Review: Dead of Winter

Dead of Winter

Players: 2-5

Publisher: Plaid Hat Games

Year: 2014

Series like The Walking Dead and the comics it originated from are hugely popular. After it many more zombie series spawned, and zombies are still hugely popular in videogames and board games. Dead of Winter shares the zombie theme with many other board games, but does it rise to the challenges of so many competing games or will it join the undead masses of forgotten zombie games?

Dead of Winter has a lot going on. You and your fellow players are in charge of a group of survivors and need to complete a certain scenario within a certain amount of time in order to win. Managing the colony is not easy, as you need to prevent it from being overrun, feed your survivors and acquire more supplies. You also fight against zombies and need to keep an eye on your personal objective and the mission. Supplies can be gathered from one of the locations surrounding the colony.

Here’s the catch, there’s a potential traitor in the game. There is the possibility that someone has a potential mission that forces them to attempt to destroy the colony, rather than save it. When personal objectives are assigned, there is the option of including traitor cards, which could be dealt out. However, because not all cards are handed out, you are not sure if there really is a traitor. It adds a nice touch to the game, as you watch other players during their turns, to see what happens and try to discover the potential traitor. 

A unique mechanic in this game is the crossroads mechanism. During your turn, another player draws a card and if the conditions on the card are met, your turn stops and the card is read out. This can be the sudden arrival of a new survivor, the potential to save some extra supplies or a nasty attack by a zombie. These cards really add flavor to the game.

This game really bursts with flavor. Every game you play feels like a story that is unfolding before your eyes. Together with the others, you are participants in season or episode of The Walking Dead. The characters have their own personalities, reinforced by the Crossroad Cards. A particularly interesting one is the drunkard in the Santa Costume. The Crossroads and the traitor add interesting mechanics to the game and it adds much more excitement to each turn.

While this might not entirely be fair judgement, I feel that it should be said. This game has a huge learning curve. After the first trial game, two or three more are needed, before people finally grasp the full potential of the game. That said, when it has been grasped, it can be a very rewarding experience. The dicerolls can also be quite harsh, because you need to roll in several cases. Characters die off quickly, but new ones can be gained through time.

This game packs a lot. It’s great, however, the learning curve is steep and this game is not intended for casual games. If you can find the time to teach it to people and play a few games, you will have a great time.

Review: Lift Off

The box

Lift Off

Players: 2-4

Publisher: Queen Games

Year: 2000

Action games are centered around action during the gameplay. Strategy games are all about the plan that the players have. This German game combines these two aspects. Let’s see how these two elements play out.

Several cards

The gameplay revolves around preparing missions for the colonization of several players. First there is the ‘preparing’ phase and then the ‘settling’ phase. Five in the case of two or four players or six in the case of three players. Players play their cards simultaneously in a certain order. Blue cards must be played first, these are preparations for the mission. Then a yellow lift off card needs to be played, which launches the space ship. Finally, the red cards can be played, which are the results of the preparations. Players draw a card and assign these facedown to one of the five/six planets or discard them by putting them aside and not using them again or placing them at the bottom of their deck. Then they draw a new card and assign this to a certain planet or discard it. This continues until a players deck runs out and everyone quits playing. The game moves on to the second phase, where the missions take off and points can be scored. Planets give various points when they are colonized or mined.

Three player set-up

 Some of the planets that can be contested

Here the order of cards is important, as illegal cards are removed from play. For instance, playing a red card before the yellow lift off card, where only blue cards are allowed, removes that red card. Colonization attempts on planets that have no yellow lift off card are immediately invalid, and thus no points can be scored. Points can be won, either by colonizing a certain planet or by resources from it. Then all cards are shuffled again and a new round is played. The scores carry over and after three rounds, a person with the most points is declared winner.

However, that’s not all, as certain cards allow special abilities. There’s a red card that allows you to steal a blue card from the opponent, while there is also a blue card that specifically prevents beforementioned red card stealing from you.

What I like about this game is that there’s a certain tension. Do you play as fast as possible, denying your opponents the chance to plan out their turn accordingly and have the benefit of forcing them to quit preparing, even though they might have several cards left. Or do you plan properly and accept the risk that you can’t play all your cards? Putting your cards back on the bottom of your deck means they come back later, but do you really want this? Do you focus on all the planets or is there a specific one or two where you need to win? It’s refreshingly complex and plays fast.

The bottom half  of the box sliding into the top part

It’s a bit strange that only two score cards are supplied, while the game can be played with four players. The box also is much bigger than necessary and the bottom half tends to slide into the top part. These are not huge detractions, but they feel a bit weird. Also, there’s a huge benefit if you are the first to have finished your deck. While it’s understandable, it may yield to someone basically throwing their cards down one after another and then hoping they have won.

The verdict? This game is fast and enjoyable. It’s complex and there’s a certain amount of strategy, but it’s not overly complex. It’s a welcome addition to every collection, but not a necessity.