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Wonderland's War
- 2–5 players
- 45–125 min
- Complexity 3.1/5
- 2022
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- BGG #5,926
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With a Smile & a Gun
2021
Rules assistance for With a Smile & a Gun
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 1–2 players
- 30 min
- 12+
- Complexity 2.5/5
Rules assistant for With a Smile & a Gun
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
With a Smile & a Gun is a board game released in 2021 for 1–2 players, 30 minutes per game, and ages 12 and up. It was designed by Amanda Vallerand and its main mechanics are Area Majority / Influence, Open Drafting, and Rondel.
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About the game
Al Capone famously said, "You can get pretty far in life with a smile, but you can get a lot farther with a smile and a gun." With a Smile & a Gun is a fist-clenching game of intrigue and sneakiness in which two criminal gang leaders fight over the domination of a city's underground businesses during a very noir Prohibition Era. They have to outthink their rival, send the police into their business, use their network's abilities, and decide when to lay low and when to go all-out. Mechanically speaking, With a Smile & a Gun is a dice-drafting, area-majority game about taking the last 4 — not because you need it, but because your opponent does. Each round, thirteen dice are rolled in a pool. A player then drafts two dice: one for their movement around the city, which will place influence, and one for an action. After both players have drafted three times, a non-player character — one of five in the box — will use the leftover die for its own movement, affecting the game in its own way. The player who attracted the least attention, that is, who has lowest sum of action dice, takes a special scheming action, then majorities will be scored for each district. After three rounds, the player with the most points wins.
Designers
Publishers
- SPIEL DAS! Verlag
- Subsurface Games
Questions and answers
With a Smile & a Gun supports 1–2 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for With a Smile & a Gun is 30 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists With a Smile & a Gun for ages 12 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
With a Smile & a Gun has a complexity rating of 2.5 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
With a Smile & a Gun belongs to these categories: Dice and Mafia. Its main mechanics are Area Majority / Influence, Open Drafting, and Rondel. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of With a Smile & a Gun are: Amanda Vallerand. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists With a Smile & a Gun as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.