Cash n Guns

A wise robber once said, 'The danger isn't over until the heist is over'. Unfortunately that wise robber was wrong and died shortly after as his friends shot him repeatedly to get a bigger share of the loot from a heist they just completed.

Cash n Guns is a party game in which you try to collect the most treasure from a robbery you just completed while trying to eliminate your companions from the competition by giving them three wounds. At the start of a round (of which there are 8) you put out the 8 treasure cards that will be available that round and then deciding whether you want to load your gun with a bang or a click(you have 5 clicks and 3 bangs). Then everyone points their foam guns at someone else with the intent of either shooting them with their bangs or scaring them with a click and making them stand down. At this point, players have to decided whether to stay standing, risking being shot or lay their character down but not be able to take treasure or shoot this turn. Everyone flips over their cards and discards them, with the people shot by a bang taking a wound and laying their character down. Everyone left standing proceeds to take loot going clockwise. This is done until there are no more treasure cards left and the winner is the player with the most money who is still alive.

The first thing you notice when you first set eyes on this game is how lovely the components are. The box has this lovely mat finish and also the gangsters characters you play are illustrated in this funny cartoon style (they also stand up)! My favourite loot cards are probably the paintings (loot cards that the more you have the more their value) which are goofy versions of other classics like the mona lisa. The foam guns really add to the feel of the game and although you can play without them (probably a good idea if I take this into school) they are really nice.

I do have a couple of problems with this game though, mainly player elimination. With a run time of 30 minutes it can get really boring if you are eliminated in the early rounds (I once died in round three) and you have to be content with watching your companions play while you get to do nothing but watch. There are even problems with this kind of thing even if you are alive because as soon as some aims at you with a bang card you are out for that round, you are either lie yourself down or be shot and have to lie down. This first means that it feels a lot less like you can do anything to affect the outcome of the game and also it is quite boring having to watch of your friends are choosing what loot they want while you are stuck twiddling your thumbs (although for a lot less time than if you are killed outright).

Although this game does have some problems while you are alive you do get to make some interesting decisions like whether you should put a bang or a click in your gun and who to point it at. Also the push your luck aspect of the game is nice as you way up the rewards of staying up with the shots you might take if you don't lay down. It is an interesting decision if you make it to the loot sharing phase on when to take the god fathers desk an item always put out on every turn which lets you redirect one persons gun if they are pointing at you and take first pick on the loot next time.

Overall I think that if you get the right people together (those being normally teenagers like this which is lucky seeming as I am one) it can be a blast, with the silliness of pointing guns at each other and laughing as one of your friend dies (in the game of course). However if you are playing with kids or people who don't like the idea of pointing guns at each other or having to wait for the game to end before they can get back in if they die then it could easily turn sour. Also if you are playing with young kids they could get upset if they died or some was shooting at them. I think I would give this an 8/10 if I was playing with the right group of people but 4/10 if that was not the case.