Game Review

Concept:

You are a bit actor on the Deadwood Studios backlot. Your goal is to act in various scenes and make more money than the other bit actors by performing in as many scenes as possible.

Gameplay:

Players are represented by a six-sided die -- preferably a unique looking die per player. Six additional six sided dice are required for playing. For the game's money, use poker chips, monopoly money, or keep track on a tally sheet.

To start, all players begin in the "trailers" space on the board. Each player's die is displaying the number 2 -- this is their rank. They have no money to start. Ten scene cards are placed on each of the set locations face down.

For each turn, a player may move or work. To move, move your die to one adjacent space. After moving to a space, turn over any face down scene card. If there is a scene available, and the player's rank matches or is larger than a role on the scene card or on the set, the player may choose to work. If you choose to work, place your die on the slot available for your number or less. If all of the roles for your rank or lower are full, you cannot work here. If the open role is for a lower rank, you must reduce your rank on your die to that level. The movement turn is over.

There are two ways to work in this game -- "On the card" or "Off the card." If on a previous turn, you decided to work -- your die is on the scene card, or on a role for the set. To work, roll one six sided die -- and compare it to the scene's budget. If you rolled equal to or higher then the budget, the scene advances. Unless the scene "wraps" your turn is over.

Depending upon the set, there may be multiple shots -- every set has one shot, most have two, and one has three shots -- each shot must be completed before the scene "wraps." If you are working Off the card, then you get paid $1 per roll of the die to advance the scene. If you are working On the card, you only get paid when the scene wraps. When the scene wraps, the player who advanced the scene captures the scene card. The scene pays out for players on the card -- one six sided die is rolled per million dollars of budget, i.e. a $4 million budget allows 4 dice to be rolled for the payday. Players who are On the card get to divy up the payday -- off the card workers don't get any of this cash.

Once players have captured enough scene cards, they can turn in cards plus some cash to raise their rank -- and allow them to play more roles. This is done by moving to the casting office at the far side of the backlot.

When only one scene is left -- the day ends. no one working on this scene gets paid. All players return their dice to the Trailers. New scene cards are dealt face down -- when there are no more scene cards, the game ends.

Winning Conditions:

The player with the most cash at the end of the game wins.

Our Opinion:

Humor, intrigue and greed...three elements that make decent movies -- and in this case a decent game. Once, the rules are read thoroughly, this game shows that it is quite fun and competitive.

The Zombies have played this game on multiple occassions, each time with three players. For us, the paydays got outrageously large -- until we started to follow each other around the board to limit the income of the leading player. We could see at that point where an 8 player game would be totally cut throat. The game always played balanced for us -- the winner never won by too much. The turns go VERY quickly after you lear the rules. The only confusing part is that the turn order changes with each day you play (players change order based on rank when new scene cards are dealt.)

The scene names and roles can induce hillarious discussions with the right group of players. We had a lot of fun with some of the roles listed.

Strategically, raising your rank becomes very important -- as does lowering your rank. Knowing when to spend your cash to go up in rank really influences your game.

Overall, we liked this game a lot, and reccommend it as a good party game... I hope you have a lot of different looking dice, though.

Where to buy:

Check your local game store -- Our copy cost about $8.