"They're Coming to Get You, _______!" - Night of the Living Dead: A Zombicide Game

The original Zombicide, which I reviewed here, sadly had some truly baffling design decisions that were impossible for me to reconcile. Namely:

1. It made zero sense that you were forced to damage your allies first whenever you fired a ranged weapon into a melee.
2. Not only do zombies automatically hit characters, they always steal an item away from them.
3. You have to add extra zombies to the board whenever you can't split packs of them  up evenly.  
4. If you run out of minis for a certain zombie type, you have to activate the matching zombies a second time! 
5. The "Manhole Cover" cards are fiddly, they slow the game down and they add a completely unnecessary extra level of difficulty to the game.
6. The sliding clips used for tracking Experience points damage the Survivor cards. 

More the pity, since there were a lot of things to like about the game. The components were amazing, the weapons and equipment options were myriad, turn-by-turn decisions were tense, co-operation was essential and the level-up process was fun. 

In fact, the game lingered with me long after I sold it, to the point where a trailer for the Second Edition really made me sit up and take notice:

Entranced by the dulcet tones of Machete himself, I immediately placed a pre-order for it. And then I waited. And I waited. And then I waited some more.

Thank the gaming gods for this self-inflicted patience, since it prevented me from making another "buyers remorse" misstep. My extended wait gave me the time to realize that something else about Zombicide really bugged me. Something more superficial, namely:

• The generic characters. As it turns out, I didn't want to Hobocop, some anime chick, a chainsaw-wielding (?) waitress on roller skates (!) or, um, Michael Douglas in Falling Down. Dafuq?
• The stylized, Kabuki-style art, which does nothing to set a spooky, atmospheric mood.
• The ridiculous, over-the-top carnage, which feels felt more like an action movie and less like a horror film.

What I really wanted was something darker and grittier, something more grounded and thematic. And, as it turned out, the solution to this was putrefying right under my nose the entire time.

Now, I'd seen Night of the Living Dead: A Zombicide Game lurking on store shelves plenty of times before but, for no logical reason whatsoever, I always wrote it off as some sort of dumbed-down knockoff of the original game. After seeing it on store shelves again recently, I finally took a closer look and, to my delight, it appeared to be the zombie game of my nightmares. 

First off, it's Night of the Living Dead; the first legit horror movie that scared the crap outta me as a kid and made me a life-long fan of Romero's zombie flicks. I'd much rather be Ben or Barbra than "Rick-Grimes-with-the-serial-number-filed-off." Plus, there are no "runners" or "abominations", just olde-skool, single-space-shufflin' zombies. And for all you slow-movin' zombie haterz out there: woe to you who underestimate them...they're still crazy-deadly when they attack in packs!

The NOTLD art style (by Karl Kopinski) is also ten times more appealing to me as well. It's the difference between this:

And this:

Yes, the original game's art is stylized, colorful and undeniably "bad-ass", but that painting of L'il Ghoul Karen is downright haunting to me. 

Side note: out of the following five options, what's your favorite description of Wanda, shown here on the cover of Zombicide?  

• She's got a face like a catcher's mitt. 
• She's got face like a half-chewed caramel. 
• She's got a face like a beat-up water bucket.
• They had to tie a pork chop around her neck to get the zombies to play with her.

Sorry, I digress.

So, aside from superficial aesthetics, what else is it about this itiration that inspired the cancellation of my eternal pre-order? Well, as it turns out, there's a pretty slick little promotional vid for this version as well. Here, have a look, if you dare...

Anyhoo, the bottom line is that I picked this one up and immediately got down to running the first scenario, appropriately titled "What's Happening?"

ROUND ONE

PLAYERS' PHASE

Ben uses his first Action to move into the house, his second to pick up the Barricade Token in the same room and his final Action to spend the Token to board up the southwest window. As per the scenario details, this immediately earns him five Experience Points.

Barbra moves into the same room, locking the door behind her for her second Action. She then picks up the Barricade Token in the northeast corner of the room.

Harry uses his first Action to open the basement door, then hustles through the living room and then into the kitchen.

