Say hello to our little friends

You and your group of 4-8 friends have done it. You’ve pulled of the heist of the century, Oceans 4-8 style, and are now back at your safehouse. Here’s the problem, though. Although everyone worked together to pull the job off, did everyone really put in the same amount of work? After all, don’t you deserve a little bit more than equal split of the goods?

Cash N Guns is about trying to take the fattest share of the spoils. Everyone is given a foam gun and a set of bullets – 3 live, and 5 blanks. The game takes place over 8 rounds, and each round is about fighting for loot that has been dealt in the middle of the table. Everyone “loads” one of their bullets before simultaneously pointing their gun at somebody else at the table. 

One person assumes the role of the Godfather. The Godfather benefits from being able to tell one person to point their gun at someone else and being first in choosing what they want when loot is dealt out.

On the count of 3, people can decide whether to duck and cover, or whether to hold their ground. If they’ve ducked, they are safe from any shots fired at them. However, their bullets are wasted and they don’t get to take any loot this round. If they didn’t duck and were shot by a live bullet, they take a tumble and get dealt 1 damage. If you take 3 hits, you’re out of the game. And to make matters worse, they don’t get to take any loot this round!

The remaining players (who didn’t duck and who weren’t shot) divvy up the loot. The loot varies from cold hard cash, paintings and diamonds that reward you even more if you have lots of them, to cards that let you reload live bullets so you can be an even bigger threat. You can even steal the title of Godfather from someone else!

If I have loads of friends over, Cash n Guns is the first game I pull off the shelf. This game is chaotic, crazy, and pure excitement. The foam guns included in the game feel great in your hand, and pointing them at one of your friends is really fun roleplaying. There is lot of tabletop politics going on. Alliances and rivalries can form over the rounds, which allow for some exquisite mind games to be played. These alliances will eventually be broken, and once that happens all hell breaks loose, and you can rest assured that people     will  remember that you betrayed them the next time you play.

Games are short with very little downtime, so you often play many games in a row. Once everyone is familiar with the rules, you can introduce unique player powers to the mix. These add variability to  the game, but can be quite a challenge to keep track of at higher player counts. The other thing to accept is that this is a very light game. There isn’t a lot of room for strategic  depth, so don’t expect tactics to play a big role in your sessions. Another thing to consider is that you are pointing foam guns at others, and this has the potential to be triggering for those who’ve had traumatic experiences with guns.

With that quick disclaimer out of the way, here’s my conclusion. If you want a quick party game of hilarious chaos, Cash N Guns is definitely an offer you can’t refuse.