GAME: Ca$h 'N Gun$

Yesterday, I met up with Pete, Rob, Pat, and his bride Wendy, to try out some new board games, eat dinner, and drink various forms of poison. The big hit of the night was Ca$h 'N Gun$.

(Full disclosure, I "grew up" with these guys. We survived high school together, kept in touch during college, and beyond, and still get together once a year, sometimes every other year. The gatherings are usually extremely juvenile and outsiders wouldn't make sense of a fraction of the things that make us laugh. But I think we privately prefer it that way.)

Ca$h 'N Gun$ is a live-action Tarantino-esque "Mexican Standoff." 4 - 6 players have foam pistols, a character standup card, and eight cards that match that character. Five of these cards say "click" on them, two say "Bang!", and one says "Bang! Bang! Bang!" Piles of “coward” tokens and "wound" tokens are on standby for injuries or chickens. A pile of money tokens ($5,000 - $20,000) are shuffled, and the first round is ready to begin.

Each player picks and conceals which type of round they will fire (remember, you only have 3 REAL shots) and on a count of 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... everyone picks up their pistol and aims at somebody. Usually, at least one pistol is aimed at you. (Example: Picture to the left, four pistols fly and Pete, Son Of James, finds himself on the receiving end of three barrels.) Then you have a choice (knowing each person only has 3 REAL shots) on a count of 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... you can elect to DUCK (which means you don't get shot, but you don't shoot the guy you are aiming at), you can drop you pistol (which means nobody sees your round) or you can flip over your concealed card. Flipping your card means you fire, and risk being fired upon. Three wounds, and you are dead. Three wounds and your opponents are dead. After the smoke clears, the pile of money is split up among people who were not shot or who did not duck.

Great game. Very quick and entirely enjoyable. Fascinating study in psychology because you pick your rounds, decide who to shoot, decide who might shoot you, decide who might shoot somebody else, and then if you find pistols aimed at you, try to weigh the chances of facing blanks or real rounds. (Example: Pictured to the left, Peter draws down on me, Whitebread style. He doesn't like to bluff. Usually brings the heat and saves the blanks for the other kids.)

There are some expansions we're going to try in December, when we gather again. We'll strap up and the last geeks standing can divvy the loot. Highly recommend anyone with good friends and ample spare time pick up a copy of Ca$h 'N Gun$.