Game: 1313 Dead End Drive

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Meat — 2008-11-21T01:20:57+00:00

Try not to be boared

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Meat — 2008-06-05T03:24:49+00:00

Be wary of knight fall

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Meat — 2008-05-28T03:37:38+00:00

Beware the Pig in the Night

Thread: Re: 1313 Dead End Drive: A Light Review

1Wif — 2008-03-26T02:21:11+00:00

I'm also a fan of the shorter review. If I'm reading several reviews to get a feel for a game before purchasing, I don't need to read the same rules again and again. I prefer to see what the variable opinions are.

Thread: Re: 1313 Dead End Drive: A Light Review

FASAfan — 2008-03-02T05:44:47+00:00

Actually, I rather enjoyed this "capsule review", as I didn't have to wade through yet another wordy review. I'd like to see more of this type of review at BBG. Full and capsule reviews definitely have their place.

Great job, Mark!

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josephc4 — 2008-02-23T18:37:11+00:00

Playing at a Halloween party. Some are dressed up.

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josephc4 — 2008-02-23T18:35:43+00:00

The winner.

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josephc4 — 2008-02-23T18:32:35+00:00

Thread: Re: Review: Kill, kill, kill!

matt71 — 2008-02-23T05:46:40+00:00

Thanks for the compliment Heather. I'm glad that you found the review informative as well as entertaining.

I think this game is out of print but you can always check Ebay. If you buy a copy, post back here and let me know what you thought of the game.

Thread: Re: Review: Kill, kill, kill!

Faekitty — 2008-02-17T21:49:32+00:00

"Or the fat lady takes a header down the stairs."
I am serious this made me laugh like crazy. I've wanted this board game ever since I first saw the commercials on tv for it like.. 4-5 years ago, and I'm a 22 y/o woman! It's nuts, but it's definitely the sort of game I would have so now I absolutely must have it.
Thanks for your informative review!

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kilroy_locke — 2007-10-17T04:40:25+00:00

Dusty "cleans up"!

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kilroy_locke — 2007-10-17T04:39:45+00:00

Board set-up to start the game

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kilroy_locke — 2007-10-17T04:38:58+00:00

Gathered around the table to read the will.

Thread: Re: 1313 Dead End Drive: A Light Review

McGrim — 2007-10-02T21:59:33+00:00

reapersaurus wrote:
Too light of review.
Read a couple of the other reviews for this game.
Especially Matt71's.

If you add more to your reviews, you will provide a better resource to BGG'ers who want to know more about the game. Especially comparisons to other games in its genre.
Thanks for the tips. I'm pretty new to the reviews, so I'll have to keep those in mind.

Thread: Re: 1313 Dead End Drive: A Light Review

reapersaurus — 2007-10-02T07:51:35+00:00

Too light of review.
Read a couple of the other reviews for this game.
Especially Matt71's.

If you add more to your reviews, you will provide a better resource to BGG'ers who want to know more about the game. Especially comparisons to other games in its genre.

Thread: 1313 Dead End Drive: A Light Review

McGrim — 2007-10-02T02:43:02+00:00

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Objective:
In 1313 Dead End Drive, you take control of a small portion of the twenty-or-so (un)lucky heirs to Aunt Agatha's will. You try to get your greedy little hands on as much money as you can before you meet your untimely death or the clock strikes midnight.

Play:
In order to get money, you must kill the other people in the mansion and steal theirs! To do this, you make use of the 5 traps located around the board. These include the stairs, the boar's head, the fireplace, the safe, and the suit of armor. Kids will have a blast triggering the traps and watching their opponent's expression as their heir is crushed by the skull of a massive boar. There are plenty of pawns, so many of there will be plenty of opportunities to spring your favourite trap! The players are constantly in a struggle to try to keep their pawns away from the various hazards. The game-play is easy to pick up and you should be able to get going in no time; if you've already set up the board, that is.

Components:
The game comes with the various traps (which are made out of plastic/cardboard), cards, the pawns, money tokens, and Aunt Agatha's will. When you open up the box for the first time, you will probably appreciate the artwork. It is fairly cartoony and looks great. Now, probably one of the worst parts of the game are the traps. This is because of the amount of time that you'll spend assembling them, namely the back wall. After several plays, you'll notice that the cardboard is starting to take a beating. Other than that, the components are fine!

