Last weekend I had gotten a terribly late start on my board game project and ended up not being able to do more than lay the foundations out for what could've been a solid game. The first thing that came into my head for a theme was a zombie survival game, so I went with that. The biggest problem I had was that I was thinking too much about how many variables go into surviving a zombie apocalypse, and doing a search for zombie board games and finding super-complex tabletop setups didn't help the matter. I did end up simplifying it and at least laying the foundations before passing out at 5 am.
Each player controls a group of six people. The objective is to make it through the infected city by rolling the dice and reaching the extraction point. There are several zombie squares along the linear path to the finish, and if landed on, activates a zombie chance roll. Here, you roll a six-sided dice, and each number represents a different zombie event. Calling a coin toss determines whether you win or lose the event. Events are as follows:
1: Single zombie- mild attack that sends you back three spaces if lost.
2: Zombie cluster- stronger attack that can cost a team member if lost.
3: Player flanks zombies- get a surprise attack on a group of zombies and either gain a player or lose nothing.
4: Zombies flank player- get attacked unexpectedly and either lose a player or gain nothing.
5: Zombie swarm- strongest attack that can cost a team two members if lost.
6: Zombie shelter- hide from a massive hoard until it passes and lose a turn.
There are also spaces where the player can collect first aid kits that can prevent a team member from dying if an event is lost, and weapons/item caches like grenades that can cancel out zombie attacks, rifles that allow the player to re-roll, vehicles advance five spaces, and if you're unlucky, a water pistol that does nothing. I wanted to add night vision goggles and some sort of melee weapon like a baseball bat or crowbar or something, but I couldn't think of how they'd uniquely affect the game. They would've come out to six total, so I could use the dice for that too. Though for balance reasons I might want to use cards for the items to make some rarer than others. Obviously I haven't played this game so I don't know what things tip the scales too far and what things don't. And while I'm certainly not patting myself on the back for procrastinating on this project over stress and overthinking, I do think I managed to lay out a solid foundation for a game at least, which is more than what I thought I'd be able to do when I felt like I was dead in the water entirely.
1: Single zombie- mild attack that sends you back three spaces if lost.
2: Zombie cluster- stronger attack that can cost a team member if lost.
3: Player flanks zombies- get a surprise attack on a group of zombies and either gain a player or lose nothing.
4: Zombies flank player- get attacked unexpectedly and either lose a player or gain nothing.
5: Zombie swarm- strongest attack that can cost a team two members if lost.
6: Zombie shelter- hide from a massive hoard until it passes and lose a turn.
There are also spaces where the player can collect first aid kits that can prevent a team member from dying if an event is lost, and weapons/item caches like grenades that can cancel out zombie attacks, rifles that allow the player to re-roll, vehicles advance five spaces, and if you're unlucky, a water pistol that does nothing. I wanted to add night vision goggles and some sort of melee weapon like a baseball bat or crowbar or something, but I couldn't think of how they'd uniquely affect the game. They would've come out to six total, so I could use the dice for that too. Though for balance reasons I might want to use cards for the items to make some rarer than others. Obviously I haven't played this game so I don't know what things tip the scales too far and what things don't. And while I'm certainly not patting myself on the back for procrastinating on this project over stress and overthinking, I do think I managed to lay out a solid foundation for a game at least, which is more than what I thought I'd be able to do when I felt like I was dead in the water entirely.
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