Hit List

"It's taken four years to develop an idea into Hit List - the most exciting new game in Australia in years!" the advertising blurb claims. It contains 112 cards, lots of money and a few playing mats. The mats are only as a guide for learning, showing you how to build sets. The theme is "elimination". You have to build contracts from sets of compatible cards. At the very least, a Victim and Means card are required to open a contract. The contract can then grow by playing in order: Scene and Hit cards of the same suit as the Means card (which there are seven suits - Strangulation, Poisoning, Drowning, Torture, Shooting, Starving and Hit & Run). Thereafter, you can optionally play a Disposal, then an Alibi card on the sequence Means, Scene, & Hit that you've built up. You can play a motive card on top (at any time on an open contract) - which must be of the same suit as the victim (there are eight suits - Royalty, Union Leader, Movie Star, Pet, Politician, Business Person, Religious Leader and "Choose your own victim"). The aim is to earn the most money, and money is earned by closing contracts. To score, a contract must contain a Victim, Means, Scene and Hit card.