1313 Dead End drive is a great game, although it might lose some of it's charm after you've played it several times.

Pros:
-A joy to spring traps on unsuspecting opponents
-Great art-style
-Easy to pick up; kids can understand the rules easily

Cons:
-Components take a beating after several plays
-Might lose some of it's charm after a couple games

Thread: Re: Could someone scan the rules?

Agyar900 — 2007-08-01T02:18:01+00:00

Thanks...got them

Thread: Re: Could someone scan the rules?

CinMel — 2007-07-31T14:41:39+00:00

btravis72 wrote:
CinMel wrote:
Now why didn't I think of that...going to the website for the rules... I scanned all the pages in PDF format, but can't for the life of me figure out how to link them all to one file instead of separate files for each page... I even went as far as copying the pages as a GIF... but that didn't work out either, can't link them all in one file...

You need to have the full version of Acrobat. Open the first page then click on Document -> Insert Pages and add each subsequent picture/document as a new page. When you've added them all click Save or Save As... and save the file.

Thank you Bill... yes I have the full version of Acrobat, thanks again for the instructions on how to do it... now, I'm off to give it a try...

Thread: Re: Could someone scan the rules?

btravis72 — 2007-07-31T12:54:48+00:00

CinMel wrote:
Now why didn't I think of that...going to the website for the rules... I scanned all the pages in PDF format, but can't for the life of me figure out how to link them all to one file instead of separate files for each page... I even went as far as copying the pages as a GIF... but that didn't work out either, can't link them all in one file...

You need to have the full version of Acrobat. Open the first page then click on Document -> Insert Pages and add each subsequent picture/document as a new page. When you've added them all click Save or Save As... and save the file.

Thread: Re: Could someone scan the rules?

CinMel — 2007-07-31T04:17:44+00:00

Now why didn't I think of that...going to the website for the rules... I scanned all the pages in PDF format, but can't for the life of me figure out how to link them all to one file instead of separate files for each page... I even went as far as copying the pages as a GIF... but that didn't work out either, can't link them all in one file...

Thread: Re: Could someone scan the rules?

Mike A — 2007-07-31T03:40:32+00:00

Hasbro is pretty good about having rules on their website for their games. It's really useful when you find them in thrift stores.

http://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/1313_Dead_End_Drive.pd...

Thread: Re: Could someone scan the rules?

btravis72 — 2007-07-31T02:18:34+00:00

I have the rules, but I need an email address I can send them to you. I can't find a way to do it through GeekMail.

Thread: Re: Could someone scan the rules?

CinMel — 2007-07-31T02:07:07+00:00

I'm scanning away for you... 12 pgs in all...

Thread: Could someone scan the rules?

Agyar900 — 2007-07-31T01:18:02+00:00

This was a thrift purchase and of course it didn't have rules. I would owe you one.

~bk

Thread: Re: Who gets the inheritance

IronMoss — 2007-03-05T02:24:25+00:00

We've always played that the "next heir in line" to which the money would fall has to be alive and also still be in the house.

Hope you enjoy the game - we've had a lot of fun with it. Good game that the kids can actually be fairly competitive without the adults "playing down". I'm a lifetime 0-5 against my 6 year old.

Thread: Re: Who gets the inheritance

steveoliverc — 2007-03-05T01:57:43+00:00

I'm not sure if there are multiple versions of the rules, but a pawn only collect its inheritance when it gets out of the mansion. That's the only way they can collect money. I take it to mean that a pawn can't get money any other way. So once it's out the door, it can no longer get any money. If money moves down on the inheritance chart, we move it to the next pawn still alive and in the mansion.

Thread: Who gets the inheritance

Tosus — 2007-03-04T23:10:12+00:00

Hi!
My family and I were playing this game, when we ran into a spot where the rules are really unclear. Whenever a pawn gets "bumped off", the rules state that the inheritance money on their space gets moved to the next "surviving token". However, it doesn't say whether that pawn needs to still be in the house. My impression is, based on the rest of the rules, that the pawn still needs to be in the house, and that seems to add more depth to the game than the alternative. However, flavor-wise, the opposite would seem to be true. Any clarifications or rulings? Is there a second edition of the game rules out there somewhere?

