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Hello, my name is Dave and I'm a recovering Crowdfundaholic. Have you ever felt the need to support everyone and their Aunt making board games? Me too! Does it result in great games? Not often!
A few years ago I fell down the crowdfunding rabbit hole hard. That whole period of my life was backer updates, delayed deliveries and very little money. Most of the games I got in this time didn't live up to their own hype, some were ok, and a scarce few exceeded expectations. 10 Apostrophes to Kill is one of those games...
Find Your Target
I want to say, I love pretty much everything about 10 Minutes to Kill (the games actual title). But, before I get into that, let's examine the gameplay. Dive with me into a world of anthropomorphised animals. Where anyone can be anything, unless you're a Gorilla or a Hyena - then you 100% have to go into law enforcement. It's what your Gorilla dad did and what his Gorilla dad did before him.
You are a hitman. You have a list of targets to kill and 10(ish) minutes in which to do it. The outfit you work for isn't a fussy bunch. Stab 'um, pistol 'um or sniper 'um (those are the correct hitman terms. No need to look it up, trust me, I'm a professional.) You can stab 'um in the same square. You can pistol 'um from a square away (if no one's in your space.) Or you can sniper 'um from any space that is orthogonal to the target (if no one is in your space). The board's made out of tiles so it's a different layout every time.
Don't Be Suspicious
During your turn, you move three people then kill someone if you want to/are able to. After that, the next player redistributes any bystanders on that tile and pops a police person on it. (Side note: The game comes with several police standees. A designer suggested using only two of them so they move around more and that works much better. The rule file is available on Board Game Geek). Police stop hitman murders happening around them, like in real life.
It is your job to manoeuvre the board in such a way that you line up your killer with your target. Here's the rub: not only does no one know which animal is your hitman, but you're all trying to thin the competition too! Extra points are up for grabs for killing off or identifying someone's hitman. Minus points are yours if you kill an innocent or someone else's target by mistake.
Not So Simple
10' Minutes to Kill is one of those games you would describe as deceptively simple. Then you'd start to explain the rules and everyone would say, huh? This is definitely one of those games where it's best to have a practice round or 3.
I want to stop and talk about the art for a minute. It's super fun. The city tiles all have little pop culture references that you'll love to spot as you lay them out. The characters (of which there are many) look great. But something you won't realise until you play a round of 10' To Kill is that they serve a double purpose.
Yeah, it's super quirky that that Dolphin is a Dentist. That Snow Leopard is a Baseball..er and that Puffin is a Firefighter. But when someone dies everyone immediately looks at all the suspects. Of which there are usually quite a lot. This tiny little change to the game's art style becomes a brilliant mechanic.
No longer am I trying to remember "OK, so that forgettable guy with the red hat could have stabbed her, that boring guy with the blue shirt could have pistoled her and that gal with... hair could have snipered her." I'm thinking "So Skater Hedgehog could have stabbed. Rocker Panda could have pistoled and Mouse Waitress could be the sniper." Instantly making them feel like characters, rather than just standees. The next time that player kills someone I'll be thinking "I recognise that rodenty Waitress, and not just from that time she spilt my coffee!"
Blend Into The Crowd
That is the crux of this game. You manoeuvre and kill. Trying to make it look like the same people are potential suspects every time. Because if the Mouse Waitress shows up next time without Skater Hedgehog or Rocker Panda you're in trouble. Anyone who's paying attention knows she's your gal and will be gunning for you.
There are a few ways that the game falls down a little. This isn't the game's fault, but it is a fault of the game. It is up to you to police yourself, you are the only person that knows who you are and who you're killing. There are lovely little coaster size player aids to explain who you can kill where. But if someone makes a mistake, which can be quite common, it can upset the flow of a game.
This is yet another reason why a practice game is a must for me. Every time someone would kill someone in our practices I'd list all of the potential suspects and there would be the inevitable moment when someone would say "Oh... Ummm... Whoops?"
This is by no means a reason not to love this game, have I mentioned I love this game? But it is a reason not to get it out with people that aren't going to give it the attention it deserves.
10' To Kill is a quirky little deduction game that sits high in my collection. It sings with the right group of equally matched bloodthirsty hitmen. But remember, if you're playing with a Gorilla don't trust him, that dude is undercover!
