Something doesn’t add up…
You awake in a survival game, and your right hand is trapped. Only the final player who still has a finger left will survive this game!
Last Hand Standing is a quick-thinking math game for 2-6 players with a survival theme. Through the roll of the die, you’ll attempt to cut your opponents finger by using the number on the dice and a card in the player’s hand to add, subtract, multiply, or divide to make sure that yours in the Last Hand Standing…
You can count all these steps on one hand! (For now…)
- Place out the Deadly Number Cards in the center of the table…
- Players place their hand palm down and each finger represents a number as shown…
- Having shuffled the Number Card deck, draw 2 cards to each players other hand…
Now the game begins!
Starting with the player who most recently stayed in an isolated cabin (or watched a horror movie,) you’ll take turns in a clockwise direction…
Chop, chop!
1. The Deadly Number
Roll the Die and use it’s value in combination with the 2 Number Cards in your hand to generate a Deadly Number.
Using either Number Card (or both) you’ll calculate a value that represents one of the Deadly Number Cards. You’ll have Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication or Division at your disposal…
Once you have a number you’re happy with then place the Die on that Deadly Number Card ALL your opponents will lose that finger (by tucking it under.)
The Active Player can choose to not generate a Deadly Number so the round skips to Phase 3
2. Tool Up
All Players can now activate any Tools listed on the Number Cards in their hand that match with the Deadly Number…
Red
The Knife allows you to cut off another players finger (Take your pick!)
Blue
The Tape lets you strap a digit of your choice back on. (Gaffer Tape – who’d have known!)
Purple
The Stun Gun causes a chosen player to skip their turn. (Shocking!)
Yellow
Trap lets you remove a random card from a chosen players hand. (Sneaky!)
White
Nothing, Nada… Zip… (Suck it up and play on…)
3. Survive
Any player who has lost all their fingers dies and leaves the game.
Surviving players carry on and draw back up to 2 cards with the Active Player passing clockwise…
The Game Ends when there’s only 1 Player left and they are crowned the Sole Survivor…
If the drawing pile is empty then the player with the most fingers left is the Sole Survivor.
In the case of a tie then how about a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors… Machete & Gaffer Tape?
Last Hand Standing is a 2-6 player rapid fire card game from Wizards of Learning that relies on basic math skills and the luck of the dice to determine your fate in a game that’s reminiscent of De Niro’s Deer Hunter…
On the face of it the mechanics are super light and intuitive making it a great game to pick up and play with new people. The theme generates a lot of energy in higher numbers and I can see this working well as a solid drinking game.
Given the simplicity of the rules and the speed of play (less than 15 mins) it’s only the theme that pushes it into the higher age range…
Chopping fingers isn’t to everyone’s taste so be mindful of that when you bring it to the party; that said, in hindsight there’s quite a few youngsters I know who’d squeal with glee at the thought of a horribly gruesome game like this.
But just consider my advice and choose your audience carefully! With the right crew this is going to be a lot of fun!
Now to the nitty gritty…
Last Hand Standing is a simple production and for what it is (a deck of cards and a die) the linen finish of the cards is great in-hand and the bold artwork invokes the theme well without tipping over to the gruesome.
It’s apparent that this isn’t a natively English game due to the wording of the ruleset; so it took several passes to understand gameplay – but nothing that a quick re-write couldn’t resolve and we’ve outlined our interpretation above.
There were moments where the ruleset didn’t clearly state key-points, such as whether you can use both cards in-hand for Phase 1 & 2, or if you retain your cards at the end of Phase 3, growing your hand or discarding those used in the round.
This led to some House Rules (which we’ve outlined above) and found these worked really well and importantly allowed for more complex calculations to get to your Deadly Number by using both cards if required. (Die is 3, Cards in Hand are 3 & 4, so… [3 / 3] + 4 = 5)
Overall a really great thematic game with a small form factor and easy to play setup that makes it suitable for Travel, Time Filling & Parties.
Please note: Wizards of Learning kindly provided this as a review copy but it’s also available on Tabletopia so dip your fingers in and see how you find it.