FTG-Nerd Review: Zombie Dice (Tabletop)

Article by FTG Contributor Irene Neafsey.

Brains or a blast to the face? These are merely two options in this new tabletop dice game by Steve Jackson Games – Zombie Dice. Two or more players play AS ZOMBIES to race to collect the most brains. The game contains thirteen black six-sided dice with three accent colors: green, yellow, and red. These colors correspond to the three symbols on the dice: feet, brains, and a shotgun blast.  Obviously, you’re trying to roll as many brains as possible, while feet represent your victim running away, and a shotgun blast is the bane of the zombie’s existence!

The six green dice are easy pickings, representing as the elderly, the young, or the sick. These nice dice contain three brains, two feet, and one blast. The four yellow dice are your “average Joe” and contain two brains, two feet, and two blasts. The three red are the LMOE (last man on earth) or survivalist nuts; they contain three blasts, two feet, and one brain.

The active player shakes the can full of dice and dumps out three at random (no peeking!). They then roll those specific dice and see where fate takes them. Brains are kept to the side; blasts remain up, with feet being rerolled with new dice to total three. The player rolls three dice at a time and their turn is up when they either get three blasts to the head or choose to “bank” their dice. One can choose to either use a ten sided die or anything higher (I use a D20) to keep count or anything at hand such as pennies or nickels to save on coins if you have a brain streak.

The game is very simple to learn, very quick to play, and travel friendly. The players can decide how many brains to play up to as the winner; ten for a short game or as high as you feel like going in a single game. There is no proper number of brains to collect.

Also available is an expansion containing three new dice: the sports jock from high school, the ditzy cheerleader girlfriend, and Santa Claus. The jock is black with white symbols, the cheerleader pink with white symbols, and Santa Claus with red and white. To play with the expansion, remove two yellow dice and a green to make room for the new dice.

The jock comes with two feet, two shotguns, one double shotgun, and one double brain. His girlfriend comes with three feet, two shotguns, and one brain. These two are not only dangerous with their blasts, but also have the ability to save each other. If the guy or girl is a brain and the other shows up with a shotgun, the other is rescued and goes back into the cup and is rerolled. Dangerous duo!

Santa Claus is a lot of fun, but watch out – he’s got some treats for the good little zombies and some coal for the naughty ones. He comes with a standard footprint, shotgun, and brain. However, he brings you two brains on one side as well. On the other two sides are a helmet and a energy drink on the other: the helmet allows you to take a fourth blast to your life in one turn while the energy drink makes you faster, turning any green feet rolled that turn into automatic brains.

If you like zombies, table top games, or any combination thereof – then grab yourself some Zombie Dice. This game gets five brains out of five for its ease of play, portability, and number of people able to play. So, grab a friend – or five – and get ready to eat some brains!  Zombie Dice retails for $12.99 at ThinkGeek.com.