Thanks in advance!

Thread: Don’t let the cat out!

IronMoss — 2006-11-21T19:02:37+00:00

Background

1313 Dead End Drive had taken a little while off while I recovered from my last beating (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1072514#1072514). But after some soul searching, I felt I was ready to play my younger daughter (M3 – now 6) in search of the victory that I had never achieved in this game. My mind was focused. My strategy was clear – build a lead and show no mercy. The dice would be with me today, I was certain.

Grab an early lead

The initial draw of six would-be heirs gave me a good collection of insiders who knew the departed Aunt Agatha’s mansion well. The maid (Dusty), butler (Smothers), Agatha’s lazy sister (Lulu) and annoying nephew (Sedgewick), on-again/off-again Romeo (Beauregard III) and the flea trap (Pugsley) would all be in my employ to start the game.

First priority would be to eliminate Spritzy, who stands to inherit the biggest stack of money ($4M) when the game starts. Similarly, M3 would set her sights on Sedgewick, who would stand to gain if anything “unfortunate” happened to poor Spritzy.

My focus paid off early as Spritzy was gone in a flash – crushed under a heap of rusty armor. And with the fortune of a double 5 dice roll (enabling me to use both dice to move one character – rather than only one die per character), Sedgewick made a hasty exit out of the mansion with a cool $6M in tow. An early, sizeable lead was now mine. Just have to maintain focus.

An innocuous action card play?

The middle of the game was fraught with carnage. M3’s heirs were going fast. Charity succumb to the safe trap. Perkins and Parker fell on the same turn. Sassy went up in a blaze. Several of my minions also fared less-well than ol’ Sedgewick - Smothers and Lulu exited the premises in non-breathing condition.

Along the way, the action cards were going fast and furious. Several “Take a New Heir” cards came up, and we both exhausted the existing supply of unclaimed heirs in short-order. The last “Take a New Heir” card was played by M3, who had to pull one from my troops since there were no “free” heirs left to take. Poopsie, the cat, went from my hand to M3’s set of henchmen. No consequence I thought, since I never really cared for the spoiled fur-ball anyway.

By now, I had extended my lead to $7M by slipping Dusty out the front door. And with M3’s troops dwindling fast and Clay in imminent danger, I was in good shape.

Don’t let the cat out!

By sheer force of my will, I was taking this game and systematically making the moves to put it in the victory column. Clay and Pierre didn’t last long once I set my sights on them. And then Madam Astra found herself on the wrong end of a falling boar’s head trophy.

With Prudence and Beauregard III still in play for me and only Poopsie remaining for M3, I was holding a commanding presence over the game board. Beauregard III even had a sizeable lump of cash next to his name on the will – thanks to the untimely demise of so many other, obviously unworthy, heirs. When all of the sudden, it dawned on me . . . if something were to happen to that big, dumb oaf Beauregard III, all that money would fall to the cat, Poopsie.

But it was too late, Beauregard stepped in front of a speeding suit of armor, sending his “retirement plan” to the space next to Poopsie’s name on the ledger.

I had to smoosh the cat . . . or keep her detained until midnight. I ran the cat near the suit of armor twice, but couldn’t find the trigger (i.e., didn’t get the right action card). However, the action card pile was dwindling. Only one more action pile draw and the clock would strike midnight, sealing my first 1313 Dead End Drive victory.

Sadly, it was not to be. M3 broke out the “boxcars” – double 6s – and paired them up with a strategically played “Run for It” card . . . and the cat was out of the house . . . with $11M.

Finale

The clock would strike midnight on dear Prudence still stuck inside. I had lost $11M to $7M.

After M3 retired to the kitchen for a victory snack, I stayed behind to stare at the board and ponder the crushing last-second defeat I had just sustained. This one will stick with me for a long while.

