The Gang Deluxe Edition Review
Advert: this game was gifted by Kosmos, this has not affected our opinion.
When The Gang originally launched in 2024 I was not particularly excited by the sound of a co-operative poker game. It just made no sense! Friends of mine bought it round to play and as I am willing to try most board games, I quickly got into the groove of it. Having played it a few times, but not owning it, I was excited to see what the newly launched Deluxe Edition offered. Having played that too, I put on my best New York Gangster accent and said: ‘I just gotsta review this one’. So here I am…
The first thing I should say is that the core gameplay in this Deluxe Edition is identical to the original retail version, so if you’re thinking of buying that edition, this review would still be perfectly apt!
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Setup
Roll out the flashy playmat and stack poker chips equal to the number of players in the relevant spaces. Place gold bars and alarm tokens on their spaces too. Shuffle the main deck of cards and place that on the mat too.
If playing with the optional expansions be sure to stack the cards for those in the correct places too.
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Gameplay
Very much like Texas Hold Em the dealer will pass out two cards to each player. Then follows the first round of predicting how good your hand is in comparison to every other player at the table with limited communication. This is done by choosing the white poker chips. If, for example you have a pair of aces, you would immediately reach for the chip with the most stars on, this would signal to the other players you have something very good. If on the other hand you had a 7 and 2 off suit (the worst hand in poker), you would be rushing for the 1 star chip.
Once everyone has got a chip, in front of them, then comes the ‘Flop’, whereby the dealer flips over three cards which all players can use as part of their hand if they wish. This can change the strength of the hands dramatically around the table. This time you claim a yellow poker chip depending on how your hand has improved or worsened.
Round three is the ‘Turn’ and one more card is revealed. Again a round of chip grabbing takes place. Finally, one more playing card is flipped, the ‘River’, then the final round of chip gathering takes place. This will be what the entire round is judged on. Using usual Texas Hold Em strengths, players will have to make their best five card hand. This can be made by using any combination of the seven cards available (the five in the middle and the two in their hand).
Starting with the player with the one value chip, the hands are revealed, announcing their best hand. If the strength of the hands increases correctly in line with the chips, then the mission was a success and you get to take a gold bar. Fail and an alarm will sound represented by the alarm token.
Get three gold bars to all celebrate a victory, get three sirens for the game to end in a collective loss.
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What it’s like
What always begins as a mission impossible with new players, soon becomes the possible. The Gang really is a game that benefits from multiple plays and arguably rushing through the first round to introduce everyone to the concept.
There is a handy quick reference for how your hand ranks. However, those unfamiliar with poker, never seem to grasp what could be a good hand until a few rounds have been played. For example, a pair of cards is the second worst item on the list, but a pair of high cards could easily win a round! I therefore try to labour how ‘good’ a hand would be in the teach – they still often don’t listen – but I try!
My eleven year old can play this, but on a couple of occasions while learning, he thought he had a dreadful hand, when in fact he missed that he had a flush (all cards of the same suit) or a run (a consecutive sequence of five cards). So I think the age rating of 10 plus is a touch on the low side. 12 plus is probably a bit more accurate for most.
In terms of player count, the fewer players there are, the more chance you have of success. Although this plays to six, or ten with the expansion included in the Deluxe Edition, I would probably stick to four or five players for most of my plays. Speaking of expansions in the box, they are nice to have but I play more often without them than with.
The pinnacle of excitement in the game comes from the big reveal. The tension as players show their hand and you see whether you have failed or succeeded as a group is the best bit.
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Table Presence
Well this is the Deluxe Edition, and when branded thusly you have high hopes! Indeed the playmat that unrolls from the box onto the table is a welcome addition. The real faux gold bars sparkle exactly as you would want them to. The sirens look like sirens, they sadly don’t have flashing lights but fortunately don’t make a sound as that would be annoying.
The poker chips have been upgraded from plastic ones in the standard edition, to ceramic ones in the Deluxe Edition, they are indeed more deluxe, but I never had an issue with the standard chips.
If shelf space is a premium, it is probably worth noting the Deluxe box is slightly bigger too.
The cards look great, I particularly like the subtle nods of the picture cards to heist roles. They are however quite slippy. I struggle to shuffle and deal them more than I do with regular cards, that might just be me!
While the Deluxe edition is certainly more blinged out with improved components, I think it could’ve gone a little bit further to be truly Deluxe, even weightier chips, a better box insert, or perhaps some gold foil on the cards, could’ve made it feel even more special.
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Final thoughts on The Gang
The Gang Deluxe Edition is double the price of the standard retail version. However, if you were to buy the More Players Expansion the difference in MSRP would only be £6. The extra bling is definitely worth that to me, but may not be to you. I do think many will be just as happy with the base game without the expansion and then the price difference has to be considered.
The components are definitely an upgrade and the playmat is really nice to have to give everything a home on the tabletop.
I’m pleased to say that my gut reaction of a co-operative poker game not working were completely wrong. The Gang Deluxe Edition certainly is a lot of fun with the right players. I look forward to more poker heists in the future!
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Key Facts
Number of players: 3 to 10
Board Game Review Recommended Age: 12+
Publisher’s Recommended Age: 10+
Playing Time: 30 minutes
Setting Up and Take Down Time: 1 minute
Designers: John Cooper and Kory Heath
Publisher: Kosmos
RRP: £29.99
Summary
The Gang succeeds in creating a co-operative game of poker. If that sounds like your sort of thing it is well worth checking out! If you are dubious, like I was, perhaps still give it a whirl and see if you end up going “all in” like me!
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Artwork and Components
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Complexity
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Instructions
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Interaction
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Value for Money
Overall
Pros
- Playmat
- Expansions included
- Familiar to poker players
- The big reveal of player’s hands of cards
Cons
- Theme is very loose
- Gauging hand strength with new players
- Slippy playing cards
- Could’ve been upgraded a little more
Buy The Gang Deluxe Edition
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Reviewer’s Note
For clarity: we don’t get paid for our reviews. However, we were kindly gifted this game by Kosmos. We have tried not to let this affect our review in any way.
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