1313 Dead End Drive

1313 Dead End Drive is a murder-themed board game from Parker Brothers.^[1] Released in 2002, it was the sequel to 1993 game 13 Dead End Drive.

The story behind the game revolves around the death of Aunt Agatha, a wealthy old woman and heiress to a "kitty-litter empire." Sixteen of her closest companions have gathered at her estate for the reading of her will, and to collect their inheritance, they must escape Aunt Agatha's trap-filled mansion before midnight.

Gameplay

At the start of gameplay, players are passed out "Heir Cards" which correspond to the pawns that are placed on the board. There are a total of sixteen characters, so it is almost always the case that players control more than one character. Players are required to keep the roles of their Character Cards secret from their opponents. Additionally there are thirty-two "Playing Cards," which allow players to do special things during their turn such as spring traps or instantly move pawns to other rooms. There is also one "Clock Strikes Midnight" card that is placed at the bottom of the Playing Cards, and if this card is drawn by any player, the game ends.

During each turn, players roll two dice and move two pawns which correspond to each dice roll. Players are allowed to move any pawn on the board, regardless if they hold its corresponding Heir Card or not, so that they can move it closer to or further away from a trap space or the door. A pawn can be moved onto a Trap space by exact roll only, and when a pawn is moved onto a Trap space, the player must draw a card from the Playing Cards stack. To spring a trap, a player must have a corresponding trap card in their possession. Springing traps is not mandatory, however. There are also Secret Passage spaces that players can use to quickly travel around the mansion.

Also during the game, players must pay attention to Aunt Agatha's will, which changes with the death of each character. The will contains the portrait of each character and is organized in a chain-like fashion. Every character begins with a single money bag token, except for Spritzy, who begins with four, and Sedgewick, who begins with two. When a character is "knocked off", their money tokens go to the next character in line of the will. When the last surviving character of the will is knocked off, their money tokens go to the "Pet Pals Retirement Home", and no one receives the money. If a character escapes the mansion, their money bag tokens are removed from the will and their space on the will is skipped over if a character preceding them on the will is knocked off.

Ways to Win

The winner of the game is determined by the amount of money bag tokens each player has at the end of the game. Whoever has the most money bag tokens when every player is out of the mansion (either by death or by escape) is the winner of the game. If the bottom of the Playing Cards stack is reached and the "Clock Strikes Midnight" card is drawn, gameplay ends instantly and players must count the moneybags currently in their possession to determine the winner.

Traps

1313 Dead End Drive has five different booby traps that can be sprung throughout the mansion.

• The Stair Trap is located in the Art Room, and a lever can be pushed down on the top step to make the pawn on the trap fall off the stairway.
• The Fireplace Trap is in the Grand Room, and an urn can be rotated to move the pawn on the trap around to the back of the fireplace.
• The Boar's Head Trap is in the Trophy Room, and a lever can be lifted from the back of the wall to release the Boar's Head to drop it on the pawn under it.
• The Suit of Armor Trap is in the Parlor Room, a lever can be pushed on the statue to make the suit of armor topple over onto the pawn.
• The Safe Trap is in the Vault Room, and a lever can be pushed to make a piggybank hidden inside the safe shoot down the chute and strike the pawn.

Any player can move any pawn onto a Trap Space, but it must be by exact roll. To spring the trap to knock off the pawn, a player must use a corresponding Trap Card, which can be drawn from the Playing Cards stack. When a trap is sprung on a character, their pawn and Heir Card are placed on the table to signify that they are no longer in play. Additionally, any money bags that are on their space in the will or moved to the next heir in line.

Characters

Aunt Agatha: A "filthy-rich heiress to a kitty-litter empire" whose estate the heirs are competing for.

The Heirs (In the order that they appear on the will):

• Spritzy: Agatha's hair stylist; cut her hair for fifteen years
• Sedgwick: Agatha's nephew; a mad scientist who needs Agatha's money to continue his research in curing bald eagles
• Dusty: Agatha's maid
• Parker: Agatha's chauffeur; Agatha annoyed her with backseat driving tips
• Prudence: Agatha's accountant; a former ambulance chaser
• Lulu: Agatha's sister; gossiped with Agatha for an occasional "loan" from her
• Sassy: An aspiring rock star; used Agatha's money to try to skyrocket her career
• Madame Astra: Agatha's fortune teller
• Pierre: Agatha's cook
• Smothers: Agatha's butler; served Agatha for thirty years
• Charity: Agatha's personal physician
• Clay: Resident tennis professional
• Perkins: Hunter; kept Agatha's Wild Game Preserve
• Pugsley: Agatha's dog
• Beauregard III: Agatha's lover
• Poopsie: Agatha's cat

Playing Cards

There are five different kinds of Playing Cards:

• Room card: This card allows a player to move any pawn from any space and move it to any unoccupied space in the room shown on the card, including a Trap space.
• Take a New Heir card: This card allows a player to take one Heir card from any opponent's hand. The player can choose any opponent to take an Heir card from, and they pick one at random.
• Run for it! card: This card allows a player to move any pawn of their choice the number rolled on the die. These cards can help players move pawns away or off of Trap spaces, help a pawn escape, or even prevent a pawn from escaping.
• Trap card: This card allows players to spring one of the two traps that are displayed on the card.
• Wild Trap card: This card allows a player to spring any trap.

Players can play as many Trap cards as they wish on a single turn; additionally or instead, they can play one of any other card. Playing Cards must be played after a player rolls their two dice.

Special Spaces and Rules

• Rolling Doubles: If a player rolls doubles, they have a choice of moving one pawn the sum of their die roll, or continuing play as normal, you do not get to roll again.

• Secret Passages: There are several secret passage spaces located across the mansion. Going through a secret passage counts as one space move, and players are not limited to which secret passage they move to.

• Bluffing: Bluffing is allowed and encouraged in 1313 Dead End Drive. You can move your opponents' pawns towards the Front Door or even move your own pawns onto Trap spaces in order to fool your opponents. Since Playing Cards can be kept secret from opponents and since Trap cards do not have to be played when they are drawn, this allows for more variety and safer bluffing.

• The "Retrap" move: It is possible for a player to move a pawn off of a Trap space and back onto it in a single turn in order to draw a Playing Card.

13 Dead End Drive

13 Dead End Drive is the predecessor to 1313 Dead End Drive. Many of the aspects of the first game were passed on to the second, but there are several alterations: in 13 Dead End Drive, Aunt Agatha's Will is replaced by a "Portrait", which hangs over the fireplace and displays the portrait of any of the twelve (instead of sixteen) heirs. If an heir escapes while they are displayed in the portrait, they win the game. Instead of the "Clock Strikes Midnight" card, there are thirteen "Detective Cards" scattered throughout the Trap card pile. When a Detective card is drawn, a Detective pawn, which is waiting outside of the mansion, moves one space closer to the mansion. The game can end instantly if the thirteenth Detective card is drawn and the Detective pawn reaches the front door. Additionally, the Boar's Head trap is replaced by a Chandelier, and the Safe trap is replaced by a Bookshelf. Also, one of the characters from the original game, Hickory, the gardener, does not appear in this one.

References