Lies and Cheats

At board gaming last night, after a quick game of Betrayal at House on the Hill, we proceeded to play the games Ca$h 'n Gun$ and The Resistance for the rest of the evening. Both of these games involve a large amount of social interaction as well as bluffing, with the former involving gangsters dividing up the loot by pointing guns at each other, while the latter is similar to Werewolf (also often called Mafia) but without the problem of players being eliminated.

In Ca$h and Gun$ a group of gangsters are dividing up their ill gotten gains and in order to decide who gets what they pull out their guns and start pointing them at each other, creating a bit of a Mexican stand-off. The twist is that each gangster can only fire their gun in three of the eight round, so most of the time it is a bluff, but guess wrong and you end up getting shot. Players who lose their nerve can dive under a table, in which case they neither shoot nor get shot, but are fined $5000 for being a coward. The game is all about bluffing, also when a player dives under a table the bullets in the guns that were pointing at them (live or blank) are discarded without the other player learning what type they were, so you can not just card count.

The Resistance has two teams, the resistance and the spies, who are each trying to pass or fail missions respectively. Each round the 'team leader' will suggest a team to send on the mission, with the other players getting to vote for or against the selected team. If failed the team leader is replaced and a new squad is put forward. If the vote passes the players that are sent on the mission are given two cards, one representing a pass and the other a fail, they then secretly put the mission cards in the middle, they are shuffled, and then revealed. The mission then succeeds or fails based on the types and numbers of cards played. The game is for the resistance members to work out who the spies are so that they can stop them from going on and sabotaging missions. In addition if the team suggested by the team leader is voted down five times in a row then the spies win. This game feels a lot like Werewolf but without players being eliminated it gets around the problem of some people having to sit out and watch for an hour or so.

Personally I enjoy these kinds of games as they give you chance to lie, cheat, and bluff your way to victory, while trying to spot others who are doing the same. The comment was made by someone that they prefer 'deeper games' but I think the games are what you make of them, and you can choose to play them as light hearted or seriously as you want, and getting to make or imagine you own narrative is always good value!