When Freddy vs. Jason the film was released in 2003, an onslaught of new marketing strategies and merchandise came with it for both slasher franchises. Comics, novelizations, action figures, soundtracks…the flick was heavily promoted through every collectible you could imagine. With this insurgence came a unique new game to the Friday the 13th universe that has become one of the most sought after and rarely available, now mostly through online auction sites.
Released through USAopoly in collaboration with New Line
Cinema, Killer Trivia: Friday the 13th & A Nightmare on Elm
Street contained a card trivia format boasting over 1,000 questions from all
films from both franchises as well as a special separate deck for Freddy vs.
Jason. Needing at least two players, the
game has the option of playing a straight Friday trivia game, A Nightmare only
round, or my personal favourite being a combination of the two series by
switching between the two decks with each turn.
The object of the game is to be the first player to reach fifty
points. This is mostly achieved through
rolling the die and answering the level number of question that you produce; if
you roll a three you answer question three on the next card and gain three points
if you get it correct. The questions, however,
get harder in difficulty the higher the level from one to five and even the
most seasoned and knowledgeable Friday fan may find the level five questions to
be frustratingly difficult at times. Here
are some examples of level five questions:
Q: In F13 Part II, what was Ginny’s license plate number?
Q: In Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, what letter was
on Steven Freeman’s varsity jacket?
Q: Ann Ryerson, who played Katie in F13 Part VI: Jason Lives
was part of which famous comedy troupe?
Q: In F13 Part VII: The New Blood, what color were the doors
in the teens’ party house?
Told you they weren’t so easy. Luckily, each question comes with options
from A to D, but a real Friday fanatic may choose to attempt without the hints
to make an even more difficult challenge.
In addition, each series has its own Coroner’s Report deck,
showcasing significant victims and kills from all of the entries and the task
is to describe in depth the method and evidence from memory while hitting key
words described on the back of the card.
If you get lucky enough to get your hands on
Killer Trivia, it can be a blast and a challenge to test your memory of each
individual film and both the Friday and Nightmare series overall. The tricky part is finding partners to play
with who also have thorough knowledge of the films. This game is not for the inexperienced Freddy
or Jason fan, and those who attempt it without repeated viewings of each entry
will find their luck running out quickly.
Still, for us amongst the obsessed who absorb every detail of on and off
screen trivia, this game is a must!
