Zombies!!! 2nd Edition

Zombies!!! is a game that puts style over substance. Luckily, the style is true to the genre of films it's based on. And what substance is there is quite good.

It's a very simple game. In fact, by your second or third turn (which should be about 5 minutes in), you'll have the rules down. You and the other players are stuck in a zombie infested town, searching for whatever supplies you can find until you can make it to the heliport and bid this unholy mess adieu. Players take turns laying down map tiles. This gives each game a unique quality, since the playing board will never be the same twice. There's various building for the players to explore, where they can find extra life and bullets. But, as the name so subtly suggests, there's zombies. A TON of zombies. At times, there will be so many that it seems overwhelming; just like the movies. Killing them is easy. Roll and 4, 5, or 6, and they're dead. Roll 1, 2, or 3, and you lose a life token (you start with 3 and can carry a maximum of 5). Or, if you roll low, you can spend bullet tokens. One token adds one to your die roll. Play continues until the heliport is placed and a player makes it to the center the heliport square.

This is also a mean, mean game. There's plenty of cards that you can play to annoy your opponents, all borrowing common elements from the horror genre (Your shoe's untied! You can't move this turn!). The rest of the cards will help you, although there seems to be too many that rely on being at the right place at the right time. For example, some cards will give you bonuses if you're in a certain building. If this building has already been raided, it's pointless to go back. Luckily, you're allowed to discard unwanted cards at the end of your turn. Still, it seems a waste.

I should talk somewhat about the components themselves. The cards are quite nice and feature some truly grotesque artwork (this game is not for people with a strong disliking for gory violence). The zombies are kinda cool and come in to poses (a male and a female zombie). The player pieces (called "shotgun guys" by the rules) aren't so good. Something tells me Zombies!!! didn't have too much of a budget, so it's forgivable. The map tiles are fine, and looks like the art might be computer generated.

Simply put, if you like zombie movies, and you like unwired games, you'll get plenty of enjoyment from Zombies!!! There's a huge amount of extra material out there (Dawn of the Dead fans will want to pick up Zombies 3: Mall Walkers). But you need to start here. RECOMMENDED.

Great game! Finally they something for a board game/horror freak like me. A bit of a learning curve, but a little patience and you'll have it down by the first couple of plays. Even got my fiancee to play and she had fun! It's kind of like a survival horror video game in a board game format.

Play consists of:

1. Placing a map tile down to expand the playing field and putting the number of zombies, bullets and lives indicated on that map tile.
2. Rolling for your turn (combatting any zombies on the way. 4, 5 or 6 you kill the zombie; 1,2 or 3 you have to sacrifice a life or use how ever many bullets it takes to make a high enough score to kill the zombie. If you die, you start over at the town square and lose half your killed zombies)
3. Rolling for how many zombies you can move (they are slow so they only move one space each. Rolling a 6 would allow you to move 6 zombies one space)
4. Playing an event card (events cards allow you to do evil things to your opponent or get ahead a little. Think if George Romero did the Community Chest and Chance cards in Monopoly).

The goal is to reach the helipad tile once it has been placed with your life intact OR having 25 defeated zombies in your collection. Pretty simple...AND FUN!

Caveat emptor: If you are playing with more than 2 people, invest in an additional bag of Zombies they fill up the board pretty quick.

I have been curiously addicted to this simple game since I bought the first edition used at a game auction a few years ago. I have since gone back to buy this Second edition new, and al lthe expansions plus multiple Zombies packs glowing and plain. This "Wide Screen" set is the first of the games that gets the ball rolling. I upgraded to it because it contains a larger, deeper box that can hold the tiles and cards from most of the expansions (not 4). Don't expect it to hold more than 200 Zombies with all those cards and tiles though!

With very simple and easy to learn rules, the only complaint I have heard from people that have played the game is that it can get a little long to play, and indeed it can. Minimum game length is from 60 to 90 minutes, unless you cheat the helicopter into the middle of the tiles. I have seen game sessions go 2-3 hours, and heard of even longer ones at my local game store.

I am an old school gamer and this length of game does not really bother me. After all, the point of playing a game is to spend time with your freinds...(and help zombies kill them if possible.) Still I often use the Helicopter tile in the midlde "cheat" for shorter games myself.

But fair warning if you are expecting a collectible card game style sit down for a game and get up 5 minutes later, it ain't gonna happen! This is NOT a Magic the Gathering! This is a tabletop game in the style of the old "Illuminati" card game only much simpler to play.

If you get bored of this starter game there are 8 expansios available for variety, all of which I own, and most of which I love. There is even a Humans!!! game where you get to play the zombies! Twilight Creations does a great job with these games, and I am a huge fan. Later this June (2009) they will be coming out with a Martians!!! 1950's sci-fi game and frankly I cannot wait.

Give this game a try.