Helen uses all of her Actions to move onto the Stairs Zone on tile 3R. Her shocking discovery of the "corpse lady" at the top of the landing would normally see all of the Survivors switching back to their default "Romero" Mode but, since no-one has progressed to "Zombicide" Mode yet, this effect is ignored.  

Tom uses two of his Actions to get into the stairwell hallway and then his final Action to pick up the Barricade Token located there.

Judy uses all three of her Action points to move into the living room.

GHOULS' PHASE

Step One - Activation: Attack or Move

Since there are no Ghoulies on the board yet, we immediately move to...

Step Two: Spawn

A single Breaker appears at the first Spawn point. An "Open Doors and Barricades" Card is drawn for the second Spawn point but, since everyone is still in the Blue level of Experience, nothing happens. Unfortunately, three Walkers spawn at the third entry point. Ruh-roh!

ROUND TWO

PLAYERS' PHASE

Barbra uses her first Action to build a Barricade across the window in the south west corner of the dining room, earning five Experience Points. She then Searches the room, coming up with a Flashlight. She opts not to take her final Action.

Harry uses his first Action to pick up the Barricade material in the north east corner of the kitchen. He then uses his second Action to Barricade the window next to the same spot, earning five Experience Points in the process. Finally, he Searches the kitchen, coming up with a "Plenty of Bullets" card.

Showing considerable fortitude, not to mention a strong stomach, Helen spends two of her Actions to dispose of the body on the upstairs landing. With this accomplished, the Zone beyond this point can now be searched by anyone in "Zombicide Mode"! She then uses her last Action to pick up the debris piled up in the east side of the stairway hall.

Tom moves one space into the northwest room of the house, presumably the rec room. He then spends an Action to Barricade the window to the north, earning five Experience Points. His final Action is spent Searching. Unfortunately, in a nasty twist, instead of finding a helpful item, a zombified Karen pops up from out of nowhere!

Hearing Tom scream like a little girl, Judy picks up the Winchester 94 for one Action and then immediately fires a shot into the rec room. She needs a 3+ and rolls a "3", which obliterates Karen and earns her an Experience Point! Spying an approaching pack of Ghouls through the window, she immediately pivots and fires towards them, rolling a "5" for another hit! This expert marksmanship earns her a second Experience Point!

Ben searches the dining room and finds a Mason Jar. With precious little time right now to indulge his beloved hobby of making preserves, he moves into the kitchen and opens the door to the attached pantry / shed.

GHOULS' PHASE

Step One - Activation: Attack or Move

The Breaker spends its entire turn ripping off the Barricade on the window and tearing open the adjacent door. The two Walkers on the east side of the house pile in through the window to menace Judy in the living room!

Step Two: Spawn

New Ghouls appear… including a Fatty at the first spawn point, one Walker at the north Spawn point and a Relative card is drawn for the third point. Since no one has progressed beyond the first level of Experience, this card is ignored.

ROUND THREE

PLAYERS' PHASE

Harry moves into the living room for one Action, gives Judy the "Plenty of Bullets" Card and then moves back into the kitchen. Damned sporting of him, don't ya think?

Helen spends two Actions to move into the dining room with Barbra, then uses an Action to Barricade the window, getting five Experience Points for her efforts.

Tom searches the room and finds some Boards, which he immediately discards for a Barricade Token. He then uses said Barricade Action to seal up the western window in the same room, gaining five Experience Points in the process. This moves him into the Yellow Experience level and unlocks the "Shove" special ability! He then moves into the dining room to help defend Helen and Barbra.

Judy attempts to club one of the Ghouls in her space with a table leg! She needs a 4+ in order to be successful and rolls a "5" - which is a hit, giving her a third Experience Point. She then moves into the kitchen and spends her final Action aiming at the Breaker who's now on the threshold of entering the house! She needs a 3+ to hit and rolls exactly "3"… success! This gains her her a fourth Experience Points for yet another zombie kill!

