Game: 13 Dead End Drive

Thread: Re: Out Wit, Out Last and Out Play...the game of 13 Dead End Drive

kevintlee — 2008-11-20T17:29:15+00:00

anonymus123456789 wrote:
I am missing some cards. Since you have all 29 Trap Cards, could you post a list of them, so I can make some replacement ones. Thank you.

I'll see what I can do anonymus anonymus.

You don't have to be ashamed of the geek. Let your closet game player out.

Thread: Re: Out Wit, Out Last and Out Play...the game of 13 Dead End Drive

anonymus123456789 — 2008-11-17T22:04:29+00:00

I am missing some cards. Since you have all 29 Trap Cards, could you post a list of them, so I can make some replacement ones. Thank you.

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jsper — 2008-11-09T12:33:18+00:00

Spanish edition of game by MB

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kevintlee — 2008-10-24T15:25:21+00:00

last character bio

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kevintlee — 2008-10-22T20:21:56+00:00

Character Bios

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kevintlee — 2008-10-22T20:21:31+00:00

Character Bios

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kevintlee — 2008-10-22T20:21:05+00:00

Aunt Agatha Bio

Thread: Re: Out Wit, Out Last and Out Play...the game of 13 Dead End Drive

DurTahar — 2008-10-21T01:12:20+00:00

I used to have this game as a child, my brother and I played it all the time. This is definitely one I need to find a copy of again, especially after reading this. Thanks for reminding me how dang fun this game is!

Thread: Out Wit, Out Last and Out Play...the game of 13 Dead End Drive

kevintlee — 2008-10-20T02:15:03+00:00

I picked this game up at a Goodwill for $3.99 not knowing if it even included all the pieces.

I was thrilled to put the board together to discover not only that not a single piece was missing but that the GAME ROCKS.

It has a delightful mixture of familiar games like the feel of a Clue board with some of the tretury of Fearsome Floors and the props to "knock-off" your opponents are absolutely fun.

With three players each of us started (secretly) with 4 of the 12 characters. I quickly darted The Maid to the front door in case her portrait shown above the mantle for a quick exit.

Surprisingly she wasn't moved for the majority of the game but of course her portrait wasn't uncovered until after she was about 10 spaces away from the door and then she was quickly killed.

My other key character, The Friend, I took to the bookcase in hopes of stacking my hand with handy trap cards and keeping her on the skull in safety. My wife thought that she belonged to my sister the whole game thinking I kept trying to do her in but was failing miserably. (ah ah ah)

The inevitable came to pass before long. Each of us was left with only one character and it seemed useless to try for the door any longer. The plot quickened like a bowl of oatmeal left sitting on the counter. We began the push to one skull over the other as we all landed on skull after skull only to find out that my stockpile of trap cards all but assured my victory. Still I had to dodge about 3 random picks of the cards to take the last opponent out.

Who won you say? Lulu made her way out with the loot only after doing away with 11 of Aunt Agatha's closest employees and friends.

------

This game has awesome components and a great story line. Drawing the cards does give it a healthy dose of luck but you can stack the odds with a winning strategy. I recommend the game and now having played it would have gladly paid $15-$20 for it.

PS- it would also make a great gift for kids 8-12

Thread: Re: Kill the Cat!

EndersGame — 2008-10-14T20:49:17+00:00

Good review! Kill the cat? I say burn it! Here's the image you need:

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http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/96632

Twisted joke of the day:
Q. How do you make a cat bark?
A. Soak it with gasoline, throw it into the fire, and it will ignite with a "woof"!

Thread: Kill the Cat!

Friendless — 2008-10-14T07:10:46+00:00

13 Deadend Drive is a kids' game in the American style - cool bits, strong theme, and a box that's way too big. However it succeeds admirably in all these respects, and is a favourite with the kids I play with.

The plot of the game is that rich Aunt Agatha has passed away and her former employees are vying to inherit her money. It's not clear to me whose Aunt she is, as she has no living relatives, but I guess rich people can afford to be a little bit crazy. Anyway, Agatha has decreed that the inheritor shall be her favourite person (well, I guess she said "favorite") whose portrait is hanging on the wall over her fireplace. So now the employees are working to ensure that it's THEIR portrait over the fireplace when the detective arrives. Why is there a detective coming if there have been no murders? Yet!

