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Cash 'N' Guns is one of the best party games available today and one that I personally requested to play in the office - on multiple occasions! I decided to wait until I had played the game a few times, with different sets of people before reviewing it - you know, just for work purposes.
So here we are, this is my Cash 'N' Guns review...
What Is Cash 'N' Guns?
Cash 'N' Guns is a party game that sees you taking the role of criminal. You and your friends, or family, have just pulled off a huge heist and now can't decide on who gets what. You have eight rounds to get as much loot as you can.
How do you do this? By pretending to shoot each other with foam guns of course! This is almost a friendly game of Russian roulette. You have the choice to shoot your friends or fire a blank at them. They must work out whether or not you are bluffing in order to survive in this game.
The player who survives the eight rounds and secures the most loot wins the game. Simple.
Playing The Game
I have now played Cash 'N' Guns a few times and I will happily admit that I have enjoyed it every time. I have played with people in the Zatu office and with family members and haven't heard a bad word yet - other than the disappointment of being shot too many times!
At the start of our games, we do a practice round to get everybody up to speed. Fortunately, Cash 'N' Guns is quite easy to get used to and everybody seemed to get up to speed quite quickly. The main points to share during this practice round is the artwork loot, which goes up in worth the more you have, and the diamonds. At the end of the game if you have the highest amount of cash in diamonds, you receive a $60,000 bonus!
Each player is given a foam gun, a cool character card, five click cards and 3 bang cards. The oldest player is also selected to be the godfather, or Don as we called him, for the first round. Now the Don card, which is also a part of the loot in each round, does give you an advantage. Being the Don means that you can tell another player to point their gun at somebody else should they choose you.
Being the Don also makes you the round leader which means you give the countdowns to shoot and to duck - such power in your hands! So once the practice round is out of the way we are ready to play.
You choose a click or bang card and place him under your character. On the count of three choices and aim at your target. You then have two choices to make. You can either duck out of the round, avoiding a possible wound but also missing out on the loot, or you can stand firm and hope for the best.
Judging whether or not your friend would shoot you or not is quick tricky in the earlier rounds but as the game goes on you can try to remember what they have used already. In all of the excitement, this can be easier said than done though.
A couple of members of the Zatu team chose to duck in the first round, rightfully so in some cases as they would have been wounded had they stuck it out. If you choose to stand firm and end up getting shot you receive a plaster - three of these and you are out of the game.
Those who survived the round get to pick their loot, with the don going first - of course. Round over and you're ready for the next one with friendships beginning to break and rivalries coming to light. Who stopped you from getting all of the artwork? Who wounded you? Who pointed their gun at you?
The fun doesn't end after the first round, it gets better. Cash 'N' Guns has an intense yet rather enjoyable atmosphere throughout - even when you do make the wrong decision, the cries of despair are brilliant.
At the end of the eight rounds, if you survived, you count up the loot. The gangster with the most loot wins the game - which I have not as of yet!!
Bad Points
Are there any bad points to this game? Well, I guess I have to give at least one just to be fair. It's more of a warning than a bad point and it will depend on who you are playing with. There is a chance that some people could take this game quite personal - you are pointing guns at each other after all.
The cries of "You always point at me" or "that's not fair" are probably going to become quite common - depending on who you are playing with. The boss here at Zatu was sweating a bit beforehand that his loving team would target him - we didn't......honest!
If pushed for another bad point I would say that it can become very easy to stay as the Don for round after round. You can tell people to lower their guns from you and you get the first choice of the loot - where the option to be the don again is available. This is only a minor issue though as if your teamwork is well and all point at the Don then he or she is going to have to surrender.
Good Points
The best thing about Cash 'N' Guns is that it is fun for everybody, and that has to be the main aim of a party game! It is quick and easy to learn and the game itself only lasts around 20-25 minutes so it's quite hard to get bored.
No two games are the same and there can be twists and turns along the way! It's really hard to win two games on the bounce and to actually figure out who is going to win the game! The best thing of all? You get to use foam guns of course!!!
Buy Cash 'N' Guns
Intrigued by this game? Head over to our online store today and buy this amazing party game!
This blog was originally published on November 12nd, 2016. Updated on March 30th, 2022 to improve the information available.