Shane
United States
Villa Park
Illinois
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I'd heard about Let's Kill years ago, and I thought the concept was brilliantly politically incorrect. However, I was never able to get a copy. Now, Atlas Games has put out a Second Edition, and I couldn't wait to get one of my own. Here's my thoughts:
Components:
This is where the game really shines. The art from the first edition, sadistic, violent stick figure images, has been completely preserved. It's low-grade, but not lazy. Every one fits the theme of the game perfectly, and sets up the nonsensical atmosphere as it should. The layouts have been greatly improved over the ameteurish ones of the first edition, so it's really nice all around. Even the instruction manual is riddled with cleverly inserted humor.
Gameplay:
The object of the game is to rack up 20 'funness' points by killing innocent victims and getting major press coverage. You pile victims onto seedy locations, get a weapon, and take 'em out. The recounting of your kills along with the Surprises your opponents may force you to encounter (the little schoolgirl is actually an undercover cop!) make for some really funny moments. However, there are some quite noticable issues. The Second Edition is a combination of of the original game plus its expansion set, but the card count remains unchanged from the first edition, meaning many cards were left out. Aside from the thematic dissapointments there, that leaves the ratio (and indeed, the very utility) of Victim types severely unbalanced. While Student is highly saught after (being mentioned in the effect text of three diffent cards), Right Wing appears on only one victim (and no other cards), and thus has no real game effect. Hopefully, this edition will sell well and a new expansion will be released to address this.
Replay Value:
If you find the game humourous your first playthrough, you're probably going to continue playing it even after its lost some of its shock value.
In the end, I think anyone who enjoys simple, pick-up-and-play humor games will get a good laugh out of this, while those looking for deeper strategy will most likely be let down.
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