Zombicide is a board game where a group of heroes fight against hordes of zombies and try to fulfill their objectives. Each game lasts an average of 2 to 3 hours, and every minute is an intense battle to try and survive the surmounting odds. By the end of the game, whether your group survives the zombie apocalypse or not, you will have a story that rivals a Hollywood blockbuster film. It's that epic.
Each game, players choose a scenario to play. The game can be played with 1 to 6 players, which will control between 4 to 6 heroes on the board. Each scenario has a specific objective, such as scouting for food to bring back to the camp. Players then setup the the board with objective tokens, shuffle the item and zombie cards, and place any props necessary for the game to start. After that, one of the players will be the starting player and the game will begin.
The game map is separated by zone. A room in a building is a zone. A street between 2 traffic light is a zone. On each game round, players can do 3 out of the 10 possible actions: move, search, open a door, trade inventory, shoot, fight hand to hand, getting in or out of a car, activating an objective token, make some noise, or do nothing. Depending what action the players takes, and the equipment used, there is a chance of making a noise. This is what makes Zombicide a game that does not require a player to play the zombie's action. All zombies are attracted to noise and they will move towards the location with the loudest noise. All actions that cause noise will require a noise token to be placed at the location where the hero was. When the player has finished his turn, the next player on his left goes. Once the players' turns are over, it's the zombies' turn.
How Many Zombies?There are 4 types of zombies: the Walker, the Fatty, the Abomination, and the Runner. Every zombie has 1 action per turn. On each zombie's turn, if they are with a hero, they will attack. Any hero being attacked will immediately gain one wound and lose one item. If there are no heroes, the zombies will move 1 zone, except for the Runner who has 2 actions and can move 2 zones. After the zombies have moved, 1 zombie spawn card will be drawn for each spawn point on the map. From our experience, zombies overwhelm the streets very quickly. In order to pass through them, a hero needs 1 action to go through a zombie. As you can see, if a hero is in a zone with 3 or more zombies, he basically has no chance of escaping other than to fight to the death. Hopefully, he has a decent weapon in hand already.
When a hero kills a zombie, he gains 1 experience point (xp). The more he kills, the higher the xp, which allows him to 'level up' and attain additional skills, such as an extra move action or a do a search for free. However, this also initiates more zombies appearing per game turn, causing harder ones to appear instead of the easier ones. We haven't had a chance to face the Abomination yet, but our earlier game with 6 Runners running into the room resulted in the gruesome deaths of 2 heroes, and one which carries an item necessary to accomplish the mission!
When bad situation happens, players in my gaming group asks, "Should I survive or sacrifice?" This is a tough decision to make. When a player dies, he's out of the game. Therefore, our group tries to keep everyone alive. However, it is sometimes not possible. When the overwhelming odds are in your face, you have to sometimes be selfish just so that you can live another day for the sake of humanity. This is where the game shines. Each scenario is a blockbuster film. Each escape against the hordes of zombies is an epic story to tell. Each action the hero makes can determine the fate of the group. Whatever you do, be sure it can help your teammates. Otherwise, you'll be cursed by them for eternity.
Conclusion
When I initially went through the rulebook, I thought that the game will be slightly lackluster due to the artwork and the special abilities each hero has when they 'level up'. However, when playing the game, I find myself feeling as if I was in the Walking Dead television series with the fun factor of the Zombieland movie. Our game lasted almost 3 hours. But every minute of that 3 hours was fun and exciting. We strategized every turn. We prepared our movements and made noises only when necessary. We even lost 2 of our members two-thirds into the game and faced a staggering number of zombies who were still on the streets. We almost lost all confidence and morale. However, we stuck through all the way to the end, chainsawing every runner that comes our way and blasting those that did not die in the chainsaw attack with dual sub MG. Once we found all the objective items, we ran for our lives towards the exit route, and yes, we made it! It was epic.
Zombicide is a simple game to learn with lots of actions you can take every turn and tons of interaction among the players. The game boils down to one simple conclusion: survive the mission, no matter what.
Overall: B+
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