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/265148

The game board is a very cool 3-D affair, with stairs, a bookcase, a chandelier, and of course the portrait above the fireplace. Characters are represented by cardboard stand-ups, and a deck of cards is placed off to the side. Situated around the house are five traps - a dangerous stair case, a toppling suit of armour, a falling chandelier, a falling bookcase and a fireplace it's easy to fall into. These are typical Scooby Doo props and suit the theme very nicely.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/96634

The characters are the sort of hangers-on you'd expect a rich old woman to have - a butler, a chauffeur, a fortune teller, a gardener, and of course, the cat, Poopsie. There are 12 characters who are divided evenly amongst the 2 to 4 players, so each player has multiple characters. Which players have which characters is a secret! If there are only 2 players, each player has 4 characters which are known to him and 2 characters which are hidden from everybody - so you still don't have perfect information about who's who.

On your turn you roll 2 dice and you move any 2 characters. There's a rule that all characters must have left the table before any character can be moved twice (or onto a trap), so all characters must be moved. I like to move my characters so they're stuck behind someone else and can't get very far, and I like to move other people's characters to within range of a trap. The temptation for the kids to try to kill someone is too great...

If you roll doubles, you're allowed to move the one character twice. You also MAY change the portrait above the fireplace. This is done by a quite nice mechanic - the portrait holder already contains 12 portraits in random order. You simply take the front one and place it at the back, so revealing a new random character. If that character is dead the portrait is removed from the game. Doubles are an opportunity for a quick win - if a character can escape through the front door while their portrait is above the fireplace, they win straight away. That usually results in nobody being allowed to get too close to the front door!

The fun bit of the game is, of course, the traps. When you move a character to a trap space, IF you play a matching trap card from your hand, you get to spring the trap and the character is dead. However, if you can't, or choose not to, play a matching trap card, you draw a card from the deck. These are mostly trap cards, but some are detective cards which cause the detective to move one step closer to the front door (he's on the outside, of course). When he gets to the door, the game's over. Springing the trap involves pushing on the appropriate spot which causes something to fall over and the character stand-up inevitably gets knocked over - like Mouse Trap but less frustrating.

The final way to win is to be the last character left standing, which is fairly likely if your kids are a bunch of bloodthirsty little Agatha Christie wannabes like mine... in fact it's not really clear whether the kids are playing to win or just to maximise the body count. And who cares, anyway?

The title of this review comes from a trick I played once. The characters are all given short biographies, and they all look capable of murder, so it's easy to dislike them. One tactic you can use as an adult is to demonise various characters (that aren't yours) so the kids want them dead. Cats don't get much love in our dog-owning household, so in one game I started a chant of "KILL THE CAT! KILL THE CAT!" and pretty soon all four of us were chanting and moving the cat to a grisly end. Only after the cat was dead did one of the kids mention "Aww... that was mine...". Age and treachery will always win over youth .

Anyway, this is a fun game. It's probably suitable for kids from a smart 4 year old to a murderous 12 year old, and is interesting enough for wicked parents and grandparents to play along. It's out of print and has been superceded by 1313 Dead End Drive which I have no experience with. If you see it up for trade or at a thrift store, be sure to grab a copy and KILL THE CAT!

P.S. Please thank the submitters of the images by giving them thumbs.

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aquarian — 2008-06-29T22:51:02+00:00

Kalmankuja 13

Thread: Re: only 4 players?

Jatoha — 2008-05-28T15:42:20+00:00

My family plays this with five players regularly and it works great. We leave two random identities out. That makes it that much harder to decide who everyone is which is great when it gets down to the last two people. I think I like it best with five for this reason.

Thread: Re: Any variants or improvements to this good game?

ZMeston — 2008-04-07T17:18:56+00:00

Great variants -- and I hate most unofficial variants, so take that as the highest compliment. I just picked this up at a local thrift for $2, and I'll be using these variants from the first play onward. Thanks much!

