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Unlock the Secrets: Locke & Key Card Game Reviewed

Elliott Miller

May 5, 2012

Game Name: Locke & Key

Publisher: Cryptozoic Entertainment

Designer: Matt Hyra

Year: 2012

Players: 3 – 6

Ages: 15+

Playing Time: 30 Minutes

Retail Price: $30.00

Category: Card Game

Components:

150 Strength cards
19 Challenge cards
15 Key cards
1 Rulebook
1 Omega Lock initiative marker

From Cryptozoic Entertainment:

Come meet the Locke family and take a tour of the mysterious Keyhouse…

Locke & Key tells the story of the Locke family and Keyhouse, an unlikely New England mansion that is home to fantastic keys that transform all who dare to use them . . .and a hate-filled creature that will not rest until it forces open the most terrible door of them all.

Competition and cooperation meet in this card game that dares you to overcome the supernatural challenges of Keyhouse. You and your fellow players will face these horrors together, but who will be by your side when the dust settles? On this journey, you’ll make decisions on when and where to help your fellow players, but your resources are not endless. Through careful management of your cards, you can help the family overcome challenges, and you’ll be rewarded for the assistance . . . sometimes.

Locke & Key started as a graphic novel. Well actually there are three but I have only read the first one. It’s the story of the Keyhouse, a mysterious New England mansion where some of the doors lead to transformations to the characters that go through them. It’s of the horror genre, so I was drawn to it.

This is a card game, and the cards look great as all of the artwork was done by Gabriel Rodriguez, the artist from the graphic novels. I especially like the Key cards as they are foil cards and we all know shiny is good. There is a lock token to keep track of which player gets to play first, and they threw in a cardboard standup of the Keyhouse just for the heck of it. The rules are short and fairly simple with specific additional information about certain cards and examples of play.

The object of the game is to score the most points by the time the Game Over challenge card is revealed.

There are three types of cards and they come in three different colors (suits) of Black which represents the shadow army, White which represents personal and psychological problems, or Blue which represents otherworldly encounters.

The challenge cards are the main cards that determine the points you score and the end of the game. At the start of the game you shuffle the Game Over card into the bottom six cards of the challenge deck, so that you are never quite sure when the game will end. Each challenge is of one of the three colors and has a numeric value on it. This number is the total the players must meet or beat with the Strength cards to win the challenge. Once a challenge is defeated, the player who played the most points in strength cards wins the challenge card and places it into their score pile. The Challenge cards also have a second place reward listed on them for the player who played the next highest point total. The winner also receives the lock token which enables them to play their cards first on the next challenge.

The Strength cards are the largest deck of cards and these make up the bulk of the players hand. At the beginning of the game each player receives four strength cards. These have point values on them and they are played to overcome the challenges.

The Key cards are special cards that are either one time use or reusable, depending on the key you draw. Each one does some special action like changing the color of a card you played, or drawing an extra card, etc.

You pick a starting player randomly, and they are given the lock token. The top challenge card is flipped over, and each player has a choice of three actions. You can either play up to three strength cards face down to try and defeat the challenge, or pass and draw a new strength card, or pass and draw a key card from the key deck. The lock player goes first and then play proceeds clockwise from there.

Once everyone has played their cards or passed the played cards are flipped over. Before the challenge is resolved all players have a chance to play a key card if they wish. Then all points of the cards matching the color of the challenge are added up. If they are equal or higher than the challenge card, then the challenge is won. The player who played the most points in strength cards gets the challenge card and scores the points on it. The second highest points played gets the reward listed on the challenge card. If players tie, the player turn order determines who wins and who gets second place. The winner of the challenge gets the lock token and will play first next round. If the challenge isn’t defeated the card goes to the bottom of the challenge deck and no one scores any points.

This is repeated until the Game Over card is flipped up. The players add up all of their points in their score pile, and the highest total wins.

The challenges are not the only way to score points; there are certain cards and rewards that allow you to score the top one or two cards off of the strength deck as points. There are also combo cards that give bonuses if you pull of playing one of the combos, and there are other special cards built into the strength deck.

One of the interesting mechanics that add some strategy to the game is the fact that you can play cards of any color when facing a challenge. So you can fool the other players into thinking you are going all out, either forcing them to drop out of a challenge because they think they can’t win, or making them go all out to win. You see the strength cards are a valuable resource as the main way to get new ones is to pass on your turn. When you run out you have no choice but to pass, and you can’t pass too often because there really aren’t that many rounds. Hand management plays as big of a role as the luck of the draw does.

This is a pretty fun game. The games are short and it makes a good filler or a game to play as a gateway game. The kids liked it a lot and although it seems like it is too simple to be fun, that isn’t the case. It’s actually pretty addictive. The art gets a PG-13 rating from me so I’d advise against playing it with the young ones. I liked it and think it is a good time.

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