Ben decides to use his first Action to rush in and help Judy, taking a swing at one of the Ghouls with his Tire Iron. He needs a 4+ in order to hit and gets a “2”, a miss! His second swing, however, is a "5" which is a solid hit, giving him an Experience Point!

Frantically looking around for any useful items, Barbra uses her Flashlight to Search the room. She finds two sets of Boards, I.E. plenty of material to shore up the defense of the room! She immediately discards both of these cards, gains two Barricade Tokens and then invests both of them to block both off the southern windows in the dining room. This earns her a whopping ten experience points! Now in the Yellow Experience level, she unlocks the "Slippery" trait!

GHOULS' PHASE

Step One - Activation: Attack or Move

The Fatty lopes through the open door into the dining room, threatening Tom, Helen and Barbara! The Walkers to the north start scrambling around the house, looking for an open window or door. 

Step Two: Spawn

Since we're now in the Yellow Experience level, five (!) Walkers appear at the southwestern Spawn point! Five also appear in the northern entry area. Finally, a Relative, specifically Johnny (I guess?), appears in the easterly Spawn zone.

ROUND FOUR

PLAYERS' PHASE

Knowing that she has no weapon effective enough to take out the looming Fatty, Helen moves into the kitchen, spending an extra Action Point to do this. She then searches the kitchen and finds more Boards, which she immediately converts into a Barricade Token. 

Tom uses his freshly-unlocked (and free to use!) "Shove" ability to push the Fatty back outside! He then uses his first Action to shut and lock the door, his second to do a room Search (finding "Plenty of Shells") and then he exhausts his third Action to join the others in the kitchen.

Judy uses her first action to move into the living room and then she takes a pot-shot at Johnny, getting a “5”, which vaporizes his undead melon! She now has five Experience Points! Finally, in a moment of trust, she gives the Winchester 94 and bullets to Ben, which lets her transform into "Zombicide Mode"!

Ben uses his first Action to Search the room. Unfortunately, instead of finding anything practical, Karen pops up again! Ben then proceeds to use his two remaining Actions to try and cave the indomitable l'il scamp's skull in with a tire iron. He rolls a "1" on his first swing but "5" on the second, taking her out and gaining another Experience Point, which brings him up to six!

Barbra uses her Flashlight to Search the room and finds gas! She immediately moves two spaces to meet up with Ben, intending to give him this new-found fuel!

Harry uses his first Action to Search, finding Boards, which he immediately converts into a Barricade Token. He then spends an Action (and the Token) to seal up one of the windows in the kitchen. This gives him five more Experience Points, bringing him up to ten and unlocking the "Taunt" Skill. He then uses his final Action to move into the living room.

GHOULS' PHASE

Step One - Activation: Attack or Move

The lead Walker at the north side of the house shuffles a single space towards the open window, leading a pack of five more Ghouls shambling right behind him. Deterred by all of the restored Barricades in the south west corner of the house, the single Fatty and his entourage of five Walkers amble one space south, looking for a new way in.

Step Two: Spawn

Another "Relative" appears in the first Spawn space, yet another one appears in the north Spawn zone and one Breaker appears in the east.

ROUND FIVE

PLAYERS' PHASE

Tom spends his first Action searching the kitchen. He scrounges up some Boards, which he immediately converts into a Barricade Token. He then moves into the living room and uses his final Action to hastily Barricade the window that the Ghoul horde is approaching. This gives him five more experience points, putting him at 15!

Judy searches the living room and finds a rifle Scope, which she immediately hands off to Ben. She then chooses to ignore her final available Action.

On Ben’s turn, he uses a Re-organize / Trade Action to give Barbra the Mason Jar, forcing her to huck the "Plenty of Bullets" card to make room for this. Ben follows suit, discarding the Scope and the Winchester 94 to gain the Scoped Winchester. He then takes a shot at the Breaker who just appeared in the easterly Spawn point. Unfortunately, he rolls a "2" which is a miss but, thanks to "Plenty of Bullets", he re-rolls, this time getting a "4." It’s a hit, killing the Breaker, giving him his seventh Experience Point, putting him into the Yellow zone and unlocking his "Hawk-eye" Skill. For his third Action he Searches the room, getting another "Plenty of Bullets" card.