Thread: Re: User Review

LarryKruger — 2008-04-07T04:52:33+00:00

Played twice tonight after picking up a copy at Goodwill for $2.00. The kids and I really enjoyed this game. It plays fast, and has enough going on to prevent it from becoming tedious. For both of these reasons alone, it is better than Monopoly.

Thread: Re: User Review

adamgrapefruit — 2008-04-01T11:18:12+00:00

I'm with quozl on this one - 13 Dead End Drive is fun, which is entirely the point...Remember fun? Sure, if you're looking for deep strategy you won't find it here, but if you're looking for a jolly game to play after a few beers (and with a few beers) at the end of the night, this is always a success. Sorry, but Monopoly is one of the most tedious games ever invented, and never in a million years is it better than this.

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VikingFury — 2008-02-03T18:05:37+00:00

Norwegian boxfront

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VikingFury — 2008-02-02T22:08:12+00:00

The back of the norwegian box.

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VikingFury — 2008-02-02T21:59:51+00:00

The dice used in the game. Counts 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5.

Thread: Re: User Review

quozl — 2007-11-28T20:04:25+00:00

Elvisx wrote:
RCTurner wrote:
Even Monopoly is better than this game.

Ouch! Really?

No, not really.

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dagibbs — 2007-11-26T05:21:15+00:00

Canadian (bilingual English/French) edition box.

Thread: Re: User Review

Elvisx — 2007-05-24T17:06:08+00:00

RCTurner wrote:
Even Monopoly is better than this game.

Ouch! Really?

Thread: Re: User Review

RCTurner — 2007-04-16T10:01:42+00:00

"I highly recommend it"

Hmmm - what can one say in reply to such a statement. Kids will love this, but if you are looking for a game with even a small amount of skill in, then this is not the game for you.

Even Monopoly is better than this game.

Thread: Re: Any variants or improvements to this good game?

railroader — 2006-08-13T11:02:09+00:00

Good variant ideas.
We too couldn't nuderstand why it is limited to 4 players, when 5 or 6 is perfectly possible. although it's a lot harder to escape if for every tun you get to move towards the door, 5 others get to move you towards a trap and change the portrait...

The 'innocent' character idea with 3 (or 5) players is great... makes you try to work out who is who BEFORE you start the killing. Our games tend to be a die-fest (die as in death, not die as in dice) as everyone herds everyone else's characters to the traps, and last man standing wins... not a game of skill/bluffing at all, butluck: if your characters get lucky when other players take them to gthe traps but draw the wrong cards.

And why not some sort of 'Shanghai trader' victory condition: anyone can move out of the house at any time. All those who leave jointly win if the detective arrives at the door... [this is not fully thought out or tried, but an idea I've just had].

Thread: Re: only 4 players?

nerman8r — 2005-08-26T03:08:46+00:00

I think I've played it with more, but people can get eliminated quite quickly. If players don't mind waiting, then go for it.

Thread: User Review

quozl — 2004-12-03T18:43:18+00:00

13 Dead End Drive is a nice simple game that is a lot of fun. Each player is dealt an equal portion of the suspects in the murder of Aunt Agatha. These cards are kept secret. A identical set of cards is shuffled and set behind Aunt Agatha's card in the picture frame. The game then starts when Aunt Agatha's card is taken out of the frame and placed facedown on the couch. The revealed card is now the heir to Aunt Agatha's fortune!

Now, each player rolls the dice and may move any one or two pieces the numbers shown on the dice. If doubles are rolled, the picture showing is moved to the back and a new heir is revealed! If a piece is moved to one of the special locations, a card is drawn. If the card matches that location, the piece is killed and the card is removed when it comes up. If the card is a police officer, the officer's piece moves forward.

To win the game, you must have the card for the piece whose picture is showing when that piece makes it out the door or when the police officer arrives.

This is a similar game to Heimlich & Co with a bit less strategy but is usually considered more fun by those who aren't strategy gamers. The rules are as simple as can be and it's a lot of fun killing off everybody. I highly recommend it.

