- BGG rank
- BGG #843
- BGG rating
- 7.0
Escape: The Curse of the Temple
- 1–5 players
- 10 min
- Complexity 1.5/5
- 2012
- BGG rank
- BGG #26,700
- BGG rating
- 5.5
Sudden Death!
1978
Rules assistance for Sudden Death!
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–4 players
- 30 min
- Complexity 1.7/5
Rules assistant for Sudden Death!
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Sudden Death! is a board game released in 1978 for 2–4 players and 30 minutes per game. Its main mechanics are Tile Placement, Enclosure, and Real-Time.
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About the game
Sudden Death is a surround placement type of game. During your turn you place down 1 of 3 different plastic pieces made up of either two, three or four squares. The board consists of 441 squares and each player starts on his own side. The object is to block the other players to prevent them from playing any more pieces. You are allowed to jump over one square. To speed up game play, the designers included a button connected to a 9-volt battery and to a timer in the middle of the board. The button slowly rises and after a certain number of seconds, a buzzer goes off. If the buzzer goes off, you pay a penalty of losing 2 two-square pieces. The timer can be set to go either quickly or slowly.
Categories
Mechanics
Publishers
- Gabriel
- CBS Electronics
Questions and answers
Sudden Death! supports 2–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Sudden Death! is 30 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
Sudden Death! has a complexity rating of 1.7 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Sudden Death! belongs to these categories: Abstract Strategy and Electronic. Its main mechanics are Tile Placement, Enclosure, and Real-Time. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The catalogue lists Sudden Death! as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.