I play all sorts of games. I tend to like the heavier games, but sometimes you need something with a lighter spin. The theme of The Island of Doctor Lucky isn’t very light – a group of people are trying to kill him after all – but the gameplay is simple, straightforward, and, in my plays of the game, leads to a lot of laughter.
In my circles of friends, family and acquaintances, there are individuals who are selected as the target for a majority of the jokes. You know, these are the people who are first to get made fun of for any little thing or nothing at all. Do you have people who seem to be the easy target in your circles? Maybe you are one of these people. When I’m around the men from one of the groups from my college days, I’m the target.
Sometimes, the joking can be done with a lightheartedness that makes it not offensive to the target. Sometimes the tone turns, and hopefully you have someone in these circles who can put a stop to it if it turns to bullying. I think of my friend Jomar when I think of people who are targeted when we get together to play. Jomar takes it in stride, and most of the group keeps it lighthearted and fun without crossing any lines. I’m fairly sure Doctor Lucky is that guy in his circles. But no one keeps it lighthearted for him. He’s running for his life. And he needs all the luck he can get.
In the Island of Doctor Lucky, players attempt to take the life of Doctor Lucky either directly with an attack, or indirectly with a hazard. The island has multiple types of areas – forests, mountains, etc – and these areas have corresponding hazard cards. In this way, a player who is not chose to Doctor Lucky can still make an attempt on his life. The direct attempts must be made from the same location as Doctor Lucky, and no one may be in that area or be able to “see” that area (line of sight in this game is easy, it just checks for characters in an adjacent area).
Once the attempt is made, other players have the opportunity to discard cards showing luck values to allow Doctor Lucky to survive. Failed hazard attempts increase the distance you may move on a turn. Failed murder attempts increase your attack for the next attempt. And all the while as players discard luck, Doctor Lucky’s chance of survival diminish.
Players can also play hazards on other players to force the defending player to discard luck or pass the attacking player a card from their hand. Card draw is at a bit of a premium in this game – you can’t attempt to murder Doctor Lucky and draw a card in the same turn. So sending hazards to other players can be a good strategy, especially early in the game. Also, an optional rule includes eliminating players who have no cards at all. In games where players agree to this rule, they should expect each other to fire away more often.
The island also includes Doctor Lucky’s panther, Ragu. Ragu acts to distract players from looking around at other players trying to kill Doctor Lucky. Ragu will make players lose line of sight to all adjacent areas when in the same area as Ragu. This gives players additional options when it comes to finding opportunities to try to kill Doctor Lucky. For example, in the picture below, the people player can’t see the blue player despite being in an adjacent space, because Ragu (the black disc) prevents line of sight to adjacent locations, so the blue player may attempt to murder Doctor Lucky.
But the thing that makes this game really sing for me is the turn order. Between every player turn, Doctor Lucky will move. All the locations are numbered and he just moves on ascending order, starting back at 1 after finishing the board. Any time he moves into a space where a player is, that player becomes the active player. Poor planning can leave a player without turns for a little while. Excellent planning can give a single player multiple turns in a row.
As far as components, no one will accuse Cheapass Games of over production (they’re actively trying to make games that are fun without expensive components after all). However, the player pawns are stylized, and the card quality was better than I expected. My deck holds up to riffle shuffling without cards holding the bend. Color all my expectations exceeded for what comes in the box.
Between the player attacks, luck being played, and “Riding the Lucky Train” (the rulebook coined phrase for taking multiple turns in a row), players will find plenty of opportunities to target one another – with cards and jabs alike. Even with a group of people who prefer heavy strategy games as their games of choice, this lighter fare can provide lots of fun. Have you played the Island of Doctor Lucky? What were your thoughts?
Cheers!
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