The Walking Dead has come far from its comic roots and is quickly joining the ranks of successful franchises. It comes as no surprise that the addition of a multiplayer board game, from Cryptozoic Entertainment, would be added to its line up, just in case you didn’t have enough zombies in your life.
Similar to Monopoly in the way one goes around the board, being presented with obstacles and stepping stones, the game is well built and provides a deep, immersive experience. You start off as a group of survivors who need to visit each of four locations, represented by the four corners of the board, before retreating to the safety of your camp. Along they way, you’ll have the opportunity to pick up weapons to assist you in the inevitable confrontations you will have with the zombies that will come your way. The game does a great job in conveying a sense of dread that comes with not knowing when the next threat will pop up and try to eat your brains or when you’ll run out of ammunition or supplies and forces teamwork.
An interesting twist that seeks to solve a problem I personally have with many board games, that when someone dies, they are excluded from enjoying the game until the game is over, when you die in The Walking Dead you, appropriately turn into a zombie, and can attack your former teammates as you’ll be playing for the other team.
All in all this seems to be a well made game, with the only down-side being that the odds are stacked against you to remain human, and after people get the gist of the game, it may turn into a race to be zombified, and come after the other human players.
I think this is a great way to capitalize on the buzz for the franchise and I’ll definitely be excited about picking one of these up in the near future.
