The season is coming and as we count down the days (and plays) until the big day, we have a list of great games for you to consider as Xmas gifts! Now we know according to Bob Clark’s Xmas masterpiece BLACK CHRISTMAS, that its not always about the flowing of wine but blood that excites some over the period and so, we have something for you. The game PSYCHO KILLER: A CARD GAME FOR PSYCHO’S sees 5 devilish psycho’s on the hunt for more carrion.
PSYCHO KILLER: A CARD GAME FOR PSYCHO’S
AGE 15+ / PLAYERS 4-6 max / TIME 15 mins (full on running!)
THE GAME
In the deck, there are 5 cards that represent psycho killers (you might recognise a few though artistic licence has been taken! Now also in the pack are cards for the weapons that will be used to dispatch you! You have a little luck with skill cards that help you and event cards that hinder!
SET UP
Shuffle the cards (you can create 9 unique additional cards to note here to add in) and then split into two even piles. Players turns see them push their luck. Playing as many cards as you like from your hand is the easy part but, but must end by drawing a card from the top of the deck. You do not need to play a card to draw from the deck. The game revolves around the players avoid hit points and the person with the lowest hit points, wins.
How do you get hit points? If you draw a weapon card, and do not use a card to discard or pass it on (or an unlucky fellow player pulls it from you) and someone draws a Psycho Killer card, then you have to place it in front of you. Psycho Killer cards must be played on the table in front of the player who drew it. Each card (just like weapons) have points value and this is all totted up. Unless you can evade the Psycho Killer with a card of course. If they cannot, every player with a weapon card in their hand gets attacked. When attacked, players must place their Weapon cards face up on the table in front of them. These are called Injury Piles.
A very good walk through is below!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=BUjMPlwBoP4
REVIEW
We played PSYCHO KILLER: A CARD GAME FOR PSYCHO’S over the course of two days, six times. Now this shouldn’t be read as an indication of love or that we found it incomprehensible. The above walk through is brilliant and unpacks it simply. More, it should be seen as how the game starts one way and can then be ramped up. So we liked the simple version and felt it played really seamlessly. However the end pay off and the stocking of points (if a playing has over 10 hit points, they are stunned and those rules are hampering to play). Our interpretation was called ‘THE FINAL GIRL’ version.
Players who score 10 hit points are out and dispatched in some glorious way. The last player left over (and this is swift as players drop out) is the final girl. Now the caveat here is, dead players still draw up to 3 cards on their turn. It played quite well! Try it!
