The latest game from Max Temkin, co-creator of the crass Apples to Apples clone, Cards Against Humanity, is Slap .45, a Western-themed slapping card game in the vein of Egyptian Ratscrew or Slapjack, and it is currently on Kickstarter. Temkin is designing the game with Narwhal Studios, with which he also created the freely-distributed tag variant Humans vs. Zombies.
Each player assumes the role of a different gang in the Old West, trying to be the last person standing after the smoke clears. Cards are revealed from a central deck which players race to slap first, or slap into the safety of their home bases. Different cards have different effects: slapping a gun with one hand and pointing your finger gun at another player knocks out one of their gang members, unless they have escaped to their base. Doing the same with a gold card, however, gives the gold to that player, rather than taking if for yourself. Gold is used to activate the different gangs’ powers, such as the Confederates who can spend one gold to do two damage instead of one. The game ends when all but one gang have been eliminated. The full rules are available on an update post.
At time of this writing the game has surpassed its goal of $18,850 and raised $32,414, with 28 days to go until its September 17 deadline, so production is assured. The only tier at $35 gets you a copy of the game shipped by April, 2015. The game looks like a fast and fun gateway game for non-gamers or a nice, light filler for more serious game nights. Check out the Kickstarter in the next month if it’s piqued your interest.
