"Dead Man's Hand" Rule review

 

Dead Man's Hand is a western/cinematic game produced by Great Escape Games.  It is a skirmish Western Game meant to recreate your favorite Western Movie moments on the table top in a super simple ruleset.  How does it do?

My Reviews are going to be graded like classes in College; A,B,C,D,E.  At the end we will get a GPA which will determine if this game makes distinguished honor roll, honor roll, passes or fails.  A good game should at least pass with a C average. 

The categories I will be grading are 1) Presentation/Product/Package, 2) Game Rules/Mechanics, 3) Historical/fantasy Cannon Accuracy, 4) Cost/time, 5) Good Time and Memories

1) Presentation/Product/Package.  Great Escape Games does a great job and provided you everything you need to play the game, from the cards, miniatures, rulebook and scenery.  You will get the complete package with this game.  The basic Plastic Miniatures are easy to put together and paint.  The Specialty gangs that are pewter are also easy to prepare and paint and look good.  The rule book is easy to read and fun to read.  This is a perfect Package

A

2) Game Rule Mechanics.  This is such a simple game you can play it off the 1 page QRS with some Character sheets.  My only statement is that for this game to be simple you will loose a lot of chrome.  A handgun is a handgun.  Even though there could be different models in real life with different ranges this game blends them into one.  Other than that.  The rules are super simple to pick up that even my wife loves it.  And the card activation by high to low adds some strategic poker to the game.

B+

3) Historical/fantasy Accuracy.  This game is clear that it is trying to reproduce the cinematic West not the historical west.  If I grade it compared to El Dorado, The Searchers,  High Plains Drifter it stacks up much better than if I tried to reproduce the O.K. Corral. It is still a simple rule set that does a decent job

B+

4) Cost/Time.  This is one of the cheapest games you can buy.  For less than $50 you can be playing a 2 player game on the table.  And time.  No game I have played has lasted longer than an hour.  Which is a great date night game.  Perfect score here

A

5) Good Times and Memories.  Dead Man's Hand produces a great game every time and I cannot wait to try out my 7th Cav and Plains Indians.

A

GPA is 3.72.  Dead Man's Hand is an Honor Roll Game.  You will love it.