Review -- EATEN BY ZOMBIES!

Few things say Halloween fun more than zombies, and with the night of mischief only days away, here is a new offering by designer Max Holliday.
Eaten By Zombies! is a brand new (2011) offering into what is admittedly a rather crowded field of zombie-themed boardgames. There are literally dozens that fall into the basic premise of players trying to avoid the rotting hordes of undead, and Eaten By Zombies! doesn't stray from the idea either.
Then again Hollywood, and 'B' filmmakers have churned out dozens of zombie films and we still go to enjoy the carnage of Resident Evil or the dark humor of Shaun of the Dead.
But back to Eaten By Zombies! which has some nice elements which make it one of the newer zombie offerings worth a look.
To start with it's a card game, and that generally means a bit lower cost that a full boardgame.
Eaten By Zombies! also accommodates two-to-four players, and that allows some nice versatility, allowing a couple to play it, or to have the neighbours for a game.
The game is also stated to play in about 20-minutes. The company estimates, in this case Mayday Games, usually anticipate players knowing the game fairly well, so in most cases games are likely to last longer, but will still be nice, quick plays.
Players start off with an identical 12 cards, from which they draw six as a hand. The basic hand includes cards which add to attacks on a zombie, help flee if that is your choice, and a couple of sandwich cards as a resource.
With six cards in hand you draw a zombie card, from a deck of 25. You then decide if you want to fight or run, and use cards in your hand to enhance your chance of doing whichever action you choose.
If you are successful you get to collect useful items, guns, crowbar, ammo etc., which go to your hand and then you draw back to six cards.
If you flee then the zombie card goes to the zombie discard pile, so when you need to reshuffle your draw pile, you will get zombie cards which can only be gotten rid of if you play them into the zombie horde attacking another player, making it tougher on them. This aspect makes three and four player games a bit less of a head-to-head, get the other guy contest.
Death is all but inevitable, but if you are the last player standing you win. If at any time the entire zombie deck is depleted, because the players have killed all of them rather than using flee, all remaining players alive win together. That creates a unique cooperative/competitive aspect to Eaten By Zombies! You can better survive by cooperation, but the need to rid your hands of zombies forces you into competition with other players.
All told there is some definite ghoulish fun to be had with Eaten By Zombies!
Check this card game out at www.maydaygames.com

-- Review appeared in Yorkton This Week newspaper October 26, 2011 - Yorkton, SK. Canada