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IronMoss — 2006-11-11T02:39:21+00:00

1313 Dead End Drive: The Suit of Armor

Thread: Lulu's dash for cash

IronMoss — 2006-09-11T03:21:18+00:00

The Backdrop: Younger daughter (“M3” – age 5) and I tangled in our third head-to-head match-up of 1313 Dead End Drive. Her mom helped her to victory in game 1. She defeated me 5 to 4 with no help in the second contest. Needless to say, looking down the barrel of a three-game losing streak is not a sight that I relish.

Strategy: M3, playing with a maturity well beyond her years, took the very straightforward strategy of prioritizing getting her people out of Agatha’s house with whatever inheritance that was due them. As opportunities present themselves, she will move opponent’s heirs into harms way. In sharp contrast, I will move opposing heirs to the house’s hazards at every opportunity – only occasionally helping my heirs towards the front door.

Early Play: Of the 6 heirs that I held in hand, I had drawn Spritzy from the top row of would-be heirs to Agatha’s fortune. Spritzy, however, is always a big target as the first heir in-line for several bags of money, and her evening came to an abrupt end early in the game – the victim of a heavy suit of armor collapse. The big pile of cash passed down the heir pecking order (as specified in the will) through Sedgewick and Dusty, who met similar unfortunate fates. The large sum now sat next to Parker’s name.

While all the remaining heirs had a portion of Agatha’s wealth earmarked for them, a large piece of Agatha’s fortune was now stacked on Parker and would have to pass through three more would-be heirs (Parker, Prudence and Lulu) before another one of my heirs would have a shot at that cash. Unfortunately, M3 held all three of these heirs in hand, and I’d have my work cut out for me to eliminate them from the game.

Critical Play: I managed to end Prudence’s night over at the fireplace and was starting to maneuver Parker and Lulu towards the unsafe safe. M3 rolled and managed to use her two movement allowances to get both Parker and Lulu a little closer to the exit. My subsequent roll landed Parker back on the safe trap, where she met her demise, and Lulu was moved a little closer to harm way. M3 then broke out the 1313 player’s best friend – the double sixes. [In 1313 Dead End Drive, you normally would have to use your two die rolls to move different characters; however, if you roll doubles, you can use the entire movement allowance on a single character.] With the 12 moves, M3 was able to hustle Lulu from the Vault room out the front door. M3 has historically not enjoyed having Lulu as an heir – citing the fact that her drawing looks like a man – but she was very pleased as Lulu’s haul in this game.

Playing out the Clock: I immediately focused on moving my heirs out of the house. Unfortunately, that strategy would turn out to be a futile attempt to catch up. We each pushed a few more folks over the front door threshold before the last heir met his fate and the game concluded.

Final Score: M3 – 14; Tim – 5 (the largest margin of victory in her three game winning streak)

Summary: 1313 Dead End Drive was a $1.00 pick-up at a Salvation Army Thrift Store while I was killing a little time on business travel. Fortunately, the game was in very good shape, with all pieces present. Given that we’ve had a good 5 plays out of it already, the game has clearly paid for itself.

While the game is definitely aimed as the younger gamers, it’s more than just a roll and move game. Some uncertainty will always exist as to who has what heir, so the potential for “bluffing” your opponents exists by moving your own heirs into harms way. You will also acquire cards that enable you to activate traps and/or perform other special actions during your turn. Figuring out how and when to play the cards also adds a “thinking” component to the game. And the final plus is that all of us enjoy smooshing the characters in the various house traps.

Thread: Re: Light, fun, brutal game

riledguy — 2006-03-28T19:20:55+00:00

Thanks for that tip also

Thread: Re: Light, fun, brutal game

Ice X — 2006-03-24T18:11:49+00:00

If you want some hyper-fun when you get Fearsome Floors, try playing with two monsters roaming around. It is brutally instense and usually comes down to the player who controls the last survivor, though if you win by escaping, the sigh of relief can be heard for miles.

Thread: Re: Light, fun, brutal game

riledguy — 2006-03-24T15:51:12+00:00

Thanks for the advice I had already put FF on my wishlist. It does look fun and next time I have some cash to spend on games FF will be one of them.

