($24.99; Ages 12 & up; 2-6 players; www.twilightcreationsinc.com/zombies)
Boy I love zombies. I mean I really, really love zombies. Not a real zombie, of course- no, that I wouldn't think twice about putting a shotgun to its face and pulling the trigger. But the idea of zombies- that I love.
Of course movies have taken virtually ever zombie scenario and rehashed it over and over again, which is what makes Twilight Games' "Zombies!!!" so much fun- it's a send-up of all of the wonderful zombie cliches we've come to know and love over the years- its like "Shaun of the Dead" in board game form.
And despite the many pieces to the game: map tiles, cards, dice, player pieces, life indicators, bullet indicators, and over 100 miniature plastic undead- it's quite an easy game to play.
Play begins with "Survivors" starting out at Town Square with only the 'Town Square' map tile in play. At the beginning of each turn, players draw from the map tile pile and place the tile wherever it can go; along with each map tile come zombies to place on the tile as well as all-important ammunition or health to pick up. As each player places a map tile at the beginning of his turn, the game board begins to fill out to a city decimated by the walking dead. Players continue to wander the city combating zombies until the "Helipad" map tile is placed, at which point the first person to make it to the helipad, or to kill 25 zombies, is the winner.
Combat is simply determined by rolling a six-sided die: rolling a 4 or higher means killing the zombie and keeping it's little plastic corpse for your collection, a 3 or lower means that either bullets or health need to be spent to attempt to kill the zombie. Once out of bullets and health, the zombie "kills" the player, putting the player back at town square losing half of his zombie collection, but with renewed health and bullets.
At the end of a players' turn, a die is rolled to determine how many zombies the player gets to move. There's an element of strategy here: do you move zombies out of your way and into other players? Or do you move them into your path to increase the chances of reaching 25 kills? Personally, I like to swarm my friends with zombies, preventing them from moving a space before having to combat a goul or two. Sure there's a chance that they can reach 25 kills quicker, but I love the sight of a friend having to wade through an ocean of undead- hey, the helicopter can only fit one person on it.
Play is mixed up by the addition of cards that can either save you or hurt other players. It's delightful to see a friend get to a certain point on the board where they have a sense of respite, only to play the "We're Screwed" card which allows the player to place 10 zombies on any space not already occupied by a zombie- and inevitably all around the player who was prematurely breathing a sight of relief.
The dynamic game board which changes every game is enhanced by the seven separate expansions available. These range from extra cards in the 3.5 expansion pack to entirely new locations like the seventh expansion back "Send in the Clowns." And yes, Romero fans, there is a mall expansion- Expansion 3, "Mall Walkers."
Most exciting to me is the newest release from Twilight Creations- "Humans!!!" which is a stand-alone game where players play as the zombies in an attempt to devour as many humans before their opponents. "Humans!!!" can be combined with "Zombies!!!" and its expansions to allow players to choose whether they want to be survivors or undead.
As far as game-night games go, "Zombies!!!" can be played in under an hour, however the more expansions that are added and any modifications to the rules will prolong the game for an entire night of apocalypse. But its simple rules and easy flow of play allows a lot of social interaction in the game, as opposed to a strategic-intensive title that requires concentration on the board. For fans of the genre, or anyone looking for a unique experience- it's a must-have.
No comments:
Post a Comment