Cheapass Games: Kill Doctor Lucky, Deluxe 23rd and 3/4th Anniversary Edition, Family Board Game of Cold-Blooded Murder, For 2 to 8 Players

I played this game but an updated version I guess years ago and enjoyed it so when I saw this on sale I snatched it up! Was a bit confused at first when we tried to look up a video explaining how to play and our board looked different and we send to have different pieces. This board's art is more simple than the updated version I guess but I like it. Gameplay wise it seems to work the same and is fairly simple to learn. Just the newer one has special tokens to keep count of your murder attempts, while this one just has you use face down cards from the discard pile to keep count. Game is better with 4+ players though. With too few players (we only had three) you block off parts of the board to balance. As the three of us got a better handle on the strategy though the game seemed to drag on a bit as we continuously used the smaller play area to prevent each other from making more attempts until finally someone relented.

One of our favorite games for game night. It's fun and it's got strategy and we love it. It's more fun with more people, although 2 people can play it, I would pick this for a group game session.

One of our players has a tendency to get frustrated with complex games (Fluxx, escape rooms, exploding kittens, etc.) but they thoroughly enjoyed this game and so did everyone else! In fact, we played it several times in a row on game night because we enjoyed it so much. Although it seemed like it would be complicated at first, it ended up being pretty intuitive. However, we did try to play it with just 2 people using the modifications the game suggested but we didn't like that version as much. So although the game says you can play it with fewer than 3 people, we all thought 3 players was the minimum to get the most out of the game.

It’s a fun twist on Clue. It’s fast moving once you get the hang of how to play. It has many rules, but they click after a round of playing. It’s fun.

I bought this mostly to play solo, after getting an amazing 60% off deal on Prime Day, just playing four-handed, or against two bots (you can see my solo rules on boardgamegeek.) I had so much fun with it that I took it to my game group, where it was a hit. I love games with floor plans, like Clue and Ghost Fightin' Treasure Hunters. This one is lovely. This version doesn't have the Clue-like room details that a previous version had, just different kinds of flooring in the different rooms. I expect they did this to make it easier to read the names of the rooms. For gameplay reasons I think that was a good choice, as one member of my game group has poor eyesight. And it's still beautiful. The board has two sides, representing two different buildings. The one on the back can be folded in half to make two smaller floor plans for playing with fewer people. The story of the game is that the players are all people with a vendetta against Dr. Lucky, and are racing to be the one to murder him. It sounds grim, but it's played for laughs, with murder weapons like a runcible spoon. Players foil other players' murder attempt by playing Failure cards, in which Dr. Lucky escapes by bending over at just the right time, or being saved by a mysterious monk who then disappears, or other silly happenstances. Dr. Lucky moves from room to room in a preset pattern, apparently clueless that people are trying to kill him. To make a murder attempt you have to be alone in a room with him, where no one can see you through the halls and doorways. Line of sight is an important feature. There's an old free print and play version floating around out there, but this one has much updated rules, and very nice components. The characters are represented by wooden pieces like the old classic Parcheesi pieces. Dr. Lucky is a taller pawn . There are also an optional dog and cat, represented by animeeples, with rules of their own. There are flavor-text cards for each of the characters, telling their back stories. Each card has two sides, so if you're a certain color of pawn, you can choose either the male or the female character of that color, each of which has a different story. This game is hilarious and fun, but sometimes I feel a bit sad about playing a psychopathic character trying to kill a gentleman who seems fairly innocent. So sometimes I think of it as killing Windle Poons instead. The idea was suggested to me by the zombie-like way Doctor Lucky moves in the newer editions of the game. Windle Poons is a character in Terry Pratchett's "Reaper Man." He's a very old wizard/professor who comes to the end of a long life and is ready to die. Only Death has taken a holiday, and poor Professor Poons is stuck being a zombie, much to his disappointment. By killing him, you're giving him the release he wants. You're still competing with the other players, because you want to be the hero who gives Windle Poons his wish.

This is a really fun game for the whole group to enjoy. It’s like the reverse version of Clue which makes it really fun and interesting as you move around on the board to collect weapons and find a way to finish Dr. Lucky. The game is not too complicated, like a 1.5 or 2 on a 5 point difficulty scale. Definitely a fun game that I’m glad I purchased. I play a lot of board games and card games and I think this one will become a regular at our game table.

I've played this over a dozen times with several different groups of people and everyone has had a good time! It's easy to learn and very fun! I really like that there are so many different ways to play so there are options to make things more interesting if your group has played multiple times already.

This is one of our favorite family games. We can play with more players than the average game and with a variety of ages and skill. It is a clever combination of "in-it-to-win" and cooperative play in a fun, clever game.