Thread: Re: Light, fun, brutal game

ridgebacks — 2006-03-23T23:58:05+00:00

Try Fearsome Floors. If you liked 1313 Dead End Drive. Same idea, with a twist. The monster chases you through the castle. You must get all your people out. The monster can go through walls, and you can move rocks, and slip on some blood. I just thought the time to set up 1313 DED was drawn out, and after playing it our board pieces were getting damaged. Now we have found this wonderful web site, and moved on to bigger and better games. The rating for 1313 DED does suit it rightly.

Thread: Light, fun, brutal game

riledguy — 2006-03-21T18:06:22+00:00

1313 Dead End Drive is a simple and fun game that can be pretty brutal

Play: The game is all about money and death. That is you have a crew of potential heirs who start the game with a million dollars each (except the first two). The first in the chain gets 4 million and the second gets 2 million. Each character after this gets 1 million. The reason the fist two get more is because since they are the first in line they have no way of getting any more money. They also end up being the first targeted by everyone. Depending on the number or players, you are dealt X number of people. Usually 6-4. You then want to stack your characters or at least one of them with as much money as you can by killing other characters. Each player takes a turn rolling two dice. They can then move two characters one for each die. On a roll of doubles you can more one character the total of the two. This is a huge advantage if you are trying to make a break for the door. You are able to move any character on the board not just your own. In order to kill off people you need to place them on a trap and activate it. To activate it you need to pick up cards, you do this by putting characters in harms way. Each time you land on a trap you draw a card. The cards include a "move any character to X room," "Wild card trap," "X Trap or traps," "Run for it (which lets you roll an additional die to move," and the best card "Draw heir." That last one lets you take an heir card from another player. So you kill folk to get the money to drop down the track to your characters then run them out of the house. When every one is out of the house or dead the game ends. Also if you reach the last card in the draw pile the game ends. The winner is the player with the most in total money.

Components:
The game is a mix of cardboard and plastic. The board and background as well as all the characters are cardboard. The traps are all plastic with the safe being plastic cardboard and a nice little metal piggie bank. There is some time with the set up though once you get used to it it is not that bad. Especially if you have more then one person getting it up. The art is really nice. The style and colors all work together to make a game that, though not too fancyjavascript:wrapSelection( document.MESSAGEFORM.body,'','');, is nice to look at. I like the fact that it is stylized and all the people are exaggerated caricatures. The cardboard is thick enough for them and they stand in little plastic holders that allow them to stand upright as is typical in many games. I would have like to have seen the characters done with a bit thicker stock. The rest of the pieces are decent and seem like they will stand the test of time well enough. The cards in the game of pretty cheap card stock but they are not getting abused too much so that is not a big deal.

Game:
Though targeted as a kids game it is fun for adults. Each game I played was enjoyed by all. It is a nice game for folks not to into games. So as stated by others 1313 Dead End Drive is a nice light gaming game. There is some strategy involved even though it is a light game, more strategy then luck I would say. A lot of it comes from throwing people off the trail of who you are and trying to lead them to heir A while B is making their way to the exit. It is fun but those easily frustrated you may want to stay clear of the game. The game is about killing and you can end up out of the game somewhat fast. One nice thing though is that even if you are out of the game you still play. You don't have any more characters on the board but you can still control everyone else's as you normally did during your turn. So you can work towards just killing off everyone who is left forcing all the remaining money to go to the pet shelter. This is a fun game and a nice way to kill some time with something light but pretty to look at.

Overall:

Thread: Review: Kill, kill, kill!

matt71 — 2006-03-04T08:21:43+00:00

Rank: 9

Objective:
Kill off your opponent’s pawns and take their Moneybag Tokens (Tokens) while trying to get your pawn(s) safely out of the mansion before the game ends. The player with the most Tokens at the end of the game wins. This game is for 2-4 players ages 8 and older.

The Bits:
The board is a dazzling display of colors and three-dimensional pieces that give a fun exciting mood to a game that is otherwise pretty morbid, but really fun to play. Think about it, a main part of the game is killing off your opponent’s pawns with various traps set up on the board. But because of the colors and cartoony look of the board and pawns, it’s more reminiscant of a stroll through Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory than a stroll through a house of booby traps.

All the traps are made of strong plastic. So, unless you get pissed off at the game and throw a piece across the room, or if 300 lbs. Aunt Martha sits on them, they won't break.