Barbra begins her turn by discarding the Mason Jar and Flammable Fluid to make a Molotov. She then discards the Molotov to do a one-space Ranged attack Action at the eastern Spawn point, which moves it over to the northern Spawn point. Now the Ghouls won’t be able to approach from the east! Barbra then uses her second Action to search with  her Flashlight, finding another Scope and more Flammable Fluid. She passes the latter off to Tom, giving him the ability to make a Torch out of his Table Leg if need be.

Harry Searches the living room and finds "Plenty of Shells." At a loss for what else to do, he exhausts the rest of his Actions.

Helen spends her first Action searching and finds a Flashlight. For her second Action, she places the Barricade Token that's in her supply on the remaining window in the kitchen. Beyond this, there’s little else she can do, so she exhausts her other two Actions.

GHOULS' PHASE

Step One - Activation: Attack or Move

The Walkers continue their inexorable march around the outside of the cabin. (NOTE: I think I'm doing their movement properly. The rules state that the Ghouls choose a Destination Zone based on two factors: the most visible group of Survivors in a single Zone or the Zone with the most unseen Survivors. They then "move 1 Zone towards their Destination Zone by taking the shortest available path." I can only assume that open doors and windows are an indispensable part of that "path.")

Step Two: Spawn

In an alarming twist, a new Breaker appears at the first Spawn point to the southwest. One of the northern Spawn points reveals another "Relatives" Card but, since both are already in play, there's no effect. The other northern Spawn point receives three Fatties. Yikes!

ROUND SIX

PLAYERS' PHASE

Judy does a search Action, picking up another Mason Jar, which she immediately passes over to Tom for an Action. She ops not to use her third Action for the round.

Paranoid that the Breaker may tear through the barriers at the southwestern corner of the house, Ben dashes off to the dining room. Thanks to his Hawk-eye ability, he can perform a Ranged attack Actions through Barricades, so he uses his last Action to fire his Scoped Winchester at the Breaker. He hits with a "6", giving him one more Experience Point and bringing him up to eight.

Barbra keeps scanning the house with her Flashlight, drawing two House Equipment Cards and revealing "Plenty of Shells" and friggin' Karen again, who pops up like an undead Mormon! Barbra uses her second Action to try and make the poor, innocent girl look like a rabbit, intent on driving her Claw Hammer up through the roof of her mouth. With a roll of "5" she succeeds, and Barb's Experience-O-Meter goes up to 16.

Harry Searches as well, drawing yet another "Karen, Poor Baby!" card, which translates to a "Johnny-on-the-spot." Harry instinctively swings his crowbar at Johnny's noggin', nicely ventilating it with a roll of "5" and getting him up to eleven Experience Points. He then ignores his final action.

On Helen‘s turn she uses her Flashlight to draw two Cards, gaining a Scope and Boards, the latter of which she immediately converts into a Barricade Token. She then moves one space into the living room and then uses her final Action to Barricade the remaining window in that room.

With all the windows blocked with Barricades and no Ghouls in the house, the Survivors win the Scene! 

