Zombocalypse

My Organ Trail blog got me thinking about other zombie games worth talking about and there was one game that popped into my head and it's not even a video game. Zombies!!! was one of the first board games I ever bought that wasn't made by Parker Brothers and was the jumping point for my foray into board gaming.

I bought the game on a whim; I love zombies and anything zombie related was amazing to me. The game isn't overly complicated and once the players get a feel for the game the pace picks up and it becomes a ton of fun. The game is for two to six players but I find its best with four. The game is pretty quick with anything more than that and ends up slowing down when you only have two people. The way to win is simple: be the first to reach the center of the helipad tile or rack up 25 zombie kills.

The "board" consists of tile cards: at the beginning of each turn the player selects a card from the stack and plays it on any legal space he wants and then adds the zombies, hearts, and bullet counters the tile specifies, if any. Each player is dealt three event cards which have varying effects and can be played either during your turn or occasionally on your opponents turn: you can mess with them, position yourself better or just to spawn an ass load of zombies.

One of the big draws to the game is the ridiculous amount of expansions it has—ten to be exact—and they're all based on a different zombie movie theme, whether it's a military base, zombie dogs, murderous clowns or just a good old fashioned mall, they all add a new level to the game and all work in tandem with one another. One of my favourite parts of the game is all the different tropes and zombie movie moments and weapons thrown into the game. Through the event cards it really gives the game that zombie movie feel and zombie fans in general will easily pick up on the references and subtle nods.

Since playing this game, I've purchased and played tons of board games, I even worked at a board game store at one point. I have to say this is definitely one of my most recommended games to board gamers and fans of the zombie genre in general. It really has a solid apocalypse survival feel and would be perfect for any zombie lover out there. The game also has tons of room for any house rules you can come up with. I'd personally recommend bumping up the kill count for the win condition because occasionally, with a lucky streak, you can get 25 kills pretty quick and easy.

The game was also ported to the XBLA and the various app stores. I've heard that they're pretty faithful to the board game but I've never picked them up myself. It also contains a single player mode where the player must fight his way to the helipad and survive all on his lonesome. All in all, if you're looking for a good game with tons of replay value and options, this is the game for you.