The Gang: Cooperative Poker Card Game | Thames & Kosmos

Awesome game - takes a few minutes to learn (less if people are already familiar with poker) & is pretty quick to play (5-10mins) so good filler game or if you don't have time for a meatier game. Small box so doesn't take up much shelf space & cheap for what it is. Highly recommend.

Fantastic game. Users need to know texts holdem poker. There is a new bling version out

Great fun game. Really simple to teach. In fact, it's better suited to a non-gamer who knows poker than a regular board gamer who doesn't. So very accessible. Components are nice, though you really can just play the basic version with a pack of cards and something to denote which rank each player is claiming (we used a load of dice). Is worth buying because you get extra cards that add variants. These are good for adjusting the difficulty (if you get too good at it). It works great at all player counts, but is pretty difficult with 6. That's a nice challenge though.

Plays best with 4 or 5 players for maximum enjoyment and some slight bending of the rules to have a few questions and debate, whilst sticking to the theme of not revealing your scoring hand. Beautiful box art, good quality components with actual poker chips, which feels much nicer than cardboard pieces. It'd be incredibly easy to make your own version of this for the basic rule set, so it's nice to see high quality pieces that add to the overall enjoyment and give it value for money. Sadly no insert in the box though, but this does keep the box nice and compact. Once you've played a few rounds, particularly if you play with the same group, there are additional cards and rules that increase the complexity of the game. A love of card games in general, and the scoring hands, is helpful to enjoy this, but not necessarily needed.

I found out about this game while playing it with a group of strangers at a board game festival, and bought it there and then! An absolutely great take on poker, making it collaborative and absolutely a game I want to play again and again. It is quick to set up and to understand, and I could play it all night!

Lots of fun and a great introduction to poker. It’s a collaborative game rather than a competitive game, so it brings you together. The setup and the time to learn isn’t hard and yet the game can be made more complex as you develop your understanding. We bought it as a family Christmas present to ourselves and have really enjoyed playing it. Contains cards and poker chips, and the instruction booklet is really clear and easy to read through and reference. I recommend you consider adding this as a bit of a catch all game. Small, so good for travelling, and also one which can live on your shelf at home.

I’ve played this game with like 6 different groups of people. EVERY SINGLE ONE has text me after asking for a link and have purchased it themselves.

Big hit with the family. Kids and adult working together. Fun game to play together as a team

The Gang by Thames & Kosmos offers a refreshing take on traditional poker by turning it into a co‑operative strategy game where players work together instead of competing. It’s easy to pick up, making it great for families and casual players, while still requiring teamwork, communication, and deduction to succeed. The gameplay is engaging and encourages group interaction, making it ideal for game nights. However, players expecting classic competitive poker may find it unconventional, and replayability can depend on group dynamics. Additionally, some may find the strategy lighter compared to more complex board games. Overall, it’s a fun, social game best suited for players who enjoy collaboration over competition.

I hate playing most group card games, especially poker. I don’t like having to keep track of all my potential hands, I don’t like betting, I don’t really like the bluffing or guessing what cards other people could have aspect, and I don’t like how insane it makes some people. It can be like monopoly with betting. My husband played this game with friends and fell in love with it. So much so he immediately ordered it on prime just so he could have it in time to play the game with our in-laws two days later. They of course loved it. I was very hesitant but quickly grew to enjoy it. Unlike traditional texas hold em, this game is cooperative, not competitive. We win together or lose together. And even if we lose, we gain an advantage card in the next round which can make it easier. Similarly, if you win, you receive a disadvantage in the next round which makes the game harder. If the group wins three times, they’ve won the game. But sometimes we just played extra rounds for fun. Each round you are dealt your 2 cards and make an initial “bet” on where you think your hand would rank among the group with 1 star being the worst hand and up to 6 stars (depending on the number of players) being the best. People can steal or pick chips until they agree with the ranking. After the flop you re-evaluate your hand or potential hand and pick star chips again until the group agrees with ranking. After the turn card is dealt you pick chips again, hopefully getting closer to a correct ranking. Finally the river card is dealt and everyone knows their final best hand and you pick chips one last time. You then all reveal your hands and figure out the rankings. If it matches the order of the star chips the group wins. If the ranking is wrong, everyone loses. Figuring out the ranking and communicating to the group where you think your hand ranks is fun. Each person gets an instructions card and a card with the list of poker hand rankings, so you can constantly check without help at every step of the game. It makes the game easier to pick up, even if you never play poker. While initial bets can go fairly fast, the final red chip bets have friendly tension with trying to get the ranking right. Each round took about ten minutes, with the entire game keeping the group engaged for around an hour. The cards have beautiful artwork, which unfortunately left us a bit sad when the playing cards got a little bent from shuffling. If your shuffling is subpar and you want to preserve the cards, maybe invest in an automatic shuffler or use another standard deck of cards. The chips feel weighty and look nicer than the ones in other poker sets. I have heard that there’s an expansion pack so that you can play with more than six players. If so, this would be more ideal than trying to use other regular poker chips like we tried. Fun game! Five stars!

Excellente value. Can be used to introduce Poker for people who don’t know how to play. Or poker player who wants to play cooperative. I think more for non poker players who will prefer Poker. A quick game.

Es un juego divertido y rápido. Fue un regalo que disfrutamos todos.

Version anglaise