Thread: Any variants or improvements to this good game?

fmoros — 2004-02-08T12:39:39+00:00

I had this game for a year or so, finally i played with a couple of 16 years old boys. It was fun. Allows for some strategy or bluffing, and i like that there are different ways of winning. Adding a few house rules the game worked very well for the first time.

I agree with John (eyeofnight), this is a game that has good elements, specially if compared with other MB games, but unfortunately is merely regarded as a toy or a children game.
OK, you need an Engineering degree to set up the game... but once is set up it looks great.. and to operate the traps is an additional spice of the game, they dont actually play any major part on the game itself. I mean, the victim is out of the game anyway, it is not a dexterity game or luck game as you would expect. But the traps.... specially the fireplace are great fun, and a magnet for youngsters.

Good aspects of the game:
1) I found very good elements on the game , like the secrecy and bluffing aspects about who owns who. Like the 3 different winning ways, and the fact that putting a pawn under fire not necessarily means the guy is dead... it has many chances to die.. but also many to survive (on my first game my Butler survive to 4 attempts of murder), what is more, if a pawn is unsuccesfully attacked (that is left in a danger space) it is left in a relatively safe situation, at least for a while.

You can still think, well what is the big deal with the bluffing aspect, just kill anybody who does not belong to you not matter who belongs to, so where is the interest for the bluffing? That is right, so we introduce the following variants on our game:
*any spare characters that are left apart, that is 3 on a game of 3 players, are innocent people and any player killing lets say 2 of those innocent people are out of the game.... that makes you think twice before you put a pawn under fire, specially if you have already killed one innocent guy. If you like this idea, you can always leave 4 innocent on a game of 4 people and deal 2 characteres per player.

*I still dont understand why the rules say only 4 people can play maximum, i think this game can be played by any number of people. Ideally up to 6, so each player has 2 characters, that is 2 lifes.

*Some players seem to think that when detective arrives to the house the game is over without winner.. this game even is listed on the list of games without winner... why?
the rules says, that when the detective arrives to the door, the portrait on the wall decides for the winner. That is a way of winning the game we should not discard, I think.
I respect that end, but to make things less complicated for first time and more easy to remember, we decided when the detective arrives to the door, *whoever has more surviving pawns is the winner (instead of the pawn portrayed on the wall at that time), in that way it does matter what pawns you want to kill, the ones of the person that has more survivors*

**What I do not understand of the rules is this "If the trap cards are finished, shuffle the discard pile "... how can you run out of trap cards? there are 10 detective cards, so that means the detective will be at the door before or at the same time the trap cards finish, therefore game is over.... right?

Finally, I recommend to keep the character cards (the ones you deal to players) inside card protectors, so they dont get any marks.

Pls, write your comments. thank you !!

Thread: Reinner Table to Door Skedaddle

fmoros — 2004-02-08T12:10:52+00:00

AlanMorillo (#4769),
Hi, Alan, and all 13 dead end players,

I had this game for a year or so, finally i played with a couple of 16 years old boys. It was fun. Allows for some strategy or bluffing, and i like that there are different ways of winning. Adding a few house rules the game worked very well for the first time.

I would like to see comments of other players and ideas, like yours Al.
Regarding your comment, Al, I need you to tell me, how can you reach the door from a chair... if the maximum number on dice is 10, that is not enough to reach the exit?

Thread: only 4 players?

fmoros — 2003-07-06T16:34:29+00:00

why only up to 4 players?

I have not played it yet... but it could be played by 6 people too, yes?
12 would be too much....

Thread: Dinner Table to Door Skedaddle

AlanMorillo — 2002-12-10T17:20:31+00:00

This game is pretty cool,

My pet peeve is one place of the start 'dinner table' is set p-r-e-t-t-y close to the door, so that if that player's portrait comes up and he or she can leave the house that same turn (and basically win the game!)

This is what I did, and it was the shortest game ever!

So, yeah, the typical beginning tactic is to get ALL the players the heck away from the door!