ZOMBIE DICE

So, do you like rolling dice and eating brains? Then Zombie Dice is the game for you! This Steve Jackson Games has the players as zombies, competing to eat the most brains first.

The key to Zombie Dice is, well, the zombie dice. These six-sided dice have three symbols: Brain, which you need to win; Shotgun, which can end your turn; and Footprints, which mean your would-be victim got away. Dice come in three colors: green, which have three Brains, two Footprints, and one Shotgun; yellow, with two of each symbol; and red, with three Shotguns, two Footprints and one Brain.

Each turn a player shakes the cup holding the dice, selects three dice at random, and rolls them. If a player gets three Shotgun Blasts their turn ends. If not, they can stop or keep going. A player who stops scores a Brain for each Brain rolled (keeping track of them by something other than the dice), puts all the dice back in the cup, and passes it to the next player for their turn. If a player keeps going they set aside any Brains and Shotguns rolled, then reroll any Footprints, plus more random dice until they have three dice to roll. Players can get more Brains if the keep going -- but if they ever have three Shotguns they lose all the Brains they scored that round and their turn ends.

When a player scores 13 Brains, players finish the round (the rules don't specify exactly what this means; my interpretation is each player gets one more turn) and whoever has the most Brains at the end wins!

Much like Steve Jackson Games' Cthuhu Dice, Zombie Dice is very simple and very quick. I'd give the edge to Zombie Dice for having more strategy. This game does have a big risk-big reward element, and knowing just by color which dice are more potnetially helpful or harmful will influence whether or not a player pushes their luck. Zombie Dice is a fun, easy, diverting little game. Brrrrrrainsssssss...

Overall grade: B
Reviewed by James Lynch