Zombie 15' Review

The horde is coming will you survive.

I have backed a few Kickstarter projects in the last year and finally they're starting to be delivered. This week I was fortunate enough to get my copy of Zombie 15', a co-op, zombie, survival board game.

This is the first Zombie board game I have played (I'm not counting Zombie Dice). I have also been playing more and more cooperative games lately as MMO's or other multi-player video games don't provide that human element that a bunch of friends in the same room does.

What sets Zombie 15' apart from other zombie games is, I believe, it's the first to come with its own soundtrack. This is where the heart of the game comes from, a 15 minute track of atmospheric music that growls at you to let you know more zombies have arrived.

To explain how it's played I need to tell you about the many high quality pieces that come with the game.

You get 32 double sided tiles that can be set up a number of different ways according to the scenario book (15 scenarios come with the game). 8 different character minis and a corresponding sheet for them. Each is in a different colour plastic so you can easily identify them. 100 zombie minis in four different flavours. 3 types of the standard zombie and 1 alpha zombie (which I also have as a King of Tokyo monster promo). There are also a load of zombie cards and search cards and a mass of tokens. Oh and a CD with three 15 minute tracks, each upping the difficulty with more growls.

You start the game by picking a scenario and setting it up how it says. Choose your characters from the 8 provided, you'll only ever play with 4 max. Each one has their own strengths, weaknesses and unique starting items. You place the tiles to form your board, place all the starting zombies, tokens, horde box, search cars, zombie deck and character pieces. Grab your starting gear, or any you've brought over from a previous scenario, whack on the right track and away you go.

You have four actions a turn and can move, search, use your items or kill zombies. If a zombie is nearby it limits your actions, so clearing your tile will often take priority.

The CD will alert you when to flip over the top card of the zombie deck spawning up to four zombies on your tile, or worse the horde will arrive and every zombie in the horde box will come for brains. The horde will grow based on how noisy you are so silent weapons are a good choice, but when they break they're not much use for killing. Guns will draw more zombies but you can reload them if you find some ammo. Chooses how you do thing and how it could affect the future is up to you, but you won't have long to decide and 15 minutes will go by in a flash.

One of the games biggest drawback is it's 3 player mode. It kind of feels tacked on, as though the game was meant to be 2 or 4 players not 2 to 4 players. Only having three characters even with an extra action each makes the games a lot harder, especially if a large horde lands on your tile. That extra character makes dealing with it a little more bearable.

The theming of the game is where it shines. The 15 minute time limit and constant pressure as more zombies appear truly feels like you're always running for your life.

When we've played we try to get into playing our characters differently, either by choice or because that one character keeps having the growl land on their turn or some other misfortune coincidental lands them much blame.

I had one game where Josh had made it to the exit only for three zombie to appear in the street with Will who had no weapons and one health. So Josh valiantly ran back with AK in hand to clear a path and get Will out of yet another close call.

It's these moments that really provide the joy of the game and force you to play more cooperatively as you each save each other from the zombie horde.

I've been reluctant to pick a zombie game to add to my collection as the genre is so saturated that I wanted to pick the right one. After playing Zombie 15' I feel that I have made the right choice. Though my usual 3 player group sometimes struggles we still have a blast.

I'm looking forward to getting more scenarios and the solo campaigns so that I can play when my group isn't around. The perks of Kickstarting this project really make up for the very few short-comings that this game has. I can't wait to introduce more players to it as it may be a while before anyone else I know can get a copy.