Stats:
No. of players: 2-4
Amount of time to play: 10-20 min
Age requirements: 10+
Set-up time: minimal

Dead Man’s Draw is a light, fun, press your luck card game that is great for families or when your board game group needs a break from heavier games.

Dead Man’s Draw Rules Description:

Dead Man’s Draw consists of ten suits of cards numbered from 2 to 7 and one suit numbered from 4 to 9. On your turn you flip a card from the draw pile face up and perform the action it grants you. You continue to flip cards one at a time until you want to bank them. If you flip a card over and it matches a suit you had previously flipped you bust, all the cards go to the discard pile and your turn is over.

When you bank cards they are organized in piles by suit in ascending order. The game ends once the draw pile is empty. At that point you add the total of the cards on the top of your piles and that is your final score. The player with the most points wins.

The ten suits and the actions they give are as follows:
Anchor – Any cards drawn before an anchor are banked even if you bust.
Canon – Put the top card of another player’s bank pile in the discard pile.
Chest – When banked with a Key you gain the number of cards you banked randomly from the discard pile.
Hook – Play a card from the top of one of your bank piles. You gain this card’s action.
Key – When banked with a Chest you gain the number of cards you banked randomly from the discard pile.
Kraken – The Kraken forces you to draw two more cards. A card played because of a Map or Hook fulfills the second card obligation.
Map – Shuffle the discard pile and flip three cards. Add one to the play area and take its action.
Mermaid – This suit has no action it is just worth extra points (4 to 9)
Oracle – look at the top card of the draw deck before adding it to the play area.
Sword – Take a card from another player’s bank in a suit you don’t currently have in your bank and add it to your bank.

You can also add character traits. These give you a specific bonus when playing one suit. For example, Black Bonnie lets you steal any suit when using a Sword, instead of being limited to a suit you don’t have in your bank. Before the game begins each player is dealt two traits and they choose one to use for that game.

Game variant cards are included and mix up the general game play too. For example, one variant gives all the cards you bust to the player on your right and another totals all the cards in your bank for final scoring. If you want to play with one of these you can just shuffle these cards and grab one to add at the start of the game.

Quick Review of Dead Man’s Draw:

Dead Man’s Draw is a light, press your luck card game that though random is fun. The way the different suits interact is great and it is exciting to pull of a fun combination.

The components for this game are excellent. The art is cool, the rules are excellent and the cards are durable. The box is a great size and super portable too.

Like I said above, I like how the cards interact and you are able to pull off some great combinations. And though press your luck can be frustrating with such limited information; it is very rewarding when you bank a bunch of cards at once.

There is a small learning curve to this game. It’s not that there are hard mechanics to figure out but more that you must remember what all ten suits do. This is not hard after a few plays but it can slow down your early games. You can also help this by adding traits after players are comfortable with all the abilities.

It can also be a bit fiddly when you have to keep shuffling the discard pile. It is not a big deal but something to be aware of.

Dead Man’s Draw is great for families. My son loved this game and as long as you embrace the randomness of it, you can enjoy it too. It is travel friendly, has a lot of replay value and goes pretty quick. If you have kids or are looking for a filler for your game group pick this one up.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 3 out of 6
Luck 5 out of 6
Player Interaction 3 out of 6
Replay Value 5 out of 6
Complexity 3 out of 6
Fun 4 out of 6
Overall 4 out of 6