If you’re a beginner to board games, then you might be wondering: what are zombie board games and why should you play them? Zombie board games cover any kind of game that uses characters or storylines based around zombies – from the living dead to the undead, there is plenty of variety on offer.
Not only do these games offer an exciting challenge for beginners, but they also help develop cognitive skills like strategy and logic. They can even provide an opportunity to bond with friends and family in a fun and entertaining way.
The Benefits of Zombie Board Games for Newcomers One of the main benefits of playing zombie board games as a newcomer is that it gives you the chance to become familiar with the rules of different types of game. This is especially important if you’re not used to playing complex strategic titles like chess or Go.
As each game has its own set of rules, playing zombie-based titles introduces new players to different strategies and how those strategies can be employed in a host of different situations.
Moreover, zombie board games are relatively accessible for both adults and kids alike, making them perfect for family gatherings or games nights with your friends. The nice thing about learning these kinds of titles together is that everyone can enjoy themselves no matter their individual skill level; beginners don’t need to worry about feeling left behind as repetition will help build their knowledge base gradually over time.
Some Top Rated Zombie Board Games For Beginners Last Night on Earth: This classic title provides multiple scenarios where players face off against gruesome hordes – ever increasingly challenging scenarios make it ideal for repeat plays with friends or family members, making this an excellent choice for those looking to get into zombie board games in general.
Dead Men Tell No Tales: With thrilling plans and chase scenes included in the components, Dead Men Tell No Tales involves some light roleplaying alongside a card-driven deduction game which ensures the narrative shifts dynamically as players move through each scene. This makes it ideal for those who want something more than pure action since every play session can be completely unique due to its ever-changing circumstances.
Zombicide: An interesting mixture between a cooperative survival game and dungeon crawl-style trekking board adventure featuring humans versus zombies combat as two teams work together against the opposing force; this makes Zombicide ideal for anyone who wants more than just basic tabletop gaming experiences from their zombie board game fix.
Benefits of Playing Zombie Board Games as a Beginner
Playing board games is a great way to spend quality time with family and friends. With the current trend for zombie-driven media, it’s no surprise that these board games have become popular. Zombie themed board games offer a unique experience that allows you to explore your own post-apocalyptic world while connecting with other people in an enjoyable way. Here are five of the top rated zombie board games for newbies:
- Dead of Winter
- Zombicide
- Last Night on Earth
- The Walking Dead Board Game
- The Battle of Walcott
Playing zombie themed board games has many benefits for beginners. They can help players feel more connected and engaged with their environment, as they work together to defeat the zombies and work towards survival. It also encourages social interaction, as players must communicate and strategize together in order to win the game.
This type of game also helps develop problem solving skills as players need to think strategically about how best to allocate resources, prioritize tasks, and anticipate challenges posed by various enemies. Additionally, playing a zombie themed game can foster a sense of teamwork within groups – even if they don’t always agree on strategy – which enhances collaboration among members and improves team bonding over time.
Finally, zombie themed board games provide opportunities for fun competition between teams or individuals depending on the format of the game being played. Players can enjoy facing off against each other while trying to outsmart their opponents in order to survive or reach objectives before them.
This type of game is extremely rewarding not only because it requires logical thinking but also because there are tangible rewards such as victory cards or points which add even more excitement and motivation for playing. Having this type of incentive can help make analyzing data part of the gaming experience rather than a chore and add another element of fun to the overall experience.
Common Features of Zombie Board Games
Zombie board games have been a recent surge in popularity and there are now many great options for both beginners and hardcore gamers alike. Although the theme of each game may vary, they all share some common features that can make them enjoyable to play.
These core mechanics generally involve battling zombies, scavenging through environments to find resources, managing resources wisely, teaming up with other players and outsmarting enemies. Most games also require quick decision making while planning your actions ahead of time.
Thoughtful Deck Building
One feature often found in zombie board games is deck-building. This means constructing decks of cards that represent specific abilities which players must use strategically during the game to achieve their goals.
Constructing great decks requires careful consideration as it involves studying the different gameplay mechanics at hand and understanding how card synergies our effects come into play. It’s also important to think about why certain cards might be better than others in certain situations, which will help you build smarter decks that give you more chance of success against your opponents or enemies.
Multi-Faceted Strategies
The best zombie board games offer players multiple strategies to employ throughout the game for variety and adaptability when playing against different foes or unforeseen circumstances. This encourages creativity as players must think outside the box when coming up with ways of exploiting their situation during a game session in order to come out ahead against clever opponents or even powerful zombies.
This can manifest itself in various methods such as utilizing powerful traps for zombie hordes or trading off items with remaining survivors who are then taken along on any subsequent missions.
Team Work Gameplay
Some zombie board games come with co-operative elements which allow players to team up and tackle difficult challenges together, sometimes even controlling swarms of undead adversaries using special tactics designed specifically for that purpose.
The additional layer of strategy involved with this type of cooperative gaming makes them an especially attractive option at times since it allows more people to join in on the action without needing much extra setup time or knowledge beyond what they’d already need to understand normal competitive mode gameplay basics.
