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Bounty Hunters from Trademark52 games is a suit collecting, card drafting game based on catching crooks in the old Wild West. A well-produced smart little game neatly packed into a 5”x4” box it delivers a fast-paced, entry-level game that is pleasing to the eye.
A Fistful of Dollars
The aim of the game is to earn $52 by catching and incarcerating criminals. The rather precise amount of cash is so you can buy Wild Ned a particular looking horse dressed in a suit, tie and hat! Each of the 2-4 players takes the role of a Bounty Hunter and collects criminals to send to jail. You start with a string of three criminals already caught alongside your Bounty Hunter card and are given two bounty cards which you keep concealed. Each turn you can draw a criminal card either from the deck or from another player's string; you can send any three of your criminals to jail or you can complete a bounty.
If you get a new criminal you can place it anywhere in your line. The position is important. If you take from another Bounty Hunter only the right-hand card is free. Any other card can only be taken by placing $2 under each of the cards to its right.
Sending three criminals to jail will earn the Bounty Hunter $6 from the bank. If this means you have less than three criminals in your string you top them up from the criminal deck.
For a Few Dollars More
The third option for the Bounty Hunter is the most interesting that of turning in a bounty. Here you have to collect sets of crims from either one of the four gangs:- The Neville Gang, The Bootleggers, The Bone Eaters, The Dead Eye Gang or townsfolk or based on their fighting style or personal attributes. Each Bounty card is two-ended giving a basic or enhanced Bounty. This can be three members of one gang for $10 or four members for $14. The second can be quite a bit harder (for example three members of the Neville Gang could be Phil, Gary and legendary dad Neville but for four you’ve got to remember netball coach Tracey. What’s that you say not that Neville gang oh OK).
When the bounty card is handed in along with the criminals going to Jail you get your reward, a new Bounty card and an Event card is drawn.
The Event cards are various buffs and penalties that are usually applied to everyone and remain in force until the next event is drawn. One of these seems overpowered. It gives a $10 bonus to the next Bounty which given the Bounty score itself means you could get nearly half the victory total in one go.
Play continues until one player gets $52 and that’s it. None of your completing the round in play here just stone-cold dead!
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Overall I really liked this game. The artwork is great. A graphic style that reminded me of Borderlands. The theme is well captured by the funny and well-thought-out biogs on each of the Criminal cards. The production quality is top-notch and it all fits together in a neat little package.
There are a couple of small niggles though. First Bounty Hunters use double-sided money! I’ve never seen this before. I played my first game just using the deck of $10 cards. Not convenient when you’re trying to get to $52 (why $52 by the way why not just $50?). Turn them over and there is the $2s on the back! Quite neat once you know – surely no one would accidentally turn one over to gain an advantage. Would they? Suffice to say that ever since I have been turning any of my £5s over hoping to get a £10.
Secondly, there’s a misprint on the gang symbols (see above). Apparently, the Bone Eaters are led by Deadeye Elliot whereas the Dead Eye Gang is led by Mad Dog Buttins gnawing on a bone. Surely the other way around. As long as you agree on which is which beforehand this can be ignored but it did stop the component quality from getting the full 5 marks.
A couple more clarifications on the rules wouldn’t have gone amiss either but it’s so straightforward that you can work it out.
Final Thoughts
The design is solid: equal-sized gangs with an equal number of fighting styles, two of each type of Townsfolk and the same number of Events as Bounties. In another novel twist, you can get achievements a la video games with a set of stickers to stick on the box bottom which was a nice touch.
Bounty Hunters plays out quickly. Even teaching someone from scratch we played a two-hander in 20 mins. It can seem too short if you’re just getting into collecting your Bounty Hunter sets. Also if you ignore the Bounties you can get a guaranteed 54 points after 9 turns but where’s the fun in that.
Recommended for rednecks and greenhorns alike riding the range in search of bad'uns in the badlands.
