13 Dead End Drive is a murder-themed
board game
Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well.
Many board games feature a comp ...
originally released by
Milton Bradley
Milton Bradley (November 8, 1836 – May 30, 1911) was an American business magnate, game pioneer and publisher, credited by many with launching the board game industry, with his eponymous enterprise, which was purchased by Hasbro in 1984, and ...
in 1993.
It was followed in 2002 by a spinoff, ''
1313 Dead End Drive
13 Dead End Drive is a murder-themed board game originally released by Milton Bradley in 1993. It was followed in 2002 by a spinoff, '' 1313 Dead End Drive''. Currently, Winning Moves Games USA publishes the game in the USA.
The story behind the ...
''.
Currently, Winning Moves Games USA publishes the game in the USA.
The story behind the game involves the death of a wealthy old woman triggering a feud over her will. The players utilize traps located on the game board, which represents a mansion, to kill characters controlled by other players in order to claim the estate for themselves.
Gameplay
At the start of gameplay, players are dealt "Character cards" which correspond to matching pawns on the board. Since there are 12 characters, it is often the case that players control more than one character. However, which player controls which character is not revealed. Along with the character cards, there are also Portrait Cards, which determine who the current favorite for the inheritance is, and Trap Cards, which are used to spring traps and knock off other players.
During each turn, a player rolls two dice and moves two pawns, one pawn for each die. It is legal for players to move a pawn that is not theirs in order to bring it closer to or onto a Trap Space. All pawns must be moved off the red chair spaces before any pawns can be moved a second time or onto a trap space. If a pawn is moved onto a trap space by exact roll only, the player must have the corresponding trap card in his or her possession in order to spring the trap. Springing traps is not mandatory, however. After that, play proceeds on to the next player. A pawn can not pass through or land on the same space as another pawn during the same turn.
During the game, a Portrait Card is displayed in the picture frame above the fireplace. That character is now the current favorite to inherit the fortune. At that moment, for all intents and purposes, that character is now marked for death and must try to escape the mansion before he or she is either knocked off or the portrait changes (see "Special Spaces and Rules" below).
Also, during the game, a Detective is waiting outside, slowly advancing toward the front door. His arrival signifies the reading of the will and the announcement of the winner. The Detective can only move one space at a time, and only when a Detective Card (hidden inside the Trap Card pile) is drawn. There are 13 steps to the front door. If the Detective makes it to the front door before all other characters have been eliminated, the game is over.
Ways to win
There are three ways to win ''13 Dead End Drive'':
*Be the last character alive.
*Escape the Mansion while the final character's picture is displayed in the Picture Frame.
*Have the final character's picture displayed in the Picture Frame when the Detective reaches the front door.
Traps
''13 Dead End Drive'' has five different booby traps that are used to dispose of other characters. In the story of the game, the traps are designed to make deaths appear accidental. The traps are the Chandelier, the Bookcase, the Stairs, a Statue in a suit of armor, and the Fireplace: if a pawn has the misfortune to land on the trap space in front of or under one of these traps, the Trap card is played and the trap is sprung in the following ways:
* To activate the Chandelier, flip a switch in the music room that drops the chandelier onto the pawn, eliminating it from play.
*To activate the Bookcase, move that pawn up onto the top of the ladder and rest that pawn on top of the bookcase in the library, and flip a switch that will send the pawn flying back onto the board and eliminating it from play.
* To activate the Stairs, a player can move the pawn up onto the top of the stairs in the hall and flip a switch that will violently toss the pawn back down the stairs and onto the board, resulting in its elimination.
*To activate the Statue, a player can flip a switch in the gallery that will send a statue in a full suit of armor crashing down onto the pawn.
*The Fireplace is activated in the dining room when a player flips a switch that will send the pawn flying backwards and into the figurative fire, though the box describes it as a Trap Door.
When a player moves a pawn onto a Trap Space, they must draw a card from the Trap Card pile (if they do not already have the matching trap card in their possession). If the player draws the matching Trap Card, they can either play it immediately or hold the card for future use. If the player does not have the matching Trap Card, the trap cannot be sprung, but the card can be saved for future use. There are also "Wild" Trap Cards which permit all traps to be used anytime a pawn is in that space. If, however, the player draws a Detective card, the Detective is moved one space forward, but the player is permitted to draw another Trap Card before ending the turn.
Once a trap is sprung, that pawn and the matching Character Card are laid down on the "Discard" pile on the board (the couch). If during the course of play, a Portrait Card comes up for a character that has been knocked off, that card is immediately taken down and placed on the "Discard" pile, revealing a new Portrait. The Portrait cards are shuffled at the beginning of gameplay and concealed by an "Aunt Agatha" portrait card to hide the known deck order.
Characters
*Aunt Agatha: The dowager heiress whose fortune everyone is competing to gain. Her character card is shown at the start of the game, covering all other characters in the portrait frame.
*The Detective: Gradually gets closer to the mansion with every detective card. When he enters the front door, the game is over.
The players take the roles of the twelve suspects who compete for the will. They are:
*Poopsie: Aunt Agatha's beloved but sadistic
Persian cat
The Persian cat (), also known as the Persian longhair, is a long-haired breed of cat characterized by a round face and short muzzle. The first documented ancestors of Persian cats were imported into Italy from Persia around 1620. Widely recog ...
, who will become one of the world's richest pets if she inherits.
*Beauregard III: Agatha's flirtatious lover, who has made a trade of swindling recently widowed women, Aunt Agatha being his greatest conquest.
