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Game modes · Party & duels

Killer

Killer darts is the pub game for a crowd and a favourite among darts party games. Everybody gets a number, and once you hit your own double you are a killer. From then on, each hit on another player’s double takes one of their lives. The last player with a life left wins.

  • Two to six players or teams, with or without bots
  • 1 to 10 lives, shown as hearts
  • Classic rules to start, five settings and Blind Killer to change them
  • Kills count towards your statistics
Play Killer
How it works
Killer · 3 lives Ben loses a life
  1. Anna20
    Killer
  2. Ben6
    Killer
  3. Cleo3
    Out
  4. Dan11
KillerKILLAnna

Ben D6 · Dan D11

  1. D20Dart 1
  2. D3Dart 2
  3. D6Dart 3
Two visits of a four-player game with three lives. Anna hits her double 20 and becomes a killer, knocks Cleo out and takes a heart from Ben. Ben strikes back at Anna, then catches his own double and knocks himself out. The board lights up the doubles that count for the player at the oche, just like in the app.

The rules

Killer darts rules

A game of Killer comes down to five steps. Sridu keeps track of who has which number and how many hearts are left, so you only have to throw.

  1. Everybody gets a numberAt the start the app deals each player a number from 1 to 20. It stays on your card for the whole game, so everybody can see who owns which number.
  2. Hit your own double to become a killerUntil then your darts can’t hurt anybody. Your own double lights up on the board, so you know where to aim.
  3. Then go huntingNow every hit on another player’s double takes one of their hearts. The board lights up every double still in play.
  4. Mind your own numberAs a killer, hitting your own double again costs you a heart.
  5. The last one standing winsLose your last heart and you are out. The last player with a heart left wins the leg. Play a single leg or first to 2, 3 or more, with sets if you like.

Settings · Easier or harder

Set the difficulty

Every new game starts on the classic pub rules. Five settings make it gentler for beginners or tougher for strong players, and you can combine them any way you like.

EasierClassicHarder
Target field
EasierAll fieldsThe whole number counts: a single takes 1 life, a double 2, a treble 3.
ClassicDoubles onlyOnly the double of a number counts. Each hit takes one life.
HarderTrebles onlyThe thin treble ring. For players who live on the treble 20.
Killer after
Classic1 hitOne hit on your own number and you are hunting.
Harder3 or 5 hitsThree hits to become a killer, or five for K-I-L-L-E-R, one letter per hit. The card counts them: Killer 2/5.
Own number as a killer
EasierLife back · doesn’t countHitting your own number wins back a lost life, up to your starting lives. Or it doesn’t count at all.
ClassicLife lostOnce you are a killer, your own number bites back.
Hit costs killer status
ClassicOffA killer stays a killer until the last heart.
HarderOnGet hit and you lose a life and your killer status, and have to earn it again.
Lives
Easier4 to 10Long games with room for comebacks.
Classic3The pub classic, and the default on the slider.
Harder1 or 2Sudden death. One good visit can end it.

Two combinations to try. For beginners: all fields count, your own number wins a life back, and everyone starts with five lives. For strong players: trebles only, three hits to become a killer, and getting hit costs you your killer status.

Setting · Lives

Every life is a heart

Set 1 to 10 lives on a slider. 3 is marked as the classic, 5 as a long game. The scoreboard shows them as hearts, so everyone sees at a glance who is safe and who is in trouble.

    1. Anna20
      Killer
    Three lives

    The classic. Full hearts are the lives you have left, so everyone can see who is in danger.

    1. Ben6
      Killer
    A heart breaks

    Every hit on your double breaks a heart. Lost lives stay as outlines, so you always know how many there were.

    1. Cleo3
    Up to ten

    From six lives up, the hearts get smaller and move closer together, so ten still fit in one row, even with six players on a phone.

Variant

Blind Killer

Nobody knows whose number is whose. Switch on Blind Killer in the setup and every double on the board could be somebody’s life, your own included. Best with three or more: with two, you know the other number at once.

  • Blind KillerYour secret numberD14Remember it and keep it to yourself.
    Seen by you alone

    Before the first dart, the screen shows every player their number on their own while the others look away. A bot knows its own.

