Fangs – Werewolves vs. Vampires vs. Humans is a new Social Deduction game from Kosmos games. Fangs is essentially a remake of the old Shadow Hunters Party Game from Z-Man games. The game is a light blend of social deduction, and a trading card game. There are attack cards, defense cards, and strategy cards that enhance game play.
Fangs is available from Amazon.
In Shadow Hunters, players were secretly assigned the role of a character belonging to one of three factions: Shadows, which were supernatural creatures of the night, Hunters, which were humans attempting to exterminate the Shadows, and Neutrals, which were unaffiliated characters who were caught in the crossfire, and just trying to survive. Players would use social deduction to discover identities, and form alliances. Players would then use attack cards to try eliminate other players. Shadow Hunters was well-reviewed, and well-liked, but it is now out of print.
Kosmos Games has essentially brought game Shadow Hunters, but has reskinned it. Now the game is: Fangs – Werewolves vs. Vampires vs. Humans, but it essentially plays the same way. The new Fangs game has a “Twilight” feel to it.
Fangs is for 5-8 players, ages 10 and up. A game of Fangs takes about 30 minutes to play.
What’s in the box?
This is small travel sized box that is 5.1 x 7.1 x 1.7 inches.
The contents include:
- 20 Character Cards (Humans, Werewolves, and Vampires)
- 16 Green Oracle Cards
- 18 Blue Advantage Cards
- 18 Orange Combat Cards
- 6 Location Cards
- 8 Playing Cards (Simple Instruction Cards for each player)
- 2 Dice (one 4-sided die, & one 6-sided die)
- 8 Game Tokens
- 8 Damage Markers
- 1 Damage Track
How Does Fangs Play?
Each player dealt a character role to assume and play as. You keep your character role secret for as long as you can. Vampires need to destroy the Werewolves. Werewolves need to eliminate the Vampires. And the Humans just need to stay alive.
Each character card has a unique Health Point total and a Special Power. If your character takes enough damage equal to your health points, you are eliminated from the game. If you are a werewolf or vampire, you can still win the game, even if you have died, as long as one of your teammates survive the onslaught.
Your character can only use his or her special power if you decide to reveal your identity. This will usually come later in the game, when you are knocking on death’s door, and need to heal, or do a major attack.
There are 6 Location Cards. The Location are randomly placed in a circle. Players will roll the two dice, add the dice total together, and move to the numbered location. Players can then attack any player there or nearby (if they want), and/or perform the unique action of that location.
- Oxana’s Hut lets you take Green Oracle Card
- The Witch Tree lets you do damage to someone, or heal anyone
- The Stone Circle allows you to steal an equipment card from anyone
- The Chapel allows you to draw a Blue Advantage card
- The Graveyard allows you to draw an Orange Combat Card
- The Spring of Wisdom allows you to draw any card.
Lets have a quick look at a few of the cards:
Advantage Cards
Advantage cards will immediately trigger a beneficial event, or give your character some protective equipment.
Combat Cards
Combat cards will immediately trigger a beneficial event, or give your character some attacking equipment.
Oracle Cards
Combat cards allow you to find out information about other characters in the game.
Game play will start slowly with people trying to find Oracle cards, and secretly obtaining information on friends and foes. As the game progresses, alliances will form, and you will start attacking anyone and everyone that is not part of your coven. Oracle cards will become useless later in the game, as you will want the more powerful attacks and some protective gear.
The game continues until someone meets their win condition.
Likes, Dislikes and Final Thoughts
Likes
The game is simple to teach and simple to learn. The rule book is 24 pages, in full color, and teaches the game very well. The rulebook is long, but most of the pages are references to each character’s special powers. The books also explains the variety of Combat and Advantage cards. Once you learn the game, you won’t have to constantly look at the rulebook.
The game should only take about 30 minutes once you learn how to play. Expect Fangs to take 45 minutes to an hour for your first playthrough though.
The price is right. The game has a retail price of $19.95. For that you get a big deck of cards, a small scoreboard, dice and tokens.
Multiplayer! The game plays great with 5 to 8 players.
The game is genuinely fun to play. I like how the Combat and Advantage cards give the game a TCG feel at the end. Those cards can be very powerful.
The game box is small and portable. The box is easy to take on trips and to parties.
Dislikes
I miss the bigger game board that came with the original Shadow Hunters. Eliminating the game board kept costs down, and increased portability. But I still think the original board had a coolness to it. I would love a Fangs playmat.
I am not really fond of the art style of the character cards. The character cards have a Harlequin Romance Cover look to them. That is not really my cup of tea, but it may be yours.
Player Elimination. Once you are eliminated, you are out of the game. But, the game plays so fast, that it is still fun to watch until the end.
Bad Luck. There is some luck in this game. The dice will determine where you move, and if you are allowed to attack. And some players will get fantastic equipment while others will not.
Final Thoughts on Fangs.
My favorite Social Deduction / Party game has always been Bang! The Dice Game. And Fangs is right up there with Bang! The Combat, Oracle and Advantage cards makes this more fun than a typical social deduction game.
I like how the game starts off slow with everyone feeling each other out, and trying to determine identities. You don’t want to attack anyone early, only to find out that person is actually on your side. But then again, the odds are that more players are enemies, so why not attack early? The end of the game basically turns into a fight frenzy with players hoping to attack, and eliminate their enemies.
Fangs is available from Amazon.
Fangs is fairly inexpensive and portable, making this a fantastic game to take to Social Gatherings with people who are up for a quick game!