. Once or twice every month. Maybe 20?
13yo: Maybe 25?

Q: How would you summarize what the idea of Bang is?

9yo: To kill the sheriff.
11yo: You are certain people, and you have to knock the other players out in a certain order.
13yo: Kill the other players off, and don't get killed yourself.

Q: Would it surprise you that some people dislike Bang?

9yo: Not really.
11yo: Yes.
13yo: No, not really.

Q: Why do you think this might be?

9yo: In every game you're mainly doing the same thing, with the same cards, the game doesn't really change.
11yo: Because they think that you're just trying to kill the other player, and you actually mean it, and it's getting kids into shooting when they're older. And the idea of drinking beer, because some parents don't want that to happen to their children.
13yo: Some people don't really like killing games.

Q: Do you agree with this objection?

9yo: Not totally, because it still is fun.
11yo: Some people take it seriously, but you probably won't if you consider it a game, not a real life thing.
13yo: Not really, some games on the internet are killing games and are gory, it's not as bad as those games.



Let's look more closely at some of the reasons why some people don't like this game, and I'd like you to tell me how valid you think these objections are.

Player Elimination?

Terry Ford: "Do I dislike this game. Why is it everyone carries this stupid card game around? It's so boring. It's even more boring when everyone instantly kills you because you bitch about the game and you end up having to watch other people play the stupid game. The cards are lame, the concept is lame."

HavocIsHere: "Bang, you are dead...A game where a player is kicked out before having the chance to say or do anything is broken; I've seen that in action, had myself killed shortly afterwards to play some two players with the victim."

Rob Herman: I like it less each time I play it. Any game where a player can be eliminated before the first turn is unplayably broken in my book."

Eric Clark: "Game provides a lot of incentive to gang up on one player (whether they're winning or not) and once you're out, you get the pleasure of twiddling your thumbs and counting dots on the ceiling while waiting for the game to conclude so you can play something else. Yay!"

Q: Children, how true is this, and is it a valid reason to dislike Bang!?

9yo: That is true, but when you are done, you can do something else, you don't have to watch. And if you don't like that game, you shouldn't play it!

11yo: We changed the rules by saying that you can't eliminate any people on the first round, so everyone has a chance. You can shoot them, but you can't eliminate them completely, because then it's not fair.

13yo: You don't have to play it like that. We have a house rule that nobody can be killed before going around the table once, before everyone gets a turn. If you're knocked out, you get the fun watching other players and you know all their cards!



Too Luck Based?

Robert Seater: "Would be an interesting party/politics game if it weren't so incredibly RANDOM"

Michael Webb: "Unimpressive card game, quite chaotic, and you're always at the mercy of the draw. Good draws? You'll probably win. Bad draws? You'll probably eat lead early and sit around waiting for the game to end."

Michael Barnes: "I usually don't mind luck, but in this game that's all there is to it. Almost no strategy, the bluff element is practically moot, and there are so many odd rules questions that come up. Way overrated."

Paul Crane: "Obvious choices and no real decision making. Seems to drag on forever and can be quite frustrating if you're one of the ones to be eliminated early. Completely random with no real ability to influence how the game turns out."

9yo: There is quite a bit of strategy, because you need to decide what cards to play and what cards not to play. It does have some luck in it, but it is probably more strategy.

11yo: It's not random, because you pick up cards and there is strategy, because you can choose: does it benefit other players for what order do you play the cards. There is some randomness for drawing the cards, because you don't know what you're going to get, but it matters what order you play them. Also, it depends who you shoot, because if someone has been shooting a certain person for a long time, and you know that they have no misses, everyone can gang up on them. Also, you usually should shoot different people, so that you don't gang up on one person. Or if someone else starts to attack you, it might be a good idea to attack back - if they don't want to get attacked, then they shouldn't attack.

