Not me, no no, YOU (note the capitals) are the maniac.

Entering the last few days of its already successful kickstarter, this light, horrific card game is aimed at fans of b-movie horror films and slasher flics.

Now I won’t lie to you good reader … I … don’t like scary films. I refuse to watch horror films and have never had a fondness for them. I see very little point to being scared out of your wits, only to lie awake in bed, praying that some slender fingered murderer is not going creak out of the cupboard to cut your gizzards out while you sleep. But that doesn’t stop me knowing the tropes of the genre and understanding why some people love it. This game does VERY well in sticking to the ideas of horror films. Very well indeed. There’s winks and homages to every classic horror film you can think of.

My most memorable play through was with two non-gamers and a newer gamer – they ALL thought it was great. The theme was very easy to be involved with, and the gameplay was simple and straight forward enough for them to “get” and enjoy easily (play a card, score a card, draw a card).

The Devil’s Advocate says:
The game is random and chaotic. There is not much here for seasoned Euro-game types. I for one found it almost identical to the 1998 card game Guillotine with a few irrelevant differences. The “survivor deck” addition rarely comes into play even with a good number of cards referencing it. Having a kickstarter stretch goal reward called “Spicy Unrated Version” where certain cards will be redrawn naked is not too classy in this Englishman’s eyes. Some cards are genuinely distressing in their illustration; I would have expected this game to come with an age certificate. The illustrative style is sometimes very well done, other times it is a weird mix of broken CG and deformed proportions.

The Promoter of the Cause says:
The game is great for new  players – ALL new players that played it really enjoyed it. This game would fit very well with a beer and a couple of scary movies with the right crowd. The graphics of the game really emphasize the theme, right down to wearing the blood splattered “Skin Mask” while you slaughter “Jenny the Bimbo Blonde” with your Chainsaw. Any horror film aficionado will find themselves right at home with this game: the references are staggering in number, and fantastic in delivery.

To Sum:
If you are joyed by Jason and captivated by Krueger and have disturbing Scream mask on your wall – you will love this game.

If you don’t like pretending to be a maniacal psychopath, killing innocent people and collecting their dead bodies: I would probably give it a miss…

YOU are the maniac was provided free for review.