Rainy Sunday Afternoon? Bring on the Zombies!!!

Zombies!!! by Twilight Creations

Zombies!!! by Twilight Creations

     Last Sunday, which happened to be Easter, was cold and rainy where we live. Maybe it was the sugar crash from too many jelly beans and marshmallow Peeps, but nobody wanted to watch TV or read.  My son said, “Hey Dad, can we play that zombie game you got the other day?”  Easter, candy, zombies…”Why not?”  So we broke out Zombies!!! from Twilight Creations.

     My wife and I  played years ago before we had kids and thus, had actual free time. We had fun but Zombies!!! is an even better game with more players. I unwrapped the game box and started punching out life & bullet counters. Kinda made me jones for Advanced Squad Leader…but I digress. I was surprised when my nine year old daughter announced that she wanted to play.  I think she is slowly coming around to the way. Learn she will.

Not your traditional Easter activity...

Not your traditional Easter activity…

     It’s been a long day, so this isn’t a full blown review. Suffice it to say that we ended up playing for almost four hours. A word of warning though.  The game is “recommended” for ages 12 and up and I was playing with a seven and nine year old. Is it the subject matter that warrants such an age rating?  Is it the mechanics? Maybe. Here’s what I think.  And I wouldn’t doubt that any parent playing this game with younger kids has encountered this phenomenon.

     Zombies!!! has a significant “dog eat dog” element.  Remember Candyland? Remember how you’d land on a particular space and slide all the way back to the start of the game? It sucked, but even as a four year old, you kinda grokked that it was just the luck of the draw.  Maybe our first inkling that life isn’t fair.

     Well, in Zombies!!!, the screwing isn’t random.  It comes straight from your co-players.  Or as you may know them, “Mom,” “Dad,” or your “big Sis.”  There’s a card in Zombies!!! that is the equivalent of that rainbow slide in Candyland.  When someone plays it on  you, you go back to the game’s starting tile and lose half your zombie kills (one way to win the game is to bag 25 zombies).

     When my wife played that card on my little man…well, let’s just say he didn’t handle it well.   But after a talking to and application of a Kleenex tissue, the game went on.  Fun was had by all (not counting the part where tears flowed) and that’s what counts.

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