Zombies! The Board Game

Who doesn't love a great zombie flick? Often combining gleeful gore with biting satire and social commentary, the zombie movie adventure is always an excellent way to escape the doldrums of everyday life. Survival horror remains one of the most popular film genres to this day.

And, after the credits roll, who hasn't also daydreamed about being in one of those zombie adventures, taking out infernal creature after rotting infernal creature in a desperate, yet exciting, attempt to remain alive? Well, with the 2001 release Zombies!!! The Board Game, you can do just that. This fun game is exciting enough for more experienced players yet simple enough for those new to gaming to learn and join in.

About the Game
This straightforward game, published by Journeyman Press, Pegasus Spiele, and Twilight Creations, has players cast in the role of townspeople attempting to evade a zombie attack. The first player to either escape to the town's heliport or kill 25 zombies wins. You're best off playing Zombies!!! The Board Game with four people, but can be just as fun with two to six people instead.

Best for players aged 12 and up, Zombies!!! The Board Game will take an hour or perhaps two to play a full game. Players use simple counters to keep track of aspects of the game, and use cards to represent events such as finding weapons to use in combat or encountering zombies. Speaking of the hellish creatures, the game comes with 100 zombie miniatures that you can fully personalize to your gore-loving heart's content.

This is a modular board game, in that the game board is comprised of multiple pieces. The game progresses according to a roll and move mechanic, where players roll the dice and progress along the game board according to their roll. Players move according to die roll, and place new tiles in front of them, building a map.

Surviving the Zombie Horde

Zombies!!! The Board Game can alternately be won by the first player to kill 25 zombies, but this is not an easy task.. Zombies appear with the laying down of each new tile and serve to try to impede the player's progress. If a player lands on the same tile as a zombie, combat occurs. Combat usually comes down to the results of a 50/50 roll of the dice, although a player can modify this with bullet tokens.

As in the movies, zombie hordes build up quickly, and each player keeps their slain zombies in order to track their kills. You may find that the 100 zombie miniatures provided may not be enough to last throughout an entire game with a larger party, but sets of extra zombies are available for purchase. And let's face it, can you really have too many zombie miniatures?

Again, as in the movies, the best way to survive the zombie attacks is to find a building to hole up in while you build up your arsenal. Players acquire weapons via event cards that come into play. There are also cards that allow players to take control of their human opponents, or to otherwise disadvantage them by causing them to do something like drop their weapons or encounter zombies.

Expansion Packs and Reissues

Zombies!!! The Board Game was the first game of the Zombies!!! series. The game inspired no less than eight expansions, some of which also function as standalone games. The Zombies!!! series includes:

•Zombies!!! 2: Zombie Corps(e): This expansion, which can also be played as a standalone, takes place on a military base, and has players searching for the source of the zombie plague.
•Zombies!!! 3: Mall Walkers: Another expansion which can also serve as a standalone game, this game is set in a shopping mall.
•Zombies!!! 3.5: Not Dead Yet: This is an expansion of the event card pack for the original Zombies!!! game.
•Zombies!!! 4: The End...: This game features the addition of a howling pack of mad zombie dogs chasing players through a frightening wood, and is also playable as a standalone.
•Zombies!!! 5: School's Out Forever: Another sequel playable as either an expansion or a standalone, this game is set in a zombie-plagued university.
•Zombies!!! 6: Six Feet Under: This expansion pack allows players to explore the sewers and subways underground the previous Zombies!!! games. Also playable as a standalone
•Zombies!!! 6.66: Fill in the _______!!!: Another cards expansion pack, this gives players the unique opportunity to create their own event cards and tiles by filling in blank ones.
•Zombies!!! 7: Send in the Clowns: Which is scarier, zombies or clowns? How about zombie clowns? Find out with this game set in a traveling carnival. Again, this is also playable as a standalone.
•Zombies!!! 8 : Jailbreak: This expansion, which requires the Zombies!!! core set to play, is set in a mental ward where the other inmates are flesh-eating zombies.

Edge Entertainment and Twilight Creations re-issued the original Zombies!!! The Board Game in 2006 as Zombies!!! Second Edition. This version included updated board, card, and tile art, revised rules, and a larger box that allows for the storage of game pieces from all of the Zombies!!! expansion packs, and possibly best of all, a new female zombie miniature.

Zombies!!! The Board Game is a fun, uncomplicated game that is perfect for Halloween or other horror-themed parties, or for nights when the more hardcore tabletop games seem like too much of a slog. It's simple enough for players unaccustomed to tabletop role playing games, or even for younger players (although the horror theme will probably limit that to some degree). Any fan of the zombie genre will
enjoy it, gamer or no.

Learn more about other popular board games here.