Bang! The Dice Game: Vigilante Posse

This is a solitaire variant for Bang! The Dice Game, and it was entered into the 2020 Solomode BGG Contest. The files are available from BoardGameGeek.com.

There's gonna be a shoot-out ...

The aim of this variant is not to recreate the feel of playing Bang! The Dice Game, but to use the components to provide the Western theme, while making a different solitaire game entirely. I know that some people find this a little controversial; some feel that a solitaire variant of a multiplayer game should recreate, as faithfully as possible, the feeling that one gets from playing that multiplayer game. I believe that route is absolutely valid, but not a requirement.

To me, when I set out to design a solitaire variant, I simply try to make the best game I can. I normally start with something along the lines of the multiplayer, but for various reasons I find that its mechanics are not necessarily optimised for solo play. For example, when I was making the Demon Daimyo variant of Age of War, it is hard to recreate the decisions a human opponent will make while rolling and rerolling dice. And - even if I had been able to do so - the player would spend half their time playing as the AI opponent. Therefore, I opted for a much quicker system that provides a different kind of challenge.

And so it is with Vigilante Posse. This variant has roughly the same feel as Bang! The Dice Game in terms of how the dice work, but it is more of a shootout, tower defense style game, with a mix of strategy and luck. There is no hidden role or social deduction aspect. Being a solo game this would have been quite difficult (perhaps impossible) to accomplish.

In addition to the base game, you will require six custom cards made specially for this variant, which are in the same file as the rules. It plays in around 30 minutes, depending on how you fare.


There have been some really nice comments on BGG:

"Very nice solo mode ... I think it has lots of replayability"
"Great job on this solo variant."
"Fun dice chucking variation"
"I love the extra cards and the "town" feel they give the game. I felt the theme strongly and it was fun imagining my posse patrolling the dusty roads while the outlaws held up in the buildings."
"There are meaningful choices to be taken in every move"

File downloads:

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