Zombicide

[GroggyGrognard]

Per chance, has anyone purchased and played Guillotine Game's Zombicide?

[LongBlade]

Zombiecide? It almost makes killing zombies sound like a bad thing. ;)

No, I haven't played it. Let me go check it out.

[son_of_montfort]

I REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to buy it (actually I wanted to Kickstarter it, but didn't). But I can't justify the $75 price tag with no gaming group to play it. And my wife is a bit over zombies at the moment.

I hear it is a lot of bubble gum pop fun, sort of like an arcade game, but that the rules are poorly written and laid out and the game's balance is a bit off (some characters are godly in their ability to smash zombies, sort of like an easy mode). Still, the overall buzz is positive.

[Tpek]

I've kickstarted it and recently received my copy.

Yet to have a proper chance to test it out, but it looks quite hard to be honest.

My favorite zombie game still is Last Night On Earth.

There's also Posthumous-Z out there which I've also yet to try, and it seems a bit more interesting (so far) than Zombicide.

[GroggyGrognard]

I REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to buy it (actually I wanted to Kickstarter it, but didn't). But I can't justify the $75 price tag with no gaming group to play it. And my wife is a bit over zombies at the moment.

I hear it is a lot of bubble gum pop fun, sort of like an arcade game, but that the rules are poorly written and laid out and the game's balance is a bit off (some characters are godly in their ability to smash zombies, sort of like an easy mode). Still, the overall buzz is positive.

I've read similar things also. Total agreement about the $75 price tag. I can't justify that price even for a zombie fan such as myself. I can think of two wargames off the top of my head that I would rather purchase over the price of one copy of Zombicide.

Thanks for the feedback!

[Ssnake]

THREAD NECROMANCY!
(This is about zombies, after all)

I think that the base game is worth it.
Zombicide lets the players play cooperatively against the game mechanism. As far as the balance is concerned, this is very much up to the players themselves - and that's the aspect that I like very much about Zombicide. The event cards are numbered and can be grouped by severity. So, by removing some of the "easy" cards you can already jack up the challenge. Zombicide is also very flexible to adapt to a wide range of players (I found eight to be the upper practical limit, which is already a lot for a boardgame). But you can just as well play it with only two players.

Alternatively, look at the Season 3 base game (Angry Neighbors). In addition to what's to say about the original, it also offers the option to split the players into two or more competing groups which will have to cooperate against the Zombies (up to a point) but can still attack each other if the opportunity arises.

The miniatures are nicely made, so you get some value for the money.
The sucker part is the option to purchase extra survivors with different skill trees. I think this mostly appeals to people who want to roleplay a Zombie movie with Hollywood celebrities or something, e.g. if you wanted the main characters of the "Big Bang Theory", or the lead cast from "Zombieland", or "The Rock". At $10.- each, that's just too much IMO unless you and your friends are really into it. To be honest, there's some sick appeal to the idea of pitching Hannibal Lecter and an evil clown against the Zombie Apocalypse.

The expansions, I'm a bit on the fence. I mean, I have them, and there definitely is some appeal to the option to tailor a game scenario to your liking by adding event tokens on the board that will activate additional zombie spawns, and the ability to select the kind of zombies you're throwing at the players ("toxic" zombies deal damage if you kill them in melee, "berserker" zombies cannot be killed with ranged weapons). But it comes at a significant price even if they are cheaper than the base boxes (base games are "Zombicide", "Prison Outbreak", and "Angry Neighbors"; expansions are "Toxic City Mall" and "Rue Morgue", also "Zombie Dogz" and "Murder of Crows"). Zombie dog packs are definitely mean, having a dog as an equipment item can be cool.


Again, it's all about malleable gameplay. I added a house rule that you need gas to start a car because cars are among the most powerful weapons if you use them right - but gas is a scarce commodity that's also needed to fight the most powerful types and the biggest hordes. Occasionally the Molotov cocktail assembled at the last minute makes the difference between certain doom and victory. All in all it's one of the cooperative boardgames that me and my friends like very much. Have I spent too much on all the expansions? Definitely. Do I regret supporting all three the Kickstarters? Not at all.

[Nefaro]

I have the original Zombicide and the Toxic City Mall expansion.

It fills the role of a fairly light co-op adventure game for me. 

Zombicide's rules aren't very deep at all, especially if you're just using the base set, and the turns move fairly quickly.  Mostly consisting of searching for better weapons/equipment whilst trying to stay as quiet and hidden as possible to minimize how many zombies you are attracting and need to kill.  Along with trying to complete the scenario objective, of course.  I suppose likening it to some Action RPG-Lite video game is rather appropriate, if only in general terms.

I didn't think the rules were a problem to learn or remember.  Although the rules layout in the original base game weren't the greatest, they're still simple compared to the other similar co-op games I own (which are many). 

In my experience, it's a small step above a beer & pretzels level of monster-killing adventure game.  Light on rules, lots of action & dice chucking & card looting, with a steady stream of endless baddies to kill/avoid.  Plays pretty smoothly, even with children joining in the zompocalypse.

[Arctic Blast]

It's a decent game, but it really does require some tweaking (at least in my experience). The original targeting rules are nonsensically stupid, so I've always gone with 'if you fail to hit zombies, THEN see if you hit fellow survivors in that space'. I'm going to back port a few rules from the new ZCide : Blak Plague back to the original (they now use those targeting rules, plus it takes 3 hits to kill survivors now). I also did some serious pruning of the draw and spawn decks. There was way too much crap in the draw deck for dealing with the nastier zombies that everything after the original add to the game.

[Nefaro]

I can understand the friendly fire change. 

Not sure if I'd want to do the rest.  Would be concerned about the difficulty becoming too easy if too much were changed in my older sets' scenarios.  I think Zombicide is fun because it seems like you're constantly on the verge of being overrun and eaten by the hordes once it gets going.

The new Black Plague set looks great, but damn the cost.  After seeing KS buy-in required to get the KS unlocks I  ::) and fled the page.  I had also been grokking the upcoming Post Apocalyptic version of Defenders of the Realm but that line has always been exorbitantly expensive, and their KS was no different.

[Arctic Blast]

I can understand the friendly fire change. 

Not sure if I'd want to do the rest.  Would be concerned about the difficulty becoming too easy if too much were changed in my older sets' scenarios.  I think Zombicide is fun because it seems like you're constantly on the verge of being overrun and eaten by the hordes once it gets going.

The new Black Plague set looks great, but damn the cost.  After seeing KS buy-in required to get the KS unlocks I  ::) and fled the page.  I had also been grokking the upcoming Post Apocalyptic version of Defenders of the Realm but that line has always been exorbitantly expensive, and their KS was no different.

Oh, I don't tweak scenario setups or special rules at all. I've just chopped down the size of the draw decks. No more stupid pans in the search deck, and the spawn deck is cut by a third while still maintaining the same proportions of special zombie draws...it was just getting a bit towering.  :)

Yeah, I briefly considered Black Plague and backed away as well. I don't personally see the draw in paying above retail just to get a bunch of promo survivors based on famous characters. Doesn't make any sense to me. I DO like those new player dashboards, though! Much nicer.

And I also backed Defenders of the Last Stand...and backed out.  ;D Too pricy for what it was, and it wasn't a well run campaign at all. The designer and publisher didn't say anything for weeks because they were busy with other projects, then the game it's based on launched a Kickstarter of its own and stole a bunch of the thunder from the new game. It just became a debacle.

[Nefaro]

And I also backed Defenders of the Last Stand...and backed out.  ;D Too pricy for what it was, and it wasn't a well run campaign at all. The designer and publisher didn't say anything for weeks because they were busy with other projects, then the game it's based on launched a Kickstarter of its own and stole a bunch of the thunder from the new game. It just became a debacle.

What other game is it based on??   ???  Maybe I should check that out..


I own Defenders of the Realm and one expansion for it.  They were both overpriced IMO and after the expansion I vowed not to get any more.  Seems like more of the same pricing with Defends of the Last Stand and still too similar to the first game for me to justify at such a high price, despite the attractive theme.