Our Picks for the Top Rated Zombie Board Games for Beginners
Zombie-themed board games are the perfect way for beginners to hone in on their skills. They challenge players to strategize and use critical thinking skills, while still keeping it light enough for even casual gamers. With so many amazing Zombie board games out there, it can be hard to decide which ones offer the best playing experience. To make this decision easier, we’ve put together a list of our favorite zombie board games for beginners.
Last Night on Earth
This classic zombie game is one of the best out there for beginner players. You play as either heroes who must defend against waves of zombies or villains who send wave after wave of undead attackers.
The game features great cooperative gameplay with strategy elements that feel challenging yet not overwhelming. Plus, its cinematic theme and artwork provide a stunning back-drop for your zombie adventure and with replaceable figure sets it provides plenty of replayability so you won’t get bored.
Zombicide
This zombie game is incredibly popular among all skill levels due to its top-notch components and endless themes within the system. Basically, you take control of either survivors in a post-apocalyptic world or zombified adversaries depending how you approach each scenario.
It really tests your strategy skill while still being able to bundle horror and action into one package succinctly without feeling cumbersome or stale. You get plenty of replay value by levelling-up characters, switching enemy types and scenarios as well as expansions that bring you new content regularly.
Dawn Of The Zeds Third Edition (DOTZ)
This is another fantastic pick for beginner gamers looking for a bit more complexity in their gameplay choices compared to something like Last Night On Earth. As a co-operative, tower defense board game set in farmlands after an invasion, DOTZ puts players through deep tactical decisions while they manage survivors trying to hold back the dead hordes that keep coming from all sides trying to overrun the whole lot.
You have unique characters with different abilities plus equipment upgrades and barricades allowing you create crazy strategies along the way – DOTZ also has solo mode allowing you play through it if needed which adds huge replay value too.
Pandemic
Pandemic: Legacy Season 1 is one of the best zombie board games for beginner gamers. Players are trying to save humanity from a deadly pandemic that threatens the world – a virus that turns people into zombies. To do this, players must cooperate to get rid of each outbreak and keep it from spreading, while also working together to discover cures for the different diseases.
Along the way, they will battle zombies, build bases, collect resources, and use strategy to find their way out of any sticky situations. This game requires both action cards and strategy cards in order to effectively plan and execute plans; each game is a different scenario, but always with the same goal: saving humanity.
Players have a variety of characters to choose from for their team; each character has their own unique abilities and traits to help out the group in their mission. Once everyone has chosen their character they’ll begin their journey across the world fighting off the zombie hordes in an attempt to complete various missions related to discovering a vaccine or simply finding resources.
Along the way, they’ll compete against other players for precious resources or even fight off hordes of zombies.
Pandemic: Legacy Season 1 truly tests a player’s ability on multiple fronts with its immersive story line and ever-evolving strategies. During each playthrough you have complete control over how your team develops as you search for scientific breakthroughs and construct strongholds capable of withstanding attacks.
With its permanent changes based on choices made by players, no two playthroughs are ever alike leaving an added element of surprise and precious memories perfect for any starting player who wants an interesting experience right away.
Zombie Dice
Zombie Dice is a light and fun game for beginners. It is quick to learn, with easy-to-follow rules, and great for both kids and adults. As the title suggests, it’s a dice rolling game with a zombie theme – you roll dice to draw from the ‘brains’ bowl, trying to collect as many of them as possible while avoiding shotgun blasts.
But don’t worry; even if you get blasted you’re still in the game with plenty of exciting twists. It has an average play time of around 10 minutes and can be played up to four players.
It is a great starting point for those new to Zombie Board Games as it introduces basic playing mechanics in an interesting format. As you progress through the game, your skills will increase as you plan ahead when playing each round. You can also choose how risky or calculated your moves are by collecting brains without being blasted or venturing out slightly more for larger rewards but riskier consequences.
Each turn poses new challenges once more as mind games have to be worked around since opponents know what can be drawn from the brains bowl before their turn ends. This makes Zombie Dice an engaging experience that keeps on giving every playthrough, making it one of the best introductory board games available today.
When introducing friends, families or kids to Zombie Board Games for the first time, this is definitely one of the better choices out there due to its ease of access and simple yet engaging gameplay elements. Perfectly designed to appeal both children and adults alike, nothing feels too daunting or overwhelming which is ideal when introducing non-gamers into society of gaming.
The relaxing and unique theme create an attractive environment that can help reduce any shyness among players at first who may not have ever encountered board games before.
Zombie State
Zombie State: Diplomacy of the Dead is a cooperative post-apocalyptic game set in the aftermath of a mysterious pandemic that wipes out most of humanity. Players take on the roles of human survivors struggling to survive in a world infested with ravenous undead creatures. Players must explore, build settlements, scavenge for resources and arms, and fight off hordes of rampaging zombies. This game can be enjoyed by players aged 13 and up and plays best with 4-6 players.
Pros
- Cooperative gameplay encourages team play and problem solving
- A wide range of interesting characters for players to choose from
- Easy to learn mechanics
- The unique theme and art style makes it engaging
Cons
- Requires a lot of table space due to large number of components
- Interaction between players can be limited when playing with less people than optimal
- Luck based components add some unpredictability, which can be frustrