144 – Clash of Chaos and Confetti #44: Costume Party Assassins

The Premise and Standings

Each week we’ll face off in a best of three series playing a different board game from our collection.  The winner claims the moniker of C&C Clash Champ for the week.  The loser is unmasked as the bad board gamer they are. The lesser player also gets to choose the game for the next week.

We will maintain a record of wins and losses throughout the year to see who finishes 2022 as the ultimate board game champ in our household.

Our current C&C Champion is Chaos after winning last week’s Bohnanza battle.

Pre-Clash Current Standings:

• Weekly Winner: 20 Chaos – 23 Confetti
• Individual game wins: 62 Chaos – 59 Confetti

After losing last week, Confetti has chosen Costume Party Assassins/Costume Party
Detective.

The Game – Costume Party Assassins/Costume Party Detective

Originally released as Costume Party Assassins, but now selling under the name Costume Party Detective, this is a simple game of deceit and murder.  Twenty costumed meeples arrive at party than spans the five rooms of a house. One by one, the partygoers will dwindle away until only one survives.

At the start of the game, the twenty meeples will be randomly and evenly divided among the five rooms.  Then, each player will receive a facedown cards from the partygoer deck, which only they should look at.  The character received will be each players’ avatar who they will try to win with.  Players should keep their identities secret.

On their turn, players will roll the die.  If they get any color other than black, they will have the option of moving one character into the matching colored room from an adjacent room or out of the matching colored room into an adjacent room.  

If a player rolls black, they have two options.  They may either kill a character or sending a party guest home.  If they send someone home, they flip a card over from the partygoer deck.  This confirms that the revealed character does not currently belong to anyone and so that character is removed from the party.  This narrows down the possible killers for all players, but it may also keep the active player from revealing too much about their location.  Each player can only send a partygoer home up to three times.

When a player opts to make a kill, they may kill any one other character who is currently in the same room as their secret character.  The character is removed from the board and the game.  If that character belonged to another player, they must flip over their card to show they are out of the game.  Players must make kills to win, but kills will also narrow down their location.  (It should also be noted that if a player performs a kill action when they are alone in a room, they must kill their own character.)

Once only one player-character is left, that person is the ultimate Costume Party Assassin!

Having played Costume Party Assassins several times before, we tend to play with a house variant that we will utilize for this clash as well.  Instead of each player getting one partygoer to play with, each of us will get two.  We feel this creates a more dynamic and strategic game overall.  Also, two killers is a great homage to the original Scream movie (sorry for the spoiler for the 26 year old movie).

Let the partying and assassinating commence! 

Chaos’ Pre-Clash Thoughts:

Costume Party Assassins is an interesting pick for Confetti.  It’s a light and simple game, but there is some strategic cat-and-mouse action too.  It’ll be interesting to see how cautiously or boldly we’ll both end up playing.  What I do know is that I’ve never won four clashes in a row, so here’s to setting a personal best!

Confetti’s Pre-Clash Thoughts:

Definitely on a big of a losing streak, but that’s OK. Time is on my side. Costume Party Assassins involves a lot of luck, so here’s hoping it’s on my side. 

Game 1 – 

For the first game, Chaos was dealt the Princess and Frankenstein’s Monster.  Confetti would be playing with the Superhero and the Hula Dancer.  

It didn’t take long for both players to roll their first blacks.  Chaos opted for caution, and simply sent a partygoer (the ghost home).  Confetti on the other hand got to murdering.  She quickly killed off the punk rocker, revealing that at least one of her characters was in the red room.

Confetti quickly took control of the game flow by funneling more and more characters into the red room and killing them as she could.  Chaos decided to play along.  He moved characters into the killzone, while also letting Confetti be the one who eventually moved one of his characters into the red room.  

It soon became a game of mass murder as characters were taken out left and right.  When a black wasn’t rolled, characters simply escaped the gravitational pull of the red room, only to be pulled back in as soon as possible.

Despite her high kill count, Confetti could not get either of Chaos’ characters.  Chaos on the other hand, lucked out and took out Confetti’s superhero.  

Eventually, only six characters remained, and it was only a matter of time until someone’s luck ran out completely.  That poor soul was Confetti.  Chaos took out the Hula Girl for the win.

It may have been a blood bath, but the party was such a raging success, that they planned to do it all over again.  

Game 1 Winner: Chaos

Game 2 – 

Sherlock and the Safari Guide took up the challenge for Chaos.  Meanwhile, the Superhero decided to tag team with the Mummy, hoping to earn success for Confetti.

This time around, Confetti played much more carefully, using her black rolls to send partygoers home first.  Chaos also used that safer tactic to narrow down the field.  As the party thinned, Chaos and Confetti sent characters all around the board.  Chaos liked the idea of once again pulling everyone into the red room.  Confetti, however, decided a more spread out approach might serve her better this game.

Unfortunately for her, Confetti was forced to make a kill first, revealing the whereabouts of one of her characters.  The hunt was on.  Chaos soon missed with a kill attempt, and now both players were looking for their two perfect shots.

Chaos made a positive ID first as he slayed the mummy.  On the ropes, Confetti refused to give up.  Sometimes life doesn’t care how hard you try though.  Unable to take out either of Chaos’ characters, Confetti’s dreams of a win crumbled as Chaos knocked out the superhero from the game.

Turn on the lights, shut off the music, send everybody home!  This game is a shutout and the party is done!

Game 2 Winner: Chaos

Game 3 – 

With Chaos sealing the win for the week, there was no need for a third game.

Your Winner and STILL C&C Clash Champion: Chaos!!!!

Chaos’ Post-Clash Thoughts:

Wow, I went in hoping for a win, but I did not expect such a dominant and one-sided win. No complaints here though.  I’m happy to finally break my personal curse, getting four wins in a row.  I know it’s too early to celebrate, but having the most wins for the year, no longer seems so out of reach.

Confetti’s Post-Clash Thoughts:

All I have to say is ugh.

New Standings:

Post-Clash Standings:

• Weekly Winner: 21 Chaos – 23 Confetti
• Individual game wins: 64 Chaos – 59 Confetti

Next Week: Kill Dr. Lucky