*Smothers: the
butler
A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...
who served Agatha's family for over thirty years, who seeks to retire in style, cruising the world and having people wait on him for a change.
*Dusty: the conniving and seductive
maid
A maid, or housemaid or maidservant, is a female domestic worker. In the Victorian era domestic service was the second largest category of employment in England and Wales, after agricultural work. In developed Western nations, full-time maids ...
, who would use the money to be a
glamour model
A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Though mo ...
and be "dripping in pearls, emeralds and aquamarines".
*Charity: Agatha's personal physician who only makes 'mansion' calls, seeking to use the money to open her own exclusive practice.
*Lulu: Agatha's gossip of a best
friend
Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague.
In some cultures, the concept of ...
(in 1313 Dead End Drive she is described as Agatha's sister), who seeks to start a supermarket gossip
tabloid
Tabloid may refer to:
* Tabloid journalism, a type of journalism
* Tabloid (newspaper format), a newspaper with compact page size
** Chinese tabloid
* Tabloid (paper size), a North American paper size
* Sopwith Tabloid, a biplane aircraft
* ''Ta ...
called ''Dishing the Dirt''.
*Parker: the
chauffeur
A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine.
Originally, such drivers were often personal employees of the vehicle owner, but this has changed to speciali ...
, who would use the money to race in the
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
.
*Clay: Agatha's tennis coach, an also-ran tennis star who sees the money as a chance to repay old debts and make a last-ditch effort to be a sports star.
*Spritzy: Agatha's favourite
hair stylist
A hairdresser is a person whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques. A Hairdresser may also be refe ...
, who seeks to take on the world of high fashion, using the money to finance her own exquisite hair salon to the stars.
*Pierre: the inept
chef
A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...
, who seeks to finance his own TV show, ''Cooking for Profit''.
*Madame Astra: Agatha's personal
fortune-teller
Fortune telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. Melton, J. Gordon. (2008). ''The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena''. Visible Ink Press. pp. 115-116. The scope of fortune telling is in principle identical w ...
, who believes her years of service will finally pay off in getting the money.
*Hickory: the mansion's
gardener
A gardener is someone who practices gardening, either professionally or as a hobby.
Description
A gardener is any person involved in gardening, arguably the oldest occupation, from the hobbyist in a residential garden, the home-owner suppleme ...
, who would use the money to fulfill his dream of starting "Wild Hickory", a
theme park
An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
based on killer plants.
Special spaces and rules
*Rolling Doubles: If a player rolls doubles that player chooses whether or not to move the current Portrait card to the back of the pack to reveal new Portrait. The player then has the choice of:
*Moving one pawn the total number of spaces shown on the dice, or
*Moving two pawns, one pawn for each die.
*Secret Passages: On the board are special spaces that represent "Secret Passages." Any character can enter any secret passage at any time, regardless of whether or not it is by exact roll. Moving from one secret passage to another counts as one space move for a character. Secret passages are often used to bring opponent's pawns closer to traps or to bring a player's own pawn closer to the door.
*Bluffing: Bluffing is permitted in "13 Dead End Drive." In terms of strategy, a player may move their own pieces towards or even onto trap spaces in an attempt to fool opponents. Even if that player has the matching trap card for the space their own character is on, they do not have to play it. Instead, they can pretend that they do not have the correct card and draw another one. If they happen to draw the right trap card, they can pretend that the card is the wrong one, and play continues as normal.
*Two-Player Gameplay: In case of a two player game, four character cards are dealt to each player, as well as two additional "Secret Cards." These cards must be kept face down throughout the entire game; their owners are not allowed to peek at them or even know which character they correspond to. Gameplay continues as normal, even if one player loses all four "known" character cards until one of the above "Win" scenarios occurs. In the case that neither player has the winning character in their "known" hand, they are permitted to look at the unknown cards. The player with the card that matches the winning character is declared the victor.
International versions
*Danish – Tante Agathes Testamente.
*Finnish – Kalmankuja 13.
*French – La Course à l'Héritage.
*German – Agathas letzter Wille.
*Hungarian - Zsákutca 13.
*Italian – L'erede misterioso.
*Dutch – Ongelukslaan 13.
*Spanish – La herencia de tía Ágata.
*Swedish – Faster Agathas Testamente.
*Greek – Κληρονόμων 13.
*Quebecois – 13 rue Dead End Drive
*Portuguese - 13 Beco da Traição
Spinoffs
1313 Dead End Drive
''
1313 Dead End Drive
13 Dead End Drive is a murder-themed board game originally released by Milton Bradley in 1993. It was followed in 2002 by a spinoff, '' 1313 Dead End Drive''. Currently, Winning Moves Games USA publishes the game in the USA.
The story behind the ...
'' is an updated version with 16 heirs in a mansion who are going to kill each other. The players can steal
moneybags
A money bag (or money sack) is a bag normally used to hold and transport coins and banknotes, often closed with a drawstring.[chandelier
A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent li ...]
being replaced by a large
boar
The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is no ...
head, the bookcase being replaced by a
safe
A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure lockable box used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form a door. The body and ...
that releases a big steel
piggy bank
Piggy bank (sometimes penny bank or money box) is the traditional name of a coin container normally used by children. The piggy bank is known to collectors as a "still bank" as opposed to the "mechanical banks" popular in the early 20th century ...
that slams into the heir's face and instead of falling into the fire you're spun into it. The game ends rather differently and the winner is the one with the most moneybags.
References
External links
*{{bgg title, 1899, 13 Dead End Drive
Board games introduced in 1993
Milton Bradley Company games
Murder and mystery board games