Setting up the board takes a little time. The wall at the back of the board is the most difficult. Don't get me wrong here; you don't have to be a rocket scientist to set it up. It's just a bit more difficult to set up than the rest of the pieces.

There are 16 Pawns that are made from thick card stock that depict light-hearted cartoon illustrations of various people. In general, I prefer that pawns are made of plastic or wood, but because of the style of artwork used on the board, using card stock with cartoon like illustrations carries the artistic feel of the board through to the pawns. Wood or plastic would not be able to duplicate that same feel. Since the cardstock is thick and ridged, they will stand up just fine during normal play.

There are two sets of cards that are used; Heir Cards and Playing Cards. Both are made from standard glossy card stock and have the same style of illustration that is used on all the other bits of the game.

There is also a colorful thick card stock piece called Aunt Agatha’s Will that is an important part of the game.

Two six-sided dice.

There are two complaints I have about the game as far as the pieces go. However, these minor shortcomings are not enough in my opinion to avoid buying this game:

1. The bottom of the wall gets a bit tattered because it has to be wedged into stand pieces that are a bit too tight. A small piece of scotch tape on the bottom edge of the walls should fix that problem.

2. The plastic stands that the pawns are placed in are too loose and fall off as you move them around the board. Using some glue will fix that problem.

Play:
There are 16 pawns that are set up in the middle of the board. Each player is assigned pawns that are kept secret by dealing out Heir Cards. These cards have a picture of a pawn and a funny tid-but about that particular pawn. The tid-bit has no bearing on the game. The number of Heir Cards each player gets is determined by how many are playing the game.

There are three things you do on your turn:

1. Roll two six-sided die and move ANY two pawns on the board the distance of one die each. Unless you roll doubles, then you have the option to move one pawn the distance of both die.

2. Take a card from the Playing Card Deck (Cards) for each pawn you move onto a Trap Space.

3. Play one or more Playing Cards if you want to.

Unlike most roll and move type games; you can move any of the 16 pawns that are on the board when it is your turn. However, in order to win the game, you must use at least one of your assigned pawns to get the Tokens out of the mansion before all of the Cards are used which ends the game. If your pawn(s) are in the mansion when the game ends, you do not get credit for the Tokens THOSE pawns have.

The trick to this game is that you need to bluff to prevent other players from discovering which pawns on the board are yours for as long as possible. You do this by moving other pawns besides yours, moving your pawn away from the exit, or even taking a chance and moving your pawn under a trap with the hopes that no player has a card that allows them to trip that trap before you move the pawn out of there.

If you are not sneaky, other players will be on to you, and can do things to your pawns to prevent you from getting out of the mansion; such as playing cards that send you further away from the exit, moving your pawn on their turn away from the exit, or move your pawn under a trap to attempt to kill that pawn off.

If your pawn gets killed off, any Tokens that pawn had gets passed along to the next pawn that is pictured on Aunt Agatha’s Will. So, you need to be aware of who is next to you on the Will and calculate how to kill those pawns to get their money. Unless of course the pawn next to the one that was just killed off happens to be yours as well, and then you still can try and get that one out of the mansion.

Conclusion:
This is a fun medium-light game. There are clever devices used through the game that make it a challenge. Just when you may think that you are home free and out of the mansion, something can happen to set you back big time. There are even cards that allow a player to randomly take one of your pawns and it’s Tokens. So, you may have worked to load up that pawn with Tokens and now another player gets to benefit from all the hard work you did to get those Tokens. Of course, you can try and stop him by preventing him from getting out of the mansion one way or another.

I recommend this game highly. It’s a game that can be played over and over with a different outcome every time. The novelty of the traps adds to the fun, the clever bluffing that you need to use adds strategy to the game, and its one of those games where the game isn’t over until it’s over, or until the fat lady takes a header down the stairs.

Thread: User Review

thoia — 2005-04-20T16:42:34+00:00

When it comes to games designed for kids there are certain things that spring to mind and certain things that don’t. Obscure brightly colored shapes, gentle serene landscaping and cute little animals all come forefront in the mind. A booby trapped house filled your relatives who are all trying to kill you as you try to kill them so you can inherit the fortune of your dead aunt….typically that’s not the first thing you think of. That is however what you get with 1313 Dead End Drive.