    1. Anna?
    2. Ben6
    3. Cleo?
    Everyone is a killer

    All players are killers from the start. Every double you hit costs its owner a life, and that owner may be you. A number shows on its card once it has been hit.

  • 123456||Ben789|1011121314151617|Cleo181920|||
    The chalkboard

    Sridu keeps a tally of the hits on every number, like the chalkboard in the pub, with the owner’s name once it is known.

Play Blind Killer

In the game

What you see on screen

Your card, the target in the middle of the screen and the lit doubles on the board always match. There are four states:

    1. Dan11
    Become a killerD11
    Not a killer yet

    Your number is on your card. The middle of the screen shows your own double as the target, and it lights up on the board.

    1. Dan11
      Killer 2/3
    Become a killer · 2/3D11
    Arming

    If you need three hits, the card and the target count each one until the third lands.

    1. Anna20
      Killer
    KillerKILL
    Killer

    The card says Killer and the target changes to KILL. Below it you see every opponent still in the game with their double, and those doubles light up on the board.

    1. Cleo3
      Out
    Out

    No hearts left: the card dims and says Out. That player is skipped from now on, and the last player standing wins the leg.

  • Lit doubles. Before you are a killer, only your own double lights up. After that, the double of every player still in the game is lit, and it goes dark once that player is out.
  • A banner for new killers and kills. Each one flashes across the screen with a sound, so nobody at the table misses it. With the caller switched on, Sridu also calls your number while you are still trying to become a killer.
  • A wrong dart? Tap its chip and correct it, as in every other mode. Hearts and killer status update with it.

Setup

Start a game

Pick Killer from the game modes. Every setting below starts on the classic rules, so you can just tap Start.

  • PlayersTwo to six at your board, plus bots at your level if you like. With teams switched on, up to 24 players can play. Each team shares one set of hearts, and team-mates take turns visit by visit.
  • Uneven teamsTwo against one? You choose how turns work. With Every side once, the solo player throws every visit for their side. With Every player once, everybody throws once a round, so the bigger team gets more visits.
  • Lives1 to 10 on a slider, 3 is the classic. More under every life is a heart.
  • Which fields countDoubles only (classic), trebles only, or all fields.
  • Killer after1 hit (classic), 3 hits or 5 hits on your own number. Five is K-I-L-L-E-R: one letter per hit, and all fields count.
  • Own number as a killerLife lost (classic), life back, or doesn’t count.
  • Hit costs killer statusOff by default. Easier or harder shows all five settings side by side.
  • Blind KillerOff by default. On: secret numbers, everyone a killer from the first dart, and every double hit costs its owner a life. Killer after, own number and hit costs killer status don’t apply then. See Blind Killer.
  • HandicapsSet per player: a different number of lives, or killer status from the first dart. A beginner could start with 5 lives while everyone else has 3.
  • Legs and setsOne leg, first to 2, first to 3 or more, plus sets for a proper match. Each leg starts fresh with full hearts, and everybody has to become a killer again (apart from anyone with the killer-from-the-first-dart handicap).
  • Who throws firstWhoever is top of the list, a bull-off, or random. From the second leg on, the next player starts.
  • StatisticsKiller is a full match mode, and your kills per game go into your statistics.

Tips

How to be the last one standing

  • Arm early. Until you are a killer you can’t hit back, so every visit before that is a free one for the others. Go for your own double first.
  • Finish the wounded. A player on one heart is one dart from going home. Knock them out and there is one killer fewer to worry about.
  • Know your neighbours. If your number is next to somebody else’s on the board, a stray dart can land in the wrong double. Aim for the centre of the double.
  • Watch your own double. Once you are a killer, a loose dart in your own double costs a heart. If your number is next to a target, aim at the side furthest from yours.
  • Doubles practice in disguise. You throw more darts at doubles in a game of Killer than in most checkout drills, and nobody calls it training.

Game modes

More ways to play

Rather chase than fight? In Hare & Hounds the hound hunts the hare round the board, one number at a time.

Who survives tonight?

Open the app, pick Killer and let Sridu deal the numbers. Play killer darts with friends at your board, in teams or against a bot at your level.

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