How to Play Bang! Card Game (Beginner Guide)

Bang! is a social deduction card game where players aim to eliminate opponents to win. Played in teams, players strategically deduce identities while concealing their own to achieve victory.

How to Win

Players are randomly assigned 1 of 4 roles that determine whom they must eliminate to secure victory.

Role	Win Condition	Players (Number of Roles)*
Sheriff	Eliminate all Outlaws and Renegades	4(1), 5(1), 6(1), 7(1)
Deputy	Eliminate all Outlaws and Renegades	4(0), 5(1), 6(1), 7(2)
Outlaws	Eliminate the Sheriff	4(2), 5(2), 6(3), 7(3)
Renegade	Last one standing	4(1), 5(1), 6(1), 7(1)
*Eg. 4 player game has 1 Sheriff, 0 Deputys, 2 Outlaws, 1 Renegade.

In Bang! the Sheriff’s role is openly displayed, while the identities of other roles remain concealed. The game concludes when any player fulfills their role’s win condition.

The Renegade in “Bang!” is one of the more challenging roles, as you must eliminate all other roles and ultimately win a duel against the Sheriff to win.

Getting Started

• Each player is dealt a character card face up, showing their starting health indicated by the number of bullets.
• The Sheriff begins with an additional health point.
• Character cards feature individual special abilities.
• Players receive a starting hand of cards corresponding to their maximum health.
• Turns proceed clockwise, with the Sheriff initiating as the first player.

Your Turn

On your turn:

• Draw 2 cards.
• Play any number of cards, including up to 1 Bang! card (unless stated otherwise by an ability/weapon).
• Discard excess cards if your hand exceeds your current health.
• Each card can only have one copy in play (e.g. Barrel).
• You can possess only 1 weapon at a time.

Not sure who to shoot? Typically if a player aims for the Sheriff they are one of the bad guys.

Distance

In Bang! player seating affects who you can shoot and play cards against.

• Players can only play cards against opponents at a distance equal to their reach.
• All players start with a reach of 1.
• Opponents next to you are at a distance of 1.
• The above image illustrates players’ distances of 1 and 2 away from player A.

Elimination

• If a Sheriff eliminates a Deputy, they must discard their hand and all cards in play.
• If anyone eliminates an Outlaw, they draw 3 cards.

You can play Beer if you take lethal damage.

FAQ

Can I use Saloon to survive lethal damage?
No

Can I heal other players with Beer?
No

Can I pick what card to take/discard when using Panic/Cat Balou?
Take/discard a random card from their hand or choose one in play in front of them.

Can I use Panic on anyone?
Panic reaches a distance of 1 (unaffected by your weapon range). However it can be influenced by your opponent’s Mustang and Scope.

Can I use Cat Balou on anyone?
Yes, you can pick anyone.

Can I Jail the Sheriff?
No

Can I use Barrel before Miss?
Yes. Additionally if you have the Jourdonnais character you can essentially have 2 barrels and play miss last if you fail to flip a heart twice.

Card List

Here’s a list of cards and how they all work:

Card	Effect
Bang!	-1 HP to a player
Miss	Negates Bang! and Gatling
Weapon	Adds Range (Volcanic adds no range but allows you to play any number of Bang cards)
Beer	+1 HP to yourself (can be played out of turn if you take lethal damage) Beer has no effect when only 2 players are left
Saloon	+1 HP to all players (cannot be played out of turn like beer)
Stagecoach, Well Fargo	Draw Cards
General Store	Draw a hand equal to the number of alive players, all players starting from you then clockwise pick a card.
Panic	Take a random card from a player at a distance of 1 (affected by Mustang and Scope)
Cat Balou	Force a player to discard a card
Gatling	All other players must play miss or -1 HP
Indians	All other players must play Bang or -1 HP
Duel	Starting with the selected player, you and the selected player must take turns discarding bang cards or -1 HP
Mustang	Other players see you at +1 Distance
Scope	You see all others at -1 Distance
Barrel	Item that can be used as a Miss when you flip a heart after receiving a Bang
Jail	Player receiving this card must draw a heart of miss their turn (cannot be used on Sheriff)
Dynamite	On your next turn if you draw 2-9 Spades lose 3HP, otherwise pass the Dynamite card to your left.