The game starts with the players all gathered around the big table in the center of the board. Each player controls multiple characters depending on the number of players, typically 4 or 5 I’d say. On your turn you are allowed to move 2 characters. That is any character be it your own or an opponents. This is accomplished by rolling 2d6 and moving one character the number of spaces denoted by one and another character by the other. Set off to the side of the board is a cash card that show how the fortune was divided up in the will. It’s now your goal to kill off the relatives in front of you so the money will trickle down to your spot on the cash card, and once you’ve got a large sum of money get the heck outta that place.

By careful planning and moving of opponents characters you can land them on the proverbial “X” spot in front of one of the booby traps. Then if you have the appropriate card for that part of house you can spring the trap. The traps include dropping a safe on their head, pushing a suit of armor on top of them, shoving them down a flight of stairs or having a mounted boars head land on them. Crushing deaths did seem to be the main theme in the designing stage.

The real fun begins when someone has some cash on them and they make that mad dash for the front door. Players then are frantic to move that character back but then it might be to their disadvantage. That player also gets the opportunity to move his character and then one of yours as well.

Figuring in that this is a kids game does bring into the fact that beyond what’s listed above there’s not much more to the game at all. I’d have to say that a group of game playing adults are not going to turn to this one. However if you’ve got a kid around and want to play games with her this one will allow you to do that and actually enjoy the game and not just the experience of playing with your child.

Before my daughter started playing some of the euro games (she plays all the Days of Wonder titles, and Carcassonne as well as games like Zombies, Lunch Money and the like) she wanted this game badly. It took me awhile to get it for her, but she really does enjoy playing it. She doesn’t ask for it very much now-a-days as the other games mentioned she enjoys more, but for kids who are not ready for those, this is a cheap, great addition to their game collection.

Thread: Re:remake of the MB 13 dead end?

snowden27 — 2005-03-05T05:52:13+00:00

I personally like 1313 better than the original. My sister got "13" for her birthday one year, and we fell in love with it. We'd leave the darn thing setup for days because we just kept playing it. A couple years ago, I got 1313 on sale (because I liked the original so much) and upon it's first playing, I liked it better. I don't really remember exactly why, as it's been a while since I played either, but I remember thinking that the few little details that I didn't like about the first, they fixed in the second.

Yes, the premise is the same, the methods of kill are basically the same, but the game just plays smoother, IMHO. Either game is worth the play, but I'd pick the second over the first any day.

Thread: User Review

microjoe — 2005-01-27T13:27:18+00:00

1313 Dead End is an unusual game. I play it with my 8 year old and he grasps the concept just fine. The down side is takes awhile to put it all the props together and lay out the cards (10) minutes, so you really have to WANT to play it. That seems like alot for a kids game. My 8 year old is crazy about it though. There are elements of detective style deduction, but added to that there is stealth, strategy, bluff, and some random action with dice and card selection. Nice combination of mechanics for a kids game. High quality components, made of metal, plastic, and cardboard. Very original art on the graphics, nice cards and board. Very sturdy box. Instructions are easy to understand.

Thread: User Review

steveoliverc — 2004-11-03T17:27:05+00:00

I found this game last week at Toys R Us for $4.98 so how could I pass it up – just in time for Halloween! Played it a few times with 2 and 3 players (always with at least 1 kid) so here’s my review…

THEME
The rich Aunt has died and 16 characters (call pawns in the game) are seated in the main room to hear the reading of the will. The object is to claim as much of that inheritance as possible and make it out of the house before midnight – alive! Watch out for a few traps and remember that everyone else wants your share of the loot. This was fun to play around Halloween time, although I’m sure a game like BETRAYAL AT HOUSE ON THE HILL (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/10547) would be closer to a true haunted game.

BITS
The game really shines here. Just set up the board and the kids will knock you down to get at it. Really reminds me of Which Witch (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/1613) that I loved as a kid. There’s just something so great about knocking over your opponent’s pawns! Oops, you just fell down the stairs! Watch out – you shouldn’t stand under the boar’s head in the game room! Drat, not the suit of armor again! What’s that in the safe – oh no, I just got squashed by a giant silver piggy. The map is a seven room house divided into squares with the 5 traps, and a few secret passage links which allow pawns to move between the rooms quickly.

SETUP
Takes 15 or 20 minutes to construct the house the first time you play. After that, takes about 5 minutes to setup a new game. The house comes apart easily and everything fits back into the box. (Always nice when that happens!) Depending on the number of players, you deal out Heir cards, each of which matches one of the 16 pawns on the board. So each player will receive 4 or 5 heir cards which they keep hidden. During the game, you can move any pawn you like, so you might bluff the other players by moving pawns that don’t match your heir cards. But you only score points (inheritance money) by moving your own pawns out the front door. There is a “will card” which shows the 16 pawns in order, and in the beginning each gets one bit of inheritance money (except for 2 pawns who get more). If a pawn is knocked out in a trap, their inheritance goes to the next pawn in the list. So you find yourself plotting which pawns to knock off, so that your pawn will get more inheritance and hopefully get out the front door with it – alive!

RULES
Each turn you roll 2 dice. You get to move ANY two pawns the number of spaces on the dice. (Can move the same pawn twice if you roll doubles.) You have to move a pawn exactly the number of pips so there’s a lot of backtracking as you try to get your pawn onto one of the special squares where they can pick a card. You pick cards by landing at one of the 5 special places (safe, stairs, boar’s head, suit of armor, fireplace). But beware, as these traps can be sprung and the pawn is out of the game, and their inheritance money goes to the next pawn on the inheritance card. These cards let you spring traps, take an extra turn, steal the heir card from another player, etc. After rolling and move, you can play trap cards (as many as you like) and one of another card. Since you can move any pawn, you’ll see players moving another player’s pawns over to the traps to collect a card, so that if the trap is sprung, it’s not their inheritance money that is lost!

GAMEPLAY & STRATEGY
Strategy in a Hasbro kid’s game? Hey, it can happen, just check out Lemony Snicket’s Perilous Parlour game (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/6235). Sure, there’s a lot of dice rolling, but which pawn you move involves tactics (how to get more cards, should you move your own pawn or another player’s pawn) and strategy (are you trying to increase the inheritance for your pawns or is it time to get them out the front door)? The use of the inheritance tokens on the will card is very clever and makes for an interesting game. The game gets especially tense as fewer and fewer pawns are left and the inheritance money begins to really pile up on a few of them. One very nice touch – no player is ever cut out of the game, because even if you lose all of your pawns, you still get to roll dice on your turn and move the other pawns. You could even win, if you already got some of your pawns out the front door with the most inheritance money.

GAME ENDING
The game can end in one of two ways: all of the pawns make it out the front door, or the last card of the deck (midnight) is drawn. (The idea of a forced time limit is especially appreciated for anyone who has played Candyland or has a serious game-playing tot who is prone to a lot of analysis.) Games take about 30 to 45 minutes, maybe it would take an hour with 4 players.

OVERALL
Fun game to play with the kids, with a nice theme and great bits, even allows for strategy and plays in a decent amount of time. I give it a 7 for play with children.

Thread: Re:remake of the MB 13 dead end?

magicmarcus — 2004-08-19T16:08:05+00:00

Hi. I have the original, and just found one of these at a thrift. While this is a lot like 13 Dead End Drive, they have changed some of the rules, and made it more like Kill Dr. Lucky meets 13 Dead End Drive.

The traps deck now has move cards which can be used to move any character to any space in the named room; take an heir cards which allow you to steal a random heir from any player; Run for it cards which allow you to take another move with any charcater; and the painting holding the picture of the current heir has been replaced by a will that has all the characters listed in a certain order that you place moneybags on. When a character is knocked off, the moneybags on that character shuffle down to the next live character in the progression.

When you exit a character from the mansion, you get nay money bags that they have on them, the winner is the player with the most moneybags at the end.

I will have to try it out with my daughter to see if it plays better or worse than the original.

Thread: remake of the MB 13 dead end?

fmoros — 2004-03-21T11:48:05+00:00

Is this game simply a remake of the MB, 13 dead end drive?
funny, because seing the box , I WOULD have thought this game was previous.. but the picture of the set up seem the same game than the 13 dead end
thanks