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.