Murder for fun and profit... well maybe not profit
Written: Mar 05 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Excellent value. Deviously fun
Cons: The quality of the pieces isn't the greatest
The Bottom Line: Kill Doctor Lucky is a fun game. I would recommend visiting www.cheapass.com or going to your local hobby shop and picking up a copy for your next game night
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| Jude29's Full Review: Kill Doctor Lucky |
Kill Doctor Lucky, you have to admit it's an intriguing name for a game. It also has an intriguing premise, you want Doctor Lucky dead. So does everyone else for that matter. Kill Doctor Lucky in it's most basic form is a murder mystery game in reverse, where all the players race to be the first to kill Dr. Lucky, without any witnesses.
Kill Doctor Lucky is produced by Cheapass Games. Cheapass Games isn't just a clever name either, all of their games sell for under $15. The way they keep the prices so low, is by only providing what you absolutely need for the game and can't provide for yourself. In the case of Kill Doctor Lucky, you get the game board, made up of eight cards, game instructions, and cards used to play the game (to be described later). What you will need to provide is one pawn for each player and a distinctive piece to represent Dr. Lucky. In other Cheapass products you may need to provide money, dice, or any other items commonly used in games.
You and your friends gather in the foyer of Dr. Luckys sprawling mansion, each with murder most foul in your hearts and minds. None you know the others goal though, so you must commit the homicide away from the prying eyes of you fellow players. Dr. Luckys mansion is large, eight pieces of card stock link to form a map of many rooms, hallways, and stairways. Some of these rooms are numbered, these numbered rooms represent Dr. Luckys path through the house. You also move around the house, but you only get to move to one adjacent room, hallway, or staircase during your turn. During your turn you may also do one of two thing besides move. You can "snoop" which means to draw one of the special cards. The cards are of four types, Weapons, Movement, Room, and Failures. Weapon cards, aid in your assault on the Dr. raising your chance to off the old man. Certain weapons work better in certain rooms, it's easier to kill Dr. Lucky in the Armory with the Civil War Canon, than it is to use the same weapon in the Master Bedroom. Movement cards allow you to move yourself or Dr. Lucky from one to three spaces. Room cards let you move either yourself or your victim to a prescribed room. Failure cards are the most important, they are what allow you to thwart the other player murderous attempts. Failure attempt rank from one to three. When another player attempts to off the dear Dr. you and the other player must play Failures that exceed the power of the weapon used. Failure attempt also do not get reshuffled back into the deck when the draw pile is empty, so it's a good idea to attempt to kill Dr. Lucky even when you don't have a weapon. "Poking his eye out", counts as a one point weapon and still gets failures out of your opponents hand. The other thing you can do during your turn besides "snoop" is "do something". The "do something" option usually entails making an attempt on the Dr.s life, though that doesn't have to be the case. You can also use any of the cards in your hand to preempt one of your opponents attempts or to set yourself up a few turns later.
I really enjoy this game, but some people may not like the "screw your neighbor" feel of the game. The game is fairly simple to learn, but contains quite a bit of strategy. E.g. When the guy on your right plays a four damage weapon do you play the one AND the three failure you're holding to end his attempt, or do you play the three and let the guy on your left take the last point, OR do you play the one, and hope the people on your left have three points in their hands to end his attempt, there by getting rid of more failures for your further attempts.
The only complaint I could make about this game is the quality of the pieces. I am on my second copy of the game, because it doesn't stand up to heavy play. On the other hand if it was on a glossy heavy duty board like Monopoly, it would't cost $7.50.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 7.50
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Epinions.com ID:
Jude29
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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