13yo: It's not only luck, it is skill, because it depends how you lay your cards down. It's also a matter of outguessing your opponents. It is strategy, because you have to figure out how to lay your cards in the best way possible. If you're Jesse Jones, for example, you have to think what your opponent's card might be, and whether it's worth taking or not.



Unbalanced in favour of the Outlaws?

Chris Farrell: "Sucks like a souped-up hoover. Game seems like it lasts only as long as it takes the outlaws to kill the Sheriff, usually about twice around the table. No other role has any hope of winning, least of all the hopeless Renegade who is doomed to lose and have virtually no impact on the game. If the appalling play-balance problems weren't enough, the game is additionally almost completely uninteresting, with nothing in the way of choices that aren't utterly obvious. Avoid like the plague."

9yo: That isn't true, it depends how many outlaws there are. Usually when there are a lot of outlaws, there are more deputies, so the outlaws don't always win. Usually the sheriff wins!

11yo: The deputies should be helping the sheriff out. The renegade kind of goes with the deputies and sheriff at the beginning, eliminating the outlaws, and afterwards also helping eliminate the deputies and the sheriff last. The outlaws don't always win, especially in 3 player games, then it's usually the sheriff that wins, because he picks up more cards and he can't be put in jail - he has extra benefits.

13yo: Two rounds around the table? No way! For us, some games go around 20 times! The Outlaws don't win very often. There was one game with 7 players where the Renegade lasted, and it was a shootout between the Renegade and the Sheriff, so the Renegade does have chances - in that game I took out three guys in one turn!



Boring?

David/Charles Williams: "What a boring and pointless 'game'. It is possible that watching 6 hours of Clint Eastwood westerns, all the while getting horribly drunk, and talking in a fake Mexican accent may make this game bearable. But I doubt it. The elimination aspect of the game is odious as the game can take too long to drag to its futile finish. Why bother with this lump of turd, why not just play Snap! ?"

Michael Barnes: "Worthless. I had high hopes for this as a fun, multiplayer card game but it's so pointless and simple-minded that it just wasn't any fun at all."

Teemu Salohalme: "Dull, dull, dull. It just isn't fun to play even for a party game. Maybe I don't stand parties either."

9yo: It's not boring, because it's really fun. It's realistic, sort of, like the sheriff can't get in jail but the other people can; and if you have a miss then you're not shot; and when you go to the saloon everyone gets to heal a health - well you wouldn't really heal a health from drinking beer in real!

11yo: It's not boring, because you have to interact with the other players. It's mostly your attitude that matters. If you are happy, you'll enjoy the game, if you're really grumpy like some people can be, then you'll think it's boring and never want to play again. But if you play a few times, it can be fun, and it's a really good game for with your family. But you don't usually want to get people to think that you want to get drunk when you grow up, and your friends might be horrified that you're playing a shooting game.

13yo: It's fun just having the thrill of trying to eliminate the other players. It's also interesting watching the other players if you are eliminated, sort of teaming up with one player. It's not boring, it's full of action. It's great for a fun party game, you just need the right crowd and the right group of people.



Too Long?

Matt Crawford: "It goes on too long. There should be less Beer cards (maybe none) and more BANG cards in the deck."

Michael Webb: "The most damning thing about this game is its potential length. Losing early can mean sitting around for the better part of an hour if the game plays long, and that is way, way too long for a game of this sort...even for the players, let alone the dead people."

Matthew Eklund: "Wow overrated. Surprisingly long and drawn out... and with enough downtime to kill a horse. Not fun."

9yo: It doesn't take too long at all, there are some other games that can take over an hour, this game doesn't take 45 minutes usually. It also depends how many players you are playing with.

11yo: These people hate this game! It shouldn't take too long if you're working together. If the Sheriff is working with his Deputies, it can go a lot quicker, because the teams are even and you usually should know what you're going to do next, and you shouldn't wait around for a few minutes thinking about what you're going to do.

