1-6 players, Cooperative, Exploration, Objective Based
Overview
You and up to a total of 6 players are tasked with surviving an apocalypse! You will explore tiles to complete objectives, scavenge for resources, equip gear and fight against a variety of monsters in an attempt to survive.
Components
The bits and pieces in the game are very nice. We are talking wooden tokens for the ammo you use and the fuel you will use. The cards have a nice linen finish and feel very sturdy. The tiles you will play on are a sturdy thicker cardboard and feel premium. The other tokens that are not wooden are all a nice cardboard as well. Overall a very nice production here.
Box/Storage
For the base game the box is a small long card box style. It comes with separators so you can separate out the different kind of cards which is very handy and makes setup much quicker. Everything fits back in the box very nicely and I had zero trouble closing the lid all the way. The lid also closes enough so all the cards don’t get mixed up when storing the box on its side. Also the box itself is made of a ticker cardboard and feels very sturdy.
The Gothic Horrors expansion box is the same length but a bit deeper with a small cardboard insert separator. Having both I found this box perfect for storing all the bits and pieces like the tokens and board tiles whereas the base game box was perfect to accommodate all the cards for the game.
The Jurassic Perils and Kaiju Rising mini expansions both came in small tuck boxes which honestly can be pitched since ALL the cards will easily fit in the base game box. I still have them….they have a nice glossy sheen to them that appeases me.
Visual Appeal
Love the artwork throughout. The art on the cards of all the different kinds of monsters you will encounter are very well done and look more mature. The art on the tiles of the different locations are similarly done. One piece though I did notice that was a little “off” was the image on the wooden ammo pieces although they did change the image with the new ammo tokens with the Gothic Horrors expansion. It is supposed to look like bullets but comes off looking a little weird. Plus the wooden gas can pieces are actually shaped like gas cans, which is neat, but the ammo is just an image printed on a tiny rectangle piece of wood. Would have been nice to get those cut as well but a minor gripe.
Rulebook
The rulebook could use some work. It’s a mini book designed to fit in the box easily but the way it’s put together is all over the place. You cannot just read it front to back to really grasp what is being taught. You have to flip around which makes it more difficult to learn. There are many little tidbits of situations that might happen during a game that are not covered at all in the book. I did have to supplement my rulebook knowledge with a couple playthrough videos on youtube just to make sure I was doing everything correctly. That said there are some very nice rules reference cards included that I love. Any game that comes with these instantly looks better in my eyes.
Table Presence
LOVE love love the setup feel and play. Once you get the tiles randomized and laid out facedown and the scavenge cards all in their respective piles and everyones respective character decks shuffled and ready you are taking up a decent amount of table space. ESPECIALLY if you are playing a full 6 player game. In front of each player you will have your particular characters card draw pile. Your characters hero card and you will need to leave room on each side of the card to equip gear and room above the card for enemies that you will fight. Also any scavenged loot you find goes under your hero card and builds upward so you can see the title of the loot.
You also have to have space for all the tiles for the area you are exploring and next to that space for the scavenge board that holds the 3 piles of scavenge cards you can draw from. Next to that you have the enemy draw deck and a space for discards. Not to mention the various tokens that will be placed around for use throughout the game. For such a small game it sure takes up a lot of space.
Table Talk/Fun Factor
This game creates HUGE amounts of table talk because it is fully co-op. You will want to work with everyone that is playing to make sure no one dies and you can also help other players out by helping them kill their monsters if you are in range of their character token on the tiles. Because of that the fun factor is elevated significantly. It is so satisfying when a character is getting overwhelmed by like 4 monsters and then the fireman comes rushing in with a flare to lure them away and then the surgeon busts in and heals the players up. The variety of the 6 playable characters is astounding and each one plays a specific role to perfection.
Optimal Player Count
This game can be played from 1- 6 players but I feel that the more players the better this plays. It creates much more excitement when you all work together to overcome these apocalyptic conditions. That said you can play solo by taking two different character cards and playing them both and by mixing both the respective decks together. I didn’t find that all that much fun personally but it is still doable.
The Fuzzy Llama Silver Seal of Distinction
Final Thoughts
I really love this one. The base game out of the box comes with 12 total scenarios to play that are broken down into 4 different kinds of apocalypses: Zombies, Robots, Aliens and Mutants. I have had a blast with each one and although the scenarios never change, the tile layout placement always changes so no two games will be exactly alike. Plus with the vast difference of each of the 6 playable characters, this game will bring you delight for years to come.
Speaking towards the Gothic Horrors expansion you get a couple new scenarios: Cthulhu and Vampires. There are also new cards that mix up the way the game is played a tad like an insanity deck and a day/night event deck. You also get a couple new playable characters, the Ronin and the Priest which come with their own unique decks. Overall this expansion doesn’t really do anything CRAZY new but the stuff it does add is pretty cool and a welcome addition to an already great game if you choose to use them.
The Kaiju Rising and Jurassic Perils decks also offer up a new scenario each and 2 new characters for Kaiju Rising: Army Ranger and Scientist whereas the Jurassic Perils offers one new character: The Adventurer but you also get some dino egg tokens that have a new ruleset to them. Just like the Gothic Horrors expansion these two expansions are not vital to enjoy the base game BUT more stuff is always welcome to an already great game system. I especially like the Adventurer character as she has some really cool playing mechanics.
Fuzzy Llama Reviews 