The Good, The Bad and The Goat

The game consists of three rounds, or four with two players. The dealer looks at four character cards, chooses one, and offers it face down to another player, explicitly announcing which character it is – and they are allowed to lie. The receiver decides: accept, in which case the card goes to them, or refuse, in which case the dealer keeps it themselves. Each round is followed by a saloon phase where the characters activate their effects: the sheriff arrests outlaws, the gunfighter threatens their neighbors, and so on. The player with the most coins and property tokens after all rounds wins.

The Good, the Bad and the Goat is praised as an accessible bluffing game that doesn't just use its Western theme as a backdrop but fully integrates it with the mechanics. The saloon phase at the end of each round creates a tense moment where previous decisions are either rewarded or mercilessly punished. Both daring and people skills count, meaning there's more to it than pure luck, though you shouldn't expect deep strategy. In the right group, it delivers lively, sometimes delightfully mean games full of mistrust and laughter; those looking for something heavier will quickly find it too light.