13yo: You don't really need more Bang cards, the way it is is just right. You get enough Bang cards as it is, and you don't need less Beers - the Beer cards don't turn up that often, and when you are down to two players they are completely useless. They do help give people a last chance, and stay in the game, so they're not out right off the bat. Down-time isn't too much of an issue, it's fun trying to sway the person whose turn it is not to shoot you but to shoot someone else!



Rules and Symbols Too Complex?

John Weber: "It's hard for newbies to figure out the symbols on the cards."

J W: "The icons are horrible to explain, rendering it difficult for exactly the audience it's intended for."

Al Johnson: "The amount of different rules drove me crazy."

Paul Schulzetenberg: "Too difficult to explain all the symbols to newbies, and not entertaining enough to bring out often enough to get familiar enough with the rules. This game needs a full blown English edition, with the text on the cards. It's difficult to understand what the card symbols mean, and the player aid cards don't really help. This game is a study in bad design."

9yo: They are very easy, just looking at the cards you can sort of see what they do. For the Miss, there is a bullet going through someone's hat and a guy diving out of the way of a bullet - so you can tell that you're not shot!

11yo: You shouldn't really care about the symbols, just almost memorize the cards. Like if you see a Saloon, the picture will remind you what the card does - a Saloon has a picture of hats near beer, so that should mean that everyone gets a beer, and beer goes to all the players. For the Bang cards, you just have to remember you're going to shoot another player. For the Barrel, the icons get pretty simple, because they just represent what the card can do during your turn, and how it affects other players.

13yo: That's what the icon explanation cards are for - they explain the icons, and for the most part explain the cards. The advanced cards, like the Jail, are not too hard to explain. Pretty much what the card itself is, that is it's meaning - for example, if someone plays a Jail card on you, you get put in Jail, it's pretty straight forward. I think you can get newer editions that have the English text on the cards.



Too Easy to Figure out Roles?

Jacob W: "To me it is too easy to figure out who is playing which role in Bang! - the Renegade is the only player with any ambiguity to it."

9yo: It isn't easy. It depends who you're playing with. Because if you pretend to be someone else, people can totally think that someone else is what you are, and that you're on their team!

11yo: If you play with more players, it's a little harder, and it sometimes includes guessing. You don't really know at the very beginning who is who, but it's not always obvious. If somebody shoots the sheriff, it's not obvious that it's an outlaw - some people just shoot them just because. It doesn't really matter who shoots who, it's about who shoots the sheriff. If one character keeps shooting the sheriff, usually the deputies will start shooting after him. Then it can be easy to figure it out, but that makes it worthwhile, because it helps figure out what you should do next turn.

13yo: If you have 7 players or so, you have no idea who is the Deputy, because they are trying to shoot off everyone else, and you can easy get the Deputy confused with the Renegade. The Outlaws are trying to eliminate people so they can get to the Sheriff, so they can easily be confused with Renegade or Deputy.



Other Criticisms?

Mike Swailes: "Makes me want to shoot myself in the head rather than play."

9yo: Definitely not. I would not want to do that. It is really fun!

11yo: Is that person drunk?

13yo: You're crazy. It's a great game if you have the right group of people.

Miranda Antonelli: "It's feels a lot like Munchkin. That's not a compliment."

9yo: I don't think it feels anything like Munchkin. Not at all.

11yo: It doesn't feel like Munchkin. Most games have the idea of shooting characters and eliminating people, and in Munchkin you're just trying to shoot or kill creatures with weapons, but you're not trying to eliminate the people - what does this have to do with Munchkin?

13yo: Munchkin is supposed to be a funny game, Bang is only kind of funny.



Concluding Comments

Q: What do you like about Bang?

9yo: The pictures on the cards are really cool. And the abilities from the people.
11yo: I enjoy the interaction.
13yo: Everything pretty much.

Q: What's your favourite character to play, and why?

