Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsWeeknight game!
Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2021
I got this game because my cousin is 13 years old and there might be just enough time for him to enjoy the "kid" version of this. There is Zombie Teenz, but I wanted to play through this game while we still could. We play games regularly and his go-to game is Memoir '44. His thinking skills however still needs improvement, and my husband and I do not go easy on him. I thought it might be good to try some easier kid games, since we jumped into board games that I'm mainly interested in and mostly bypassed all the kid games.
While playing, it seems that the game is below his level..but there were a few times where he didn't see the best moves when there were harder decisions to be made (to be fair, I turned my brain off so I didn't all the time either). So I might think that this is too easy for him and he might think the same...but there is still room for improvement. The game does ramp up when you open the envelopes.
Either way, the game board is nicely made. The artwork is fantastic, "like it's from a movie". I love that the main characters are diverse and I definitely resonate with the chubby kid in terms of...no spoilers!
I love that there are envelopes that need to be opened and stickers that need to be applied. The art design and layout is colorful and fun; I wish I had something like this when I was a kid! A lot of attention to detail and care went into the production and it really comes through.
I have to have to be honest with the world: we did cheat. After the first game, I said, "Yeup, let's open the first envelope!". The initial game was way too easy for us to have to sit through and play the same way 5 times, I was sure our brains would turn to goop and we would join the zombie hoard.
There are also missions in the book. You're only supposed to complete one mission per game...and I asked, "What proper game does that!?". Many games allow you to complete many missions in one round...so yes, we complete multiple missions per game. I think forcing yourself to play by the rules and only do one thing at a time or open an envelope after a certain time would kill the fun and would defeat the purpose of the game.
We have played Pandemic Legacy and Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle, and those games we followed the rules. This game is simple enough that making it progress faster is just best for us.
While I got this mainly because my cousin is 13 and he didn't seem to be having as much fun with the harder, more complex games we play, I think this would be best suited for elementary school kids, maybe 8-10 years old. Or maybe when they reach the age when they would not be traumatized by a zombie theme. It's also great, because it's supposed to take only 15 minutes, so it's something we can all play at the end of a weekday. Although, our last game, we wanted to complete a specific mission, so we ended up playing the game for 30-40 minutes.
Overall, this is a nicely made game that adults and kids alike can appreciate and have fun with!
