.jpg)
The world of social deduction games is a crowded one. There are stone-cold classics (Werewolf, The Resistance, Bang!), underrated gems (Dracula’s Feast, Crossfire, Mayday!Mayday!), and a whole heap of titles of varying quality in between. And right there in the mix is Good Cop Bad Cop, a hidden identity, bluffing, and social deduction game where players compete in secret teams (Honest Cops, Crooked Cops) to defeat the opposing team. Pull the Pin Games (formerly Overworld Games) are bringing this game back with a 3rd Edition, which is what I review here. So let’s have a look and see if this modern social deduction staple has stood the test of time!
Here’s a quick rundown of play for those who are new to the game.
Gameplay
Each player is given 3 Integrity cards, of which there are 2 types, Honest and Crooked. If a player receives more Honest cards than Crooked cards, they are part of the Honest faction, and if they get more Crooked cards than Honest cards, they are with the Crooked faction. Additionally, 2 faction leader cards (Agent for Honest, Kingpin for Crooked) are mixed in and randomly distributed. If a player has one of these cards they are automatically the leader of the corresponding faction, regardless of what other Honest/Crooked cards they may have received. Each player also starts with 1 Equipment card (more on those shortly). The goal of the game is for players to work out who the leader of the rival faction is and eliminate them.
On their turn, each player performs one of the following actions:
- Secretly look at a face-down Integrity card of another player.
- Draw an equipment card. Turn one of your Integrity cards face-up as a cost for doing this.
- Take a gun from the middle of the table. Turn one of your Integrity cards face-up as a cost for doing so.
- Shoot a player you are aiming your gun at.
As an extra phase, if you have a gun in your possession, you must aim your gun at another player. Then your turn is over and play proceeds clockwise.
If a player is shot, they must immediately reveal all their Integrity cards. If they are not the Agent or the Kingpin, they are eliminated, whereas if they are either of these faction leaders they become ‘wounded’ and take the Wounded Token. This means that they can take another shot before being eliminated.
The Equipment cards can be played at any time and do not take an action to use. They include special abilities that really switch up the game, such as the Planted Evidence card, which allows you to pick a player and that player’s Crooked cards are now Honest and vice versa.
The first faction to eliminate the leader of the opposing faction are the winners!
Analysis
Good Cop Bad Cop is a nifty social deduction game that stands out from the pack for how much intense, team-based fun it packs into a short play time. This is largely due to how simple and elegant the mechanics are, allowing for maximum player interaction and minimum fuss remembering rules or keeping track of the gameplay. In terms of mechanics, two stand out as exceptional: the Equipment cards and having to reveal one of your Integrity cards as a cost for performing certain actions. The Equipment cards can really shake things up in a game and do a fabulous job of tying in the theme to the mechanics. For example, the Taser card allows you to steal a gun from another player and the Defibrillator lets you revive a player who has been eliminated. These cards keep the gameplay entertaining and unpredictable, both of which are situations that allows player interaction to flourish. I also love that whenever you draw an Equipment card or take a gun from the centre of the table, you have to reveal one of your face-down Integrity cards. This gives players interesting trade-offs to think about and keeps the game progressing forwards with regards to the revelation of player’s roles.
The component quality is great; like the 2nd Edition, the 3rd Edition comes with substantial cardboard tokens, small plastic stands for the gun tokens, as well as quality cards with a linen finish. These components are still a huge improvement on the cards-only 1st Edition, and the fact that they remain unchanged from the 2nd Edition also means that this new Edition is compatible with previous expansions, which is a nice touch. With it being part of the Pull the Pin Games series, Good Cop Bad Cop now comes in their new box design where you literally pull the game from its sleeve (producing a thematic ‘BANG!’). It is tough not to be charmed by the simple and bold cartoon-style artwork by Dwayne Biddix, which definitely makes a subtle but palpable difference to the amount that players are willing to immerse themselves in the theme.
With regards to the game’s theme, the setting of a morally-torn police department is a triumph. The concept is fun, accessible, and gives players a wealth of cultural references and tropes to draw on when participating. The game really sings at the 5 and 6-player count, due to just the right amount of chaos ensuing (this doesn’t always occur at the 4-player count) and there not being too long a wait in between turns (as can happen at the 7 and 8-player count). The experience of Good Cop Bad Cop is much more fast-and-frantic than more cerebral social deduction games such as The Resistance and Deception: Murder in Hong Kong, so if you are after something with a bit more depth that requires a bit more thinking, then this one may not be for you.
Good Cop Bad Cop is often compared to Coup due to them both being small social deduction games. However, I much prefer the team-based shenanigans of Good Cop Bad Cop to the last-player-standing structure of Coup, and the former features many more opportunities for dynamic player interaction than the latter. Another popular comparison is One Night Ultimate Werewolf, but if pressed, I would lean slightly more towards Good Cop Bad Cop due to it having a more balanced player experience (being a villager in ONUW can be a dull prospect) and the frequency of games that fall flat being fewer (lying to win is essential in ONUW, which some people dislike doing and this can stall the flow of the game, whereas in GCBC telling the truth is a legit strategy).
If you are looking for an accessible and fast blast of social deduction you simply cannot go wrong with Good Cop Bad Cop, and the new 3rd Edition will see this game making a welcome return to Kallax units everywhere.
Cthulhu Reviews: 7 out of 8 tentacles 🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙
Designers: Brian Henk, Clayton Skancke
Publisher: Pull the Pin Games
Players: 4-8
Age: 13+
Play Time: 15-30 minutes
Thank you to Pull the Pin Games for providing a review copy of this game.