All Things Zombie
All Things Zombie is a zombie board game, designed by Ed Teixeira and Mark H. Walker and published by Lock N Load Publishing.
By Cape Rust
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I am not a huge fan of the zombie craze that hit our nation these past few years. I’ve seen all of the required movies and read several of the must read zombie books, but I don’t find myself drawn to the genre the way the protagonists seem to be drawn to the living. Even with my passive interest in zombies, All Things Zombie by Lock N Load Publishing caught my attention, and that isn’t exactly an easy thing to do considering how saturated the market is with games like this.
The importance of the cover of a game box can’t be under estimated; it is a games audition, its handshake, its first impression. The cover of All Things Zombie lets you know right away that it is going to be a zombie hack and slash board game, which is exactly what it is. There is some cool additional amplifying information, and all of it is well done and appealing. Turning the game box over and reading the description really draws a potential customer in. Once you open the box it is easy to see why Lock N Load has the reputation they have. The game board is actually in several parts and double sided so you end up with a very modular board that increases the game play possibilities in a simple and efficient way. The counters are sturdy and fairly easy to read, but being of normal counter size every now and then I had to strain my old fart eyes to see some of the numbers. This was not a ding on Lock N Load, just something that always has to be dealt with when playing games like this. The illustrations on the cover, the cards, and the counters are a bit cartoonish, but in an edgy way rather than silly, yet this game never takes itself too seriously.
As for game play and rules, here is an area that hit a few minor bumps. The rules, while well presented, at times seemed to be lacking, this was only a minor inconvenience as my play-test group tends to follow the rule-of-cool (if we don’t like a rule or don’t understand it, we pick whatever is the most fun or will have the coolest result). The only real problem I had during game play was finding the right container to place all of the zombie counters in, if you are not careful, the zombies can really start stacking up in some places and drawing them requires something a bit better than the bottom of the box. We actually ended up using a small plastic bucket and that worked really well. My favorite rule that was included in this game was that zombies were drawn to the sound of gun fire; this rule made using things like crossbows and other weapons more of an appealing option. The instructions had a ton of interesting scenarios and several alternative ways to play the game, which is always welcome. Game play is well paced, not really fast, but it never felt slow.
If you are looking for a well made, easy to learn zombie board game, All Things Zombie will not disappoint. If you are like me and not completely into zombies, this is still a great game that provides the opportunity to cooperate or fight your fellow players. There is plenty of opportunity to make bold decisions and enough strategy to keep table top generals interested. Games like All Things Zombie serve as a great reminder that zombies are not dead.
