Overview

Ca$h 'n Gun$: Live (CGL) is a large-group live-action party game. It might be thought of as "Werewolf meets LARPing" and as the 'Geek's game blurb indicates, might well be considered outside of the scope of BGG if not for its descent from original Ca$h 'n Gun$.

Players and Venue

The box lists 8-20 players. I think it would scale fine down to 6. Kids (whose parents don't mind the violent theme) should have no problem playing. They may well have an advantage if older players are reluctant to shoot them! (Note to self: overcome this inhibition before seeking world domination.)

CGL is a loud, raucous game, and chasing and fleeing from other players is pretty much necessary. Playing outside in a yard or park would really work best. Indoors, a gym or ballroom would work fine, or a mostly-empty room in a convention hall. In a pinch, a large unfinished basement might work. Do not attempt to play this in your living room! It's a virtual certainty that players will run into things.

Components

A hundred or so cards (double-sided color printed), a whistle, and rulebook for $35 list, $25 discount. Some may balk at the price which seems pretty steep for what you get.

On the other hand, the cards seem pretty sturdy--necessary since you're going to be running around with them. The art on the cards and rulebook is the same humorous style as original Cash & Guns. And in terms of dollars per player, the value is good--although this is not a metric I frequently use!

Rules Overview

The rules will be familiar to players of original Cash & Guns, although they are not identical. A brief summary:

Players play in teams of 3-4 depending on the number of players. The game takes place in a series of rounds. Every round, each team gets one role card for each active player; each player will get one card.

In a round, players have 10 seconds to run around, then all freeze and aim imaginary weapons at one another.

After seeing where weapons are aimed, players have the opportunity to "wimp out" and not get shot at.

Role cards resolve in order. Any player getting shot twice--or struck by a shotgun blast or grenade--ends up in the hospital. These players also miss the next round (and are back in the game after that)

Every player that did not get shot twice or wimp out shares in the money for that round. Leftover money is carried over to the next round.

The six role cards are:

Bang! Bang! Bang!: Pantomime a handgun. This resolves first and whoever you shoot doesn't get to use their own weapon.

Double Guns: Pantomime a gun in each hand. You can shoot two different people, or the same person twice in the (unusual) case you have nobody else to shoot at.

Shotgun: Pantomime a shotgun. This resolves last, but anyone you shoot goes straight to the hospital.

Kevlar: Pantomime anything you want as a bluff, but you don't get to shoot. The first bullet to hit you doesn't count (but shotguns and grenades don't kill you.)

Grenade: Pantomime anything you want, but you don't get to shoot. If (and only if) you are shot by a bullet, you get to jump and swing your arms around; you and anyone you touch go straight to the hospital. If you are shot by a shotgun, the grenade doesn't work!

Knife: Pantomime anything you want, but again, you don't get to shoot. If (and only if) you are shot by a bullet, you get to swing your left arm, knifing someone and sending them to the hospital.

How does it work out?

CGL is a chaotic game. And this is not just in the sense of, say, Fluxx or GUBS: A Game of Wit and Luck where the game changes faster than you can really react to it. CGL is chaotic in the sense that people are running around, pointing vaguely at one another with their fingers, shouting and ducking, and it's often very difficult to tell what the heck is going on.

That said, there's something very satisfying about a well-executed shotgun blast or having your grenade go off and blow up four other people.

There is some strategy and experienced players will pick up tricks, but a lot of the game is still out of your control. There is lots of room for "fudging"--moving around (out of knife reach, say) just after time is called, slightly adjusting your aim or aiming late, etc. Players who are very bothered by this will want to look elsewhere.

Comparison to Original C&G

If you thought the best part of Cash & Guns is the tension of guessing who's bluffing and who's not, of staring down an opponent, of seeing alliances and pseudo-friendships come and go over the course of the game--you may be disappointed. CGL doesn't feel like a showdown from the movies the same way original C&G does. The very chaotic nature of CGL drowns out the tension and personal feelings that build up; even trying to keep track of what's going on is difficult. In other disappointments, I thought the game was poorer for the lack of orange foam guns.

If you thought the best part of Cash & Guns was aiming pretend guns and shooting at people, if you wished you could have two powers because one wasn't enough and you wish you could have two guns or a grenade all the frickin' time--you will probably like CGL. In other words, if you like the aggression and lighthearted violence, CGL will satisfy that urge, possibly even better than the original thanks to the general powering up of offense.

Comparison to Werewolf

This comparison is probably inevitable even though all the games really have in common is the number of players and vague roleplaying aspect.

As a large-group game, CGL has several advantages over Werewolf. Perhaps the most important is the lack of downtime and elimination. Players sent to the hospital are out for only a round--a couple of minutes. Another big advantage is that you do not have to "get into" CGL as much as Werewolf. Just using your fingers to point at someone is much easier than the Herculean task of trying to convince your friends that you aren't a werewolf despite the fact that neither you, nor anyone else, has any proof either way!

CGL is also a faster-playing game than Werewolf. My experience with Werewolf is that you need to convene a group for the sole purpose of playing that game. CGL is quick to teach, can be fudged (just put newbies on a team with experienced players) and so can be played whenever you happen to have a group of the appropriate size and access to a good place to play.

As for the advantages of Werewolf: Like C&G, I think Werewolf has an element of tension and a dramatic narrative that is lost in the sheer chaos of CGL. Werewolf also can be played at home in a living room in the evening, in any weather. Finally, I think Werewolf's longer playing time can also be an advantage. For me, CGL began to wear thin after a few rounds, and I was ready to play something else; several games of Werewolf could make a satisfying evening in and of themselves.

Conclusion and Recommendation

There's really not much to say; there's not much subtlety in how CGL plays out. You run around and pretend to shoot each other. If this sounds like fun, go play CGL the next chance you get. You'll like it. If this doesn't sound like fun, avoid CGL if you get the chance. If everyone else is playing, give it a try. You probably won't hate it and they'll probably be onto something else soon enough.