Kickstarter Tabletop Alert: ‘Gold Heist’

Will you stick it out for a bigger payout, or bank your stash to keep it safe?

What Is Gold Heist?

Gold Heist is a press-your-luck dice game for 2 to 8 players, ages 5 and up, and takes about 45 minutes to play. It’s currently seeking funding on Kickstarter, with a pledge level of $25 for a copy of the game. (There are additional tiers for a handmade edition of the game, as well as a deluxe edition that accommodates up to 12 players.) The base game is for up to 8 players, though if you have your own system of recording a balance, you can easily add more players.
Gold Heist was designed and published by Eldon Harris.
New to Kickstarter? Check out our crowdfunding primer.

Gold Heist components. (Prototype shown) Photo: Jonathan H. Liu

Gold Heist Components

Note: My review is based on a prototype copy, so it is subject to change and may not reflect final component quality.
Here’s what comes in the bag:
— 8 Dry-erase markers
— 8 Deposit Slip cards
— 2 Custom dice
— 12 Gold bars
— 20 $100 stacks
— 10 $50 stacks
— 13 $20 stacks
— 2 Dice Reference cards
The whole thing comes in a large cloth bag.

The tiny gold bar. (Prototype shown) Photo: Jonathan H. Liu
The components are a treat — little tiny gold bars etched with text so fine that I had to take off glasses and squint at them to read it. You get a dozen of these little things, and the real metal gives them a deluxe feel.
The stacks of cash are also really cute — the bills are stiff cardstock so they’re not bendy, but each one is a little stack wrapped with a bit of tape. I imagine this prototype was a bear to assemble, but the result is effective, and a definite upgrade from simple tokens or individual bills.

The two dice are not identical. (Prototype shown) Photo: Jonathan H. Liu
The custom dice are printed with various things — the three different denominations and gold bars, revolvers, and dynamite. The two dice are very slightly different: only one has dynamite, and the other has an additional “100” in its place.

Mark your earnings and track which round it is on your deposit slip. (Prototype shown) Photo: Jonathan H. Liu
The deposit slip is a simple card for you to track the game progress and record your earnings using a dry-erase marker.

How to Play Gold Heist

The Goal
The goal of the game is to amass the most money in ten rounds.

Cash and gold. (Prototype shown) Photo: Jonathan H. Liu
Setup
Give each player a deposit slip and a marker. Set the currency in a bank nearby. Choose a starting player and give them the dice.
Leave room for a center pile separate from the bank, as well as a personal stash in front of each player.
Gameplay
On your turn, you roll the dice and follow the results. For the first 3 turns of each round, the center pile cannot be blown up with dynamite, and players may not withdraw.
— Both currency: add the corresponding amount from the bank to the center pile
— Revolver + currency: Steal the corresponding amount from the bank to your personal stash
— Both revolvers: Steal all the currency from every player’s personal stash and add it to your own
— Dynamite + revolver: Steal the center pile and add it to your personal stash
— Dynamite + currency: Blow up the center pile; the round ends
After the third “safe” roll of the round, players may call “Withdraw” before any player’s roll.
When you withdraw, you add the amount from your personal stash and the amount in the center pile, and record that on your deposit slip, and then turn your deposit slip face-down. Return your personal stash to the bank, but leave the center pile. You will no longer take turns for this round.
The round will end either when every player has withdrawn, or when the center pile has been blown up with dynamite. If the center pile blows up but nobody has withdrawn yet, restart the round. Also note that if the center pile blows up, personal stashes remain.
Game End
The game ends after 10 rounds. Whoever has the highest balance on their deposit slip wins the game!

All this could be yours! (Prototype shown) Photo: Jonathan H. Liu

Why You Should Play Gold Heist

Gold Heist tempts you with those shiny gold bars and stacks of cash, but watch out for that dynamite! On its face, it’s a pretty simple game: somebody rolls the dice, and then everyone decides whether to cash out or gamble that the pot will get a little bit bigger. Like many press-your-luck games, there’s a single point of decision: cash out or wait.
What’s different here is that the bulk of the cash is going into the center pile, which is shared by all players, and it could blow up at any moment (after the third roll, of course). There’s an almost 1 in 6 chance that it’ll blow up on any roll, but the majority of rolls will just keep adding to the pile. While you do have personal stashes, those are safe from the dynamite, and there’s only a 1 in 36 chance that a player will steal yours on any given roll. So the big question is: is the center pile big enough to withdraw, or will it get even bigger?
Since the center pile isn’t emptied when you withdraw, your decision doesn’t directly affect anyone else. Multiple people could withdraw, and they each get the full amount. But you’re betting against the next player rolling dynamite and zeroing out everything — better to get something than nothing, right? Except, inevitably, you withdraw and then you find that for whatever reason everyone is just rolling piles of currency instead of TNT, and you’re left on the outside, watching that center pile get bigger and bigger.
Staying in the action also gives you the chance to roll the dice yourself, which has a 1 in 36 chance of stealing the whole center pile for yourself. I’ve seen it happen with enough of a pile to basically secure the win, but occasionally it has happened when there’s not much in the center as well. Either way, it’s a possibility of clearing out the center for everyone else, making them more likely to stick around for the dynamite, while you head to your vault with your ill-gotten gains.
Okay, real talk here: the Kickstarter campaign for Gold Heist is kind of bare-bones page and Eldon Harris didn’t manage to get any reviews lined up before launch, so the campaign is floundering a bit, with only about 2 weeks to go. On the other hand, his goal is set at $10,000 — not an overwhelming amount, compared to a lot of campaigns these days, and I think $25 is a decent deal for the cool components and an uproarious game for up to 8 players. Will he make it across the finish line in time? Well, maybe it’s a long shot, but it’s the sort of bet that keeps me hanging in there, hoping I’ll roll a dynamite + revolver when it comes around to my turn. It can happen, I say, even as I acknowledge that I’ve blown up the whole pot on my last four turns rolling the dice. But, hey, you’ve got nothing to lose: if the campaign doesn’t hit its funding goal, you don’t get charged anything anyway, so if you’re looking for a fun little game about getting rich quick, go take a look at Gold Heist!
For more information or to make a pledge, visit the Gold Heist Kickstarter page!
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Disclosure: GeekDad received a prototype of this game for review purposes.