9yo: Probably Calamity Janet or Willy the Kid. Because Calamity Janet can play Bangs as Misses and Misses as Bangs and that is very powerful. And Willy the Kid can play as many Bangs as he wants on one turn, and if you're the sheriff it makes it much easier, because you can get rid of people much quicker.
11yo: Probably Willy the Kid, or Slab the Killer, because they are very powerful characters, and they are hard to beat.
13yo: Either Calamity Janet or Willy the Kid, because Willy the Kid basically has his own automatic Volcanic. And Calamity Janet because if you give her a Volcanic she is deadly - we like to say that she is such a sharp shooter that she shoots the bullets straight out of the air!

Q: What's your favourite role to play, and why?

9yo: Probably the Sheriff, because usually when there's not many people you're by yourself, and nearly everyone is ganging up on you. And you can't get put in jail!
11yo: I like the Sheriff, because you kind of almost start everything off, and everyone is going for you. But with the Renegade and the Outlaws, you don't know who each other is, but everyone knows who you are.
13yo: Outlaw, because it's fun trying to kill the sheriff, but you have to be sneaky, and being sneaky is fun.

Q: What games are similar to Bang!?

9yo: I don't know any game that is similar to Bang!
11yo: Maybe Saboteur, because you each have different roles, some good and some bad, but nobody knows who you are, and you also pick up cards and play them.
13yo: Lawless in a way, because it's got the Western theme, and Lawless also has cards that give you more cowboys, or fences.

Q: What would you rate this game out of ten?

9yo: 9.
11yo: Probably a 6.
13yo: 8.5 to 9.

Q: In one sentence, how would you sum up your feelings about this game?

9yo: It is really fun.
11yo: It's a game that requires being able to memorize things, the cards, and in a way challenging.
13yo: It's a great party game if you have the right group of people.

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The complete list of Ender's "What children really think about..." reviews: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/37597

Excellent review with great and fitting pictures! Kids are always right! They know what they are talking about.

Very good, well thought out counterpoints. Good job kids! And remember this - everybody has different likes and dislikes in games and everything else - that's ok. What makes a game good for you is if you enjoy it.

Anyway if I could play it with you guys I'd probably like it!

Great review. I think the kids responded well to the critics.

The girl has a pretty mean poker face too!

A fantastic review! Great pictures! Awesome kids, you gotta be a proud pops!

11yo wins round one!

Very cool review. Although, ironically, it reminded me of all of the things that drive me nuts about Bang! and make me dislike the game, thus lessening my desire to play it again even more.

Bang! has a great theme. The comments on the luck, player elimination, and running too long are exactly right. I've played Bang! around 30 times and fell in love with it, before realizing how terrible the game can be at times.

I just got Cash 'n' Guns and I think that this will give me pretty much what I wanted from Bang! but without the issues from above.

I like your reviews.

Bang changes as you play more games in one session.

One year, I was the deputy every game and by the last game, even the sheriff didn't believe I was deputy ("there's no way you are deputy again").

Our best sheriff did *nothing* until he fired one shot and won the game.

As sheriff at a different con, I shot and killed the deputy.. "yea, but if you are dead, then I'll be sure which one of you is the bad guy". heheh.

I really like the "at least one action" house rule. It hasn't come up in our games-- I guess that depends on the group you play with.

That was a great review from your kids. I hope my kids feel the same way.

zero

Excellent review, what a novel idea! A very good concept.

Although I have to say, I too thought everybody else were wrong until I was 15. Since then I've known that they really are.

Actually I think that is the only thing I do like about Bang.

I compared it to munchkin because they're both essentially random, in terms of who wins. Bang! takes a long time to do nothing and then suddenly terminates, which is also like munchkin.

The one thing I liked about Bang! was that I got to do wild west accents and quotes, but that's not near enough.

Anyway, I'm glad you kids enjoy it. I'd suggest Ca$h and Gun$ as a game you might like. Similar theme, but less luck and more skill. It's got lots of bluffing too! I'm terrible at Ca$h and Gun$, but I still have a blast playing it.