***

REVIEW

PROS

• See previous comments RE: how amazing this thing looks and how it finally feels like a horror game to me.
• It's hard to believe, but the first Zombicide was released almost a decade ago and, since then, the designers have made a lot of evolutionary developments to the concept, the high water mark arguably being 2015's Black Plague. As a newer version of the game, released just last year, Night of the Living Dead incorporates many of these welcome improvements. Chief among these spruce-ups has to be the friggin' amazing Survivor Dashboard, which use tracked sliders to record Experience and pegs to keep a tally on damage and unlocked skills. Pure genius!
• The game does a great job simulating the action of the film. You actually feel a palpable sense of desperation  as you're running around the house, trying to bolster your defenses before endless waves of marauding undead start pounding on the doors and tearing at the shutters!
• As such, I think this version is even more reliant on co-operation. Sure, I kinda cruised through this scenario, but my dice luck was decent, I was playing all of the characters and I was optimizing their Actions. I can see this being a completely different experience with six players all controlling their own Survivors.
• Some of the dumber rules have been eliminated or refined. For example: if you shoot into a melee now, you only hit allies if you miss! Thanks, designers...gold stars all around! In other rule improvements: zombies don't steal shit from people, there are no stupid manhole covers and packs of Ghouls don't split up. Also the clever, but not-so-practical, concept of in-game "Noise" has been replaced by a much easier and intuitive A.I. system for the zombies.
• Combining items into Scoped Rifles and Molotov cocktails is just plain fun. Props for the nice variety of items and weapons!
• The Skills are well in-step with the film characters, I.E. Ben and Judy become better shots, Barbra turns into an escape artist, Tom transforms into a rugby player, Helen gets resourceful and Harry get, um...bossy. I also like that players evolve into their adrenaline-fueled "Zombicide" Mode when they work together and share key items. Mercifully, the Survivors feel unrealistic, even while sporting this upgrade.   
• The rule book alone is a work of art, with lots of amazing illustrations, examples, a glossary and * swoon * a phreakin' index!  

CONS

• I approve of the inclusion of Relatives, but the execution seems a bit off. In the movie, Barbra and Helen pretty much freeze up like headlight-stricken deer when cannibalistic Karen or undead Johnny show up. The game's rules simulate this by having a "Relative" pop up during a room Search or Spawn, which forces Survivors to drop from dynamic "Zombicide" Mode down to frightened rabbit "Romero" Mode. That's both shocking and on-point...the first two times it happens. Between Searches and Spawns, Relatives appear so frequently that unlocking "Zombicide" Mode is kind of a pain in the ass, since you're constantly flipping your Survivor Card over. Maybe there are four "Karen? Poor Baby" Cards in the House Equipment Deck to encourage folks to search in the other two decks, who knows? Whatever the reason, I can't square these corners off thematically. I mean, are Karen and Johnny just popping up over and over again or is Night of the Living Dead really the story of how a massive, organized, group Thanksgiving dinner at a quaint, isolated farmhouse went horribly awry? My solution: Karen and Johnny can only pop up once per Scene, permanently reducing folks to "Romero" Mode until (A) they're eliminated and (B) the Survivors perform the same the scenario-specific instruction to power back up again. 
• The rule book is great, but there are still a few times where the designers muddy the waters for no good reason. For example, Page 11 reads: "In exterior Zones, movement from one Zone to another has no restrictions. However, Actors must go through an open door (or opening) to move from an interior Zone to an exterior one and vice-versa. In interior Zones, Actors may move from one Zone to another as long as their Zones are linked by an opening (such as an open door or open window)." Why use  "opening" as your chosen verbiage? Why not just say "open door or window?" Oi.
• Although I really dig the idea of the game rewarding co-operation with the "Zombicide Mode", I really hafta ask: what's in it for the rat bastard around the table? In other words: the game gives you every reason in the world to co-operate, but zero incentive to look out for number one! My suggestion: regardless of a win or loss, give out an individual winner award to the player with the most Experience Points. If there's a tie, the person with the Rifle wins! With this house rule, you can use an Action to take the rifle away from someone by force. Roll a d6 and add +1 for every difference in Experience Level between the two. The high-roller takes the rifle and also has the option of inflicting a point of damage on the loser! If there's a tie, it turns into a good, old-fashioned tug-of-war! You can also flat-out attack another Survivor bare-handed, using the rules above (and inflicting a mandatory point of damage) or you can just snap and use a melee weapon! This might help replicate the open conflict between Ben and Harry at the end of the film!

***

All told, Night of the Living Dead: A Zombicide Game is a vast improvement over the original and avoids the stylistic personal objections I'd presumably have over the Second Edition. Even though there are still a few rules vagaries, and the execution of some of the new, thematically-relevant conditions left me scratching my head, the game itself does a fantastic job re-creating the tension, synergy and camaraderie of a real survival horror experience.

Night of the Living Dead: A Zombicide Game scores five pips out of six with a slight tilt down towards that deathtrap of a basement!