Deadwood

Complexity Low Cost £5 Duration Medium Players 3-8 Producer Cheapass Games Size Medium

Premise

Forget the acting, just make as much dosh as you can!

Review

This is one of their earlier games but now in their famous cardboard box! The plot is simple, you're a terrible actor out to make as much money as you can in the movies. Each of the four days you amble around the various sets and scenes being filmed.

The action takes place on a board (some assembly required:) with the players represented by different dice. The value of the die indicates that player's current rating - the higher it is, the more opportunities there will be and so the more opportunities to make more money.

Each set starts with a scene card. Both the set and the scene have dice faces with different values printed on them. These represent the various paying roles, and a player may only take one up if their rating is equal or higher. If the role is beneath them, they will lose rank to match it however.

There is an important difference between the two roles however. Those on the set pay $1 a shot. Each time you roll to see if the shot or scene completes, you get a dollar. If you are on the card playing a leading role, you will get a cut of the profits once the scene is wrapped, but no money otherwise. The cut of the profits could be as high as $36 or as low as $1.

This means that the players on the set want the scene to never end, whereas those on the scene card want it to end as soon as possible. The scene ends when a player rolls equal or higher to the budget of the movie.

In addition, once a scene wraps, the player who caused it to wrap gets a screen credit or half if they were on the set as opposed to on the scene card. Credits can be cashed in with an $8 fee to increase your rating. Players can lose rating if they are on the card when it is wrapped by someone off the card, if they walk off a set or if they are on the last scene of the day.

As soon as there is only one scene left, the day ends. The players rearrange themselves according to their rank, lowest will go first. At the end of the forth day, the game ends and the player with the most money wins.

This game obiously needs a large number of players, although you can play it with three. With less players, there is less likely to be interaction between players, such as set players stealing the scene etc. Games will also take fewer rounds with more players since the sets will wrap quicker with more players on them. There will also be less contention for the limited roles available, especially at the beginning of the game when everyone is the same.

The rules are quite clear, but the game mechanics are pretty simple. You could use figures if you wish instead of dice, but you would need to record the current players skill somehow - perhaps using discs like Axis and Allies. You could also use different coloured Lego bricks. This would reduce the chances of people picking up the wrong dice when they need to roll etc.

This is a nice neat game, and despite the simplicity there should be ample depth to keep players entertained.

Expansions

Another Day, Another Dollar

An expansion with new cards for different genres is coming soon (Horror, Musicals, Space and Kung Fu).

Rating

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