At GenCon, I picked up the Zombies!!! board game, a game I first played at Fear the Con 2. Zombies!!! is a lot of fun because – well, zombies – and because it has characteristics of some of my favorite games.

There’s the strategy and forward-thinking of chess.  Truly, you need to be considering not just where you want to be in the next turn or two, but also where the zombies will be.  Because each player has control of the zombie horde’s movement – at least a portion of it – you also have to be mindful of what your fellow players may do.

There’s a huge element of player-screwing-player in the game.  Like Sorry! and zombie fiction and film, survivors will at some point turn on survivors.

There’s a lot to like about the game.  For instance, the game board is built during game play.  At the beginning of each turn, the player draws a city map tile and places it as they like.  The layout of the game world while familiar from game-to-game is always different.

The goal is to be the first to either kill 25 zombies or to make it to the helipad all the while, the board becomes more and more populated with the undead horde.

One of the reasons I bought the game is that I thought my wife – who loves board games, but is not a “gamer” – would enjoy it.

We tried it out last night with another couple.

Ravenous undead mayhem ensued and we all had a blast.

Game rules were easily learned through actual play.  My prior experience with the game gave me an edge on effectively integrating the game cards into my turns.  I observed the other players had difficulty with that, but I know that with further play those tricks will come.

I’m a fan.

Big thumbs up to Zombies!!!