Last year at Gen Con 2013, we spent some time talking with the fine folks at IELLO about their upcoming releases. They had a lot of titles that I was looking forward to (Steam Park, Guardian Chronicles), but high on that list was Zombie 15′. Well the wait is finally over (kind of). In an effort to bring the best game possible to your tabletop, they have launched a Kickstarter campaign for Zombie 15′. I know the zombie theme has just about been done to death (see what I did there?), but Zombie 15′ seems to be pretty unique to this genre. The game is played in real-time over 15 minutes (soundtrack included in the game). Players have to complete their objective and stay alive before the timer runs out.
From the Kickstarter page:
The game is played in real-time, and begins at the start of the soundtrack. At your turn, you can take a total of 4 actions.
If there are no zombies in your area, you can move.
- When you are in a building with no zombies, you can take one action to Search for new weapons or equipment.
- You can fight zombies in your area by decreasing the ammo (or durability for non-firearms) of a weapon, and removing as many zombie figures from the board as the damage value of the weapon. If you’re using a noisy weapon, one of those zombies joins the Horde.
- Whether or not there are any zombies sharing your space, you can spend one action to use an item.
After spending your four actions, you must be able do fend off zombies around you with one of your weapons; if the Fend Off value of your weapon is lower than the number of zombies in your area, you lose a Life Point.
Every 60 seconds, a zombie growl can be heard in the soundtrack. Whenever you hear a growl, draw the top card on the Zombie pile to find out how many zombies you must add to the board on the street section of the active player’s tile. If you draw a Horde card, add all of the (very hungry!) zombies from the Horde box to that tile!
Each scenario features different objectives: running through the city, pursuing a target, holding a fortified place, searching for useful resources… If you complete the objectives before the soundtrack is over, all of the players win the game. If you fail, or if at any time all of the heroes are unconscious, you all lose the game!
I’ve always been a fan of real-time games (see our review of Space Alert) and am glad to see more of them coming out. The game has already hit its funding goal and has unlocked over a dozen stretch goals (with more in sight). If you want to get a copy of the game, a $70 pledge is required that includes all stretch goals. The game is scheduled to be in backers hands in May of 2014 and you have until Thursday, Feb 13th to become a backer. So head over today and check it out.
TEst