Zombies!!! Board Game Review

It's time to kill some zombies!!! Well technically it's time to re-kill some zombies...

This game will have any zombie lover jump for joy, I was ecstatic when I got it.

The game has two simple goals - either kill a whole lot of zombies with your Shotgun Guy figure (visually a mix of Han Solo and Chuck Norris if you ask me) or save you life by escaping the whole madness in the Helicopter.

How the game is played?

The board consists of 30 map tiles it's a randomly generated board as 1 tile is placed at the beginning of each players turn so in essence every game you play is unique! I do think this is a much better idea than to have a pre-set town map as this really does allow for a lot of versatility. That said I do mind how the map tiles are made, they are really thin, which does make them easy to shuffle but they can get damaged pretty quickly and I am seriously thinking about laminating mine (they have the same thickness as regular playing cards - just a bit thicker maybe).

Each turn the player takes consists of a few sequences - first draw and place a map tile, kill (or be killed) any zombies that are on your current position (yes the buggers move), draw event cards, move and kill any zombies on your way, move zombies... I especially like this move as any zombie lover should be on cloud nine if they had a chance to command a zombie swarm, super sneaky way of eliminating your competition...

The Zombies!!! Game Experience

While the game rules are a bit confusing at start as there are some things that are not 100% clear (it might be that a zombie munched a piece of my brain at the time of first playing and the confusion might be just on my part) once you get the hang of the game you'll be enjoying it greatly. It's fast paced, straight forward and has lots of interesting twists as you play your even cards (either to give yourself an advantage or to slow down your opponents). The game is open to forming pacts between players so thread carefully.

The combat is half luck half brains as you roll the die and if you get a 4,5 or 6 you kill it and add it to your dead ex-walking dead collection. Now that's the luck part but here comes the brain part - if you roll 1,2,3 you aren't automatically dead you have a chance to either surrender a life (you collect lives during the game) or add bullets to increase the number on the die (you collect bullets during the game too). This makes the combat part of the game way more interesting and challenging than a simple roll of the die.

The Graphics & The Figurines

Map tiles are realistic looking computer graphics with a lot, and I really mean a lot of details. You will love exploring each of them as you find cracks on the roads, tire marks as the car crashed into the shop window, pots of colorful flowers in front of the florist shop, little dead humans who weren't lucky enough to escape the zombie apocalypse... The attention to detail is really amazing.

The event tiles have a rather grotesque look to them, which is perfectly fine for a horror themed board game. Each of the events has their own unique graphic which represents it well.

The figurines are really detailed too, I already mentioned Shotgun Guy looks like Han Solo & Chuck Norris had a baby but zombies themselves are pretty awesome too! You get male and female zombies (I think the 1st edition only had male zombies though) and as a woman myself I can't help myself but not to giggle as the female zombies hold a males head in their hands!

The Final Verdict

A game worth having in your collection (even if by any chance you are not a zombie fan). It can be played by 2 to 6 players (the more the merrier) so it can be a fun game for the whole family (it's not inappropriate for younger ones) or for the whole zombie loving bunch. Each game is unique so the game doesn't repetitive but if it ever would be bored with it there are tons of expansions which bring the game to a whole new level as they introduce new types of zombies, new maps, new events...