| 👨👩👧👦 | Players: 3-6 |
| ⏳ | Time: 20 minutes |
| 🎂 | Ages: 10+ |
| ⚙️ | Mechanisms: Co-operative, limited communication, predictive bid |
It’s been about 20 years since I last played poker. At no point in the last 20 years have I felt the urge to play poker again… That is until The Gang from Kosmos made its way to my table.
Why am I talking about poker? Well, in The Gang, you are criminals committing heists. You must work together to open 3 vaults and avoid activating the alarm 3 times… and to do this you will be playing poker (Texas Hold’em style) co-operatively. No previous knowledge of poker is required, though it can be helpful.
It’s Texas Hold’em, but not as you know it…
Unlike normal poker, you absolutely do not want to bluff about what cards you have. However, although this game is co-operative (everyone needs to be successful to win), you cannot openly discuss your cards.
To communicate, players take poker chips with star values 1 (weak) through 3-6 (depending on number of players; strong) to indicate the strength of their hand. This is done at each stage; pre-flop, flop, the turn, and river. These tokens help players signal if their hands have improved, stayed the same, or weakened. When the 5th card is revealed (river stage), players must correctly take chips for their hand (weakest to strongest).
A successful bank heist. 1 vault down, 2 to go.
If each player has the correct strength chip allocated to their poker hand in the final stage, the team successfully opens a bank vault. If they fail, they set off an alarm. Setting off 3 alarms ends the game in a loss. The team wins if they successfully open 3 vaults.
We really need to win this round! Let’s hope I don’t flush it down the drain…
The Gang plays 3-6 players, and I’ve found it’s easier at 3 players and gets more difficult the more players you add. I’ve also noticed it’s easier to play with people you know vs people you don’t know. However, the game is a load of fun, regardless of who you play it with. As with most co-operative games, it’s so satisfying when you succeed together, and when you lose it’s got that feeling of “We were so close! Let’s try again!”.
A specialist card can help if you fail a mission. Choose wisely when to use it.
If you’re finding it too easy or you want to spice up the gameplay more, The Gang has advanced modes. These modes include specialist cards that may help when you lose a round or hinder you after you win a round, and I have really enjoyed including these when I play.
You can see this post on Instagram here. For further information about The Gang, check out the publisher’s website.
The copy of The Gang used for this review was provided to Board All The Time by VR Distribution.
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