[Arctic Blast]

And I also backed Defenders of the Last Stand...and backed out.  ;D Too pricy for what it was, and it wasn't a well run campaign at all. The designer and publisher didn't say anything for weeks because they were busy with other projects, then the game it's based on launched a Kickstarter of its own and stole a bunch of the thunder from the new game. It just became a debacle.

What other game is it based on??   ???  Maybe I should check that out..


I own Defenders of the Realm and one expansion for it.  They were both overpriced IMO and after the expansion I vowed not to get any more.  Seems like more of the same pricing with Defends of the Last Stand and still too similar to the first game for me to justify at such a high price, despite the attractive theme.

Oh, I was talking about Defenders of the Realm.  :) I do like that game, but yeah...the expansions are bizarrely expensive. I also wish that it didn't look like the art design was done by a blind person.

As for Last Stand, the price was a turn off. Also, I had already backed a game called Posthuman that covers the 'post apocalypse' setting with some interesting ideas.

[Nefaro]

Oh, I was talking about Defenders of the Realm.  :) I do like that game, but yeah...the expansions are bizarrely expensive. I also wish that it didn't look like the art design was done by a blind person.

LOL.

The art was done by Larry Elmore, of 80s D&D box art fame.  But I agree the artwork layout had a rather cheap look to it, especially the backgrounds, back of the cards, etc.  It also made me think that Elmore may have been going blind, too, because the proportions on some of the creatures & heroes seemed a bit off or at odd angles.

The artwork definitely gave it a bit of a retro look but at some expense.  Nowadays you'd expect a quality tabletop co-op game, which retails for $80, to have some extremely fancy shit.  Not so here.  That being said, it's not terribly fiddly rules-wise and I found it easy to break out for a wide range of ages.

As for Last Stand, the price was a turn off. Also, I had already backed a game called Posthuman that covers the 'post apocalypse' setting with some interesting ideas.

I forgot about Posthuman.  Wanted to get it but I recall thinking I'd just wait until it was released and grab the normal retail one.   

Dunno if that was due to my balking at the KS price (don't recall it being anything unusual), whether I didn't think I'd get around to playing it for a long time, or that the KS extras weren't all that enticing.  More likely I had just backed a couple other KS campaigns and didn't want to do more at the time.



On another note... which Zombicide expansions/standalones have you tried?  I've not even played the one expansion I picked up awhile back (yet).  Not sure if they really add a whole lot more to the game other than zombie types with an extra rule and a smattering of extra equipment cards & heroes.  I guess the new map tiles are a nice addition..

[Arctic Blast]

I've got Prison Outbreak and Toxic City Mall, as well as the base set. I really like TCM, actually. It adds the toxic zombies (if you're in the same space as the one you kill, take a wound) which mix well with the Berserk zombies from PO. The only new rules it added were barricades, which actually work pretty well without being overly complicated.

I was a fair bit more 'meh' about PO. It's expensive (though I was lucky enough to score it in a trade), and a fair bit of the new material is okay at best. I really think you're better off just buying a box of Berserk zombies and add them to the spawn deck. They're only kill-able via melee weapons, so it forces you to get a bit up close and personal.

I'm sorta kinda interested in the Season 3 stuff, but I haven't made any real decisions regarding it yet.

The art was done by Larry Elmore, of 80s D&D box art fame.  But I agree the artwork layout had a rather cheap look to it, especially the backgrounds, back of the cards, etc.  It also made me think that Elmore may have been going blind, too, because the proportions on some of the creatures & heroes seemed a bit off or at odd angles.

Yeah, it just seems a bit off. And the colour palette... UGH. Nobody in their right mind should ever design a game board with orange being the primary colour. And let's not even get into the fact that the backs of the Hero cards are Barbie pink. 

[Nefaro]

I was a fair bit more 'meh' about PO. It's expensive (though I was lucky enough to score it in a trade), and a fair bit of the new material is okay at best. I really think you're better off just buying a box of Berserk zombies and add them to the spawn deck. They're only kill-able via melee weapons, so it forces you to get a bit up close and personal.

That was the reason the original game included the rule about shooting friendlies, who are in the same space as zombies, first in the original game.  To keep ranged & melee weapon usefulness more on par with each other.