Okay, is everyone ready for the heist? Good. Our skill sets range, so we’ll want to put ourselves in the proper order if we want to succeed. But, we’ll need to keep quiet, so subtle communication is key. I have full faith in us, gang. Let’s get that gold!

What Is It?

Cooperative – Players work together to complete heists

Limited Communication – Players can not say what cards they have or how good their overall hand of 5 cards is, so they must communicate via the poker chips (i.e. the 1-chip means “my hand is not good at all”)

Poker – Players are trying to put themselves in order based on how good of a poker hand (Texas Hold Em rules) they can make between their pocket cards and the available community cards

Who Is It For?

  • 3 to 6 Players – The game definitely gets harder the more players there are because if you have even 1 player out of order, you fail. So personally, I like it best at 3 or 4.
  • Ages 14 & Up / Light-Weight Gamers – I think having experience with limited communication and poker is helpful, but not necessary, so it’s good for a decent range of players, but probably not super young gamers
  • Fans of poker who want to try it in a new, unique way
  • Fans of limited communication and cooperative play

Variants / Expansions

Advanced – When players have a successful heist, they reveal a challenge card for the next heist, to make it more difficult. If they fail a heist, they reveal a specialist card to give them extra assistance – I thought this was a great change once you know the game. I don’t love every challenge or specialist, but I think it is a fun way to shake up the game.

Professional – Removes challenge card #1 and reveals 1 random challenge card that is active for all heists – A good option if you find the game a bit too easy and just want to bring up the difficulty from the start.

Master – Removes challenge card #1 and removes 1 of the 3 alarms. No specialists are use. 2 challenge cards active for every heist, and the lowest number one is replaced each round – Again, a good option to increase the difficulty if your team needs that.

Jokers and More Mini Expansion – Joker – If a player is dealt a joker as a pocket card, they draw 2 and choose 1 to keep to replace it. If one comes up as a community card, it is replaced by 2 cards, and players can choose 1 to use in their best hand; More – 4 Poker Variants. There are 4 different ways to play, making changes to number of pocket and community cards – I really like that the Jokers give players a bit more flexibility in cards. The 4 poker variant is good for players who want to change things up play to play, or who are familiar with other versions of poker and want to play The Gang with similar rules.

PROS

  • Aesthetics – Especially the box, but overall a nice, clean look
  • Components – Particularly the poker chips are nice
  • Rules are well-written and provide helpful explanations for card combinations and ties
  • Reference cards are convenient for both hand strength and game flow
  • Rounds play pretty quickly each heist
  • Variants are all very simple to use to change up the game
    • I enjoy the specialist and challenge cards especially to scale the game a bit

CONS

  • Components – Cards are a bit thin
  • You really can’t communicate outside of using the poker chips, which can be very difficult, especially if multiple players think they have the best or worst hand
    • It can also make for a bit of a quiet table

Final Thoughts

The game is unique, but very tricky because you are very limited in how you can convey the strength of your hand.

The first 3 rounds seem almost inconsequential though because the chips could be all over the place and only the final round (red) matters, so it seems kind of weird.

I think I wouldn’t play without the advanced variant, personally, because it adds a bit more interest to the game. I also don’t think I’d play it over 4 players in the future, because it just gets too difficult to put everyone in the exact right order in my opinion.

If you like poker, you;ll pick this up easily. But will you like it? Maybe. It’s cooperative, so it removes the bluffing and betting and any desire to have the best hand. It only matters that you put the hands in order, it doesn’t matter where you land. So it’ll feel very different from poker in that regard.

Overall, I just thought it was fine. It’s not something I’d actively come back to often, but I can definitely see the appeal. If it sounds up your alley – check it out!

Additional Information:
My Final Rating – 5/10

Designer – John Cooper, Kory Heath
Artist – Fiore GmbH
Publisher – KOSMOS
MSRP – $14.95
Website

*I was provided a copy of this game to do this review*

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