It’s no small secret that we’re big fans of board games around here so I was pretty excited when I got the chance to get my hands on a beta copy of the re-boot of Kill Doctor Lucky by Cheapass Games. Clue has been one of my favorite mainstream board games since I was a child. I love mysteries and there’s nothing like figuring out whodunit where and with what, so when I first heard about Kill Doctor Lucky I was intrigued.
Kill Doctor Lucky is a board game that doesn’t ask you to solve the mystery, but rather to commit the crime! In this game your goal is to kill Doctor Lucky without being seen by any of the other players in the game; but there’s a catch, the other players in the game can also team up to save Doctor Lucky by throwing in their luck cards to improve his chances for survival. So your best chance of offing Doctor Lucky is to figure out when other players are also down on their luck (Get it? Down on their luck?). Because really? Who wouldn’t want to play the criminal at least every once in a while and when you throw in the added bonus of having to outsmart all of the other players in order to do it successfully, why not?
This is a great game to play with new gamers, older kids (because murder) or younger kids (like mine) with a morbid sense of humor because it is mechanically easy to understand. The design of the board is such that it is easy to see when you are in line of sight of other players and when you are shrouded and free to whack good old Lucky. You can also be a male or female character in the game and being female doesn’t mean that you are a matron or harlot, you have options such as scientists turned actresses, private investigators, and chefs, but the catch is they all have an axe to grind with Doctor Lucky. There is some huge potential for some RPing in this game. The one drawback that I have seen in the beta deck for the game is the absence of people of color, but I am hopeful that this may not be the case when the game actually releases.
I’ve got to say that Kill Doctor Lucky is going into rotation on game nights in our house. The game is currently being Kickstarted and has some pretty cool stretch goals going. If you like mysteries and are looking for another family friendly and fun game to add to your collection you can count yourself lucky to pick a copy of Kill Doctor Lucky.
