Board Game Blurb: Dead of Winter

Publisher:   Plaid Hat Games, 2014

Players:   2-5

Game Type: Co-Op with Possible Traitor

 

Dead of Winter is basically The Walking Dead in board game form.  You and your fellow players control a a small group of survivors that have banded together in a makeshift colony, trying to survive the Zombie apocalypse.  Throughout the game you will be risking your character’s life and limb venturing out to find food, medicine and other supplies all the while wondering if someone is secretly trying to bring the rest of you down.

As with most Co-Op games, there are bunch of ways to lose, but only one way to win.  You and your fellow players have a series of rounds to gather a particular set of items need to win the game all the while making sure the colony has enough food each round, the zombies are kept at bay, the trash hasn’t piled up, raider’s, depression or other random events have been appeased etc…

What differentiates this game from other co-op games is the story elements that make each play through a unique experience.  The objective of each game is randomly drawn from the deck referencing short paragraph’s to read before starting that give a bit of context as to why medicine, guns or food need to be gathered to win.  Furthermore, during each player’s turn, the player on the left draws a “crossroads” card that may or may not trigger every turn.  The crossroads cards are random story events that may be good, bad, or offer a choice the player or entire group must make.  This makes the game feel like you’re playing through a zombie story, with all the random things that happen and need to be adjusted for.

The game is well designed and has well-made components with the “Standees” for zombies and characters being my favorite.  There is a token for everything (no really, everything) and decks galore so no playing on small coffee tables.

This is currently my favorite game even though I’ve only been with a group that has beaten it a handful of times.  I would warn that though the game isn’t incredibly complex, there is so much to explain and keep track of that it feel like drinking out of a fire hose when you are first learning it.  Keep at it though, the game is well worth it.

Award for the Game that Most Makes it’s Players Desperate for Scraps of Food:   Yes, we voted to eat the horse.

Most Heroic Character:  Sparky the stunt dog!  Don’t know how he can hold a shot gun, but that game doesn’t say he can’t!