Six Gun Showdown Kickstarter Preview

One of the things I love about the UK board gaming scene is getting to know the convention regulars of designers, publishers, and reviewers. I even bumped into Six Gun Showdown designer Tom Lovewell in a service station on the way to the UKGE!

In his latest project, you take on the role of cowgirls and boys in a quick-fire shootout. You'll deploy your best 'Yeehaws', bluffing, reactions and tactics to out-shoot and out-think all of your rivals.

Six Gun Showdown

The first thing I noticed when opening the Six Gun Showdown prototype is the quality of the components. Despite its small size, the game packs in six custom dice and six decks of character cards. I rarely see custom dice at this stage of development; however this does make plenty of difference.

The gameplay for Six Gun Showdown is quite straightforward despite the initially 'full' looking cards. Cards will affect one or two important stats for you, your opponent or both. The first is accuracy. This helps determine if you have successfully shot your foe or not. You need to have a total of six accuracy from a combination of your cards and die roll. However, depending on the character you have selected your die may contain instant hits or misses. The other stat is speed, which can be important if you want to shoot first.

Each round, players will choose six cards or 'bullets' to play face-down in front of themselves. At least one of them must be a 'draw' card. Players then take turns revealing cards until one player reveals their draw card. Up to this point you will have been trying to boost your own stats, damage your opponents and react to their cards. Some characters also come with other powers that allow you to change stats after you have rolled and so on.

However, once that draw card is turned a speed element enters the game. The person who revealed it tries to tap a face-down card of their opponent's before the opponent can. If the attacker manages this, they get to shoot their rival. However, if the defender gets there first and reveals the card they tapped is a draw card there is a simultaneous shootout.

Six Gun Lowdown

This speed element favours the defender and means that they always have a chance to get a shot off. Of course, this is dependent on how well their memory works. As you play you will start to develop your own little formulas for remembering which card is where and watch them disintegrate as the other player confounds you. Six cards seems manageable, but the stress of being ready to react to your opponent pulling the trigger before you're in an ideal spot is memory harming to say the least!

After the draw cards have been resolved by each shooter adding their die roll, to their modified accuracy stat, each hit is awarded a point and you play until someone has achieved three points. Although Six Gun Showdown is really a two-player game, the inclusion of six decks and dice means that you can easily play a round robin affair. In fact, I have used it as a first-player decider, or to break ties, in other games. This means Showdown has a place on both serious and family gamers' tables.

Although Six Gun Showdown is a small, quick game, it is exactly the type of project I like to back on Kickstarter. That's because these smaller games are often hidden gems, providing much more playtime value than their bigger siblings.

One of my most played games ever is the magnificent Crypt, and although different genres, Six Gun Showdown is another reminder of how much can be packed in to a small affordable box.

Back Today

At the time of writing (June 25), there are nine days remaining on the Kickstarter campaign. The target goal for Six Gun Showdown is £2200. Currently, the game has just surpassed the £1500 mark. There are three different pledges for you to choose from:

• Gun Fighter (Standard Pledge) - The game (88% off RRP) with all stretch goals.
• Fully Loaded - The game, a single-sided game mat and Kickstarter Exclusive dice tray. Includes all stretch goals.
• The Whole Posse - The game, a double-side game mat, Kickstarter Exclusive dice tray and a copy of Vote ME!. Includes all stretch goals.

Head over to the Kickstarter page today and make your pledge!