Eight gangsters just pulled off the heist of the century, the loot is sitting on the table, and everybody has a gun. Cash ‘n Guns is eight rounds of pointing foam pistols at your friends and working out whether the pile in the middle is worth taking a bullet for. It takes about five minutes to teach. This is all of it.
Our full review: Cash ‘n Guns Review
Note: This guide covers the Second Edition (Repos Production), which is the version currently in print and the one most people own. The first edition works much the same way, but the wound and power-card rules differ slightly.
What’s In The Box
- 8 foam guns
- 8 characters with plastic stands
- 64 Bullet cards — each player gets 5 “Click” and 3 “Bang!”
- Loot cards (bills, diamonds, paintings, first aid kits and clips)
- 18 Wound tokens
- 16 Power cards
- 1 Godfather’s desk and 1 New Godfather token
- 1 Diamond Bonus card
Setup
How a Round Works
Every round runs through the same seven steps. The game lasts eight rounds and your Bullet hand is exactly eight cards, one per round, of which only three are live. That constraint is the whole game.
Step 1
Loot
Flip 8 Loot cards face-up in the middle of the table so everyone can see what they're fighting over.
Step 2
Load Your Gun
Everyone secretly picks one Bullet card — Click or Bang! — and places it face-down.
Step 3
Hold-Up
On the count of three, everyone points their foam gun at another player. All at once.
Step 4
Godfather's Privilege
The Godfather may order one player to change target. That player must pick someone different.
Step 5
Courage
Anyone can lay their character down — safe from wounds, but out of the loot this round. Stay standing and you're in.
Step 6
Card Effects
Everyone still standing reveals their Bullet card. Click: nothing happens. Bang!: the target takes a Wound and lays down.
Step 7
Loot Sharing
Starting with the Godfather and going clockwise, every player still standing takes one Loot card at a time.
The Part New Players Misread
Getting shot doesn’t only cost you a wound. It cuts you out of the payday too.
A player who stays standing and takes a Bang! is wounded, lays their character down, and collects nothing from that round’s loot. It isn’t a “risk a wound but still get paid” gamble, which is what most people assume the first time through. Take the bullet and you get the wound and empty hands.
So ducking out early is a legitimate play rather than cowardice, and it took our group an embarrassingly long time to work that out. If four people are aiming at you, laying down costs you one round of loot. Standing there costs you that same loot and a wound on top of it.
Wounds and Elimination
Every Bang! that connects gives the target one Wound token. Get hit by two Bangs in the same round and you take both.
At three wounds you’re dead and out of the game for good.
Those numbers are what keep the game honest. You only have three Bang! cards to spread across eight rounds, so nobody has the ammunition to shoot everybody. Every shot you actually take is a decision about who’s genuinely threatening your lead.
Becoming the Godfather
The Godfather picks loot first and can redirect one gun each round, so the desk is worth having.
During the loot sharing step you can flip the New Godfather token instead of taking a Loot card. You skip your share that round, but you take the desk and run the table next round. Trading a round of loot for that control is one of the better decisions in the game, and it’s usually undervalued at a new table.
Loot Card Types
| Loot | Value |
|---|---|
| Bills | $5,000, $10,000 or $20,000 at face value |
| Diamonds | $1,000, $5,000 or $10,000 — plus a $60,000 bonus to whoever holds the most diamond cards |
| Paintings | Scale hard with quantity — from $4,000 for one up to $500,000 for a full set of ten |
| First Aid Kits | Heal all of your wounds |
| Clips | Recover a Bang! card from your discards |
The paintings are the ones to watch. A single painting is nearly worthless, but they scale so steeply that a decent stack can decide the game outright. If someone is quietly taking art every round while everyone else grabs the flashy $20,000 bills, check their pile before you assume they’re losing.
Character Powers
Each player gets one Power card that stays active all game. There are sixteen of them, so the mix is different every time. These are the ones that most change how a table plays:
| Power | Effect |
|---|---|
| The Lucky Man | Take more than one wound in a single round and you take none at all |
| Unbreakable | You’re eliminated on your 5th wound instead of your 3rd |
| The Doctor | Remove one wound every time you lay down |
| The Kid | Choose your target after everyone else has aimed |
| The Vulture | When a player is eliminated, randomly take 2 of their Loot cards |
| The Greedy | Take 2 Loot cards at once on your first pick, then you’re done sharing |
| The Stealthy | Take a $10,000 bill from the middle whenever you lay down |
| The Professional | If your target lays down after you played Bang!, steal one of their Loot cards |
Read the powers out loud before you start. They’re face-up anyway, and knowing someone is Unbreakable completely changes whether they’re worth a bullet.
How to Win
After the eighth round, add up your loot. Include the $60,000 diamond bonus if you hold the most diamond cards, and score paintings on their sliding scale.
The richest player who is still alive wins. Dying disqualifies you no matter how loaded you were, which is why the last couple of rounds tend to get nasty.
Ties go to the player with more wounds, which is a nice touch: survive more punishment and still finish level and the game hands it to you. If you’re somehow still tied after that, share the win.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I point my gun at whoever I want?
Yes — any other living player. You just can't aim at yourself, and if the Godfather uses their privilege on you, you have to switch to a different target.
If I lay down, do I still get shot?
No. Laying down makes you completely safe that round. You just don't get any loot.
Do I get loot if I stay standing and get wounded?
No. Being wounded knocks your character down, and only standing characters share the loot. You get the wound and nothing else.
What happens if I run out of Bang! cards?
Then you're bluffing with Clicks for the rest of the game. Pick up a Clip from the loot to get a Bang! back from your discards.
Can wounds be healed?
Yes. First aid kits in the loot heal all your wounds, and the Doctor power removes one each time that player lays down.
How many players does it really need?
It works at 4, but it's much better at 6 or more. More players means more guns pointed in more directions, which is the entire appeal.
A Few Tips Before Your First Game
The most common beginner mistake is firing too early. It’s tempting to spend a Bang! in round one to prove you aren’t a pushover, but people who do that spend the back half of the game holding an empty gun, and the loot piles that decide the winner are usually the late ones.
It’s also worth watching whoever keeps quietly laying down without complaining. They’re often taking small safe piles and building a painting collection while everyone else fights over cash. Look at what people have in front of them rather than who’s making the most noise.
Mostly though, the game lives in the bluffing. You only have three real bullets across eight rounds, so pointing a confident empty gun at the leader is the move you’ll make most often. It costs you nothing and it can scare somebody out of a round they were going to win.
Thumbnail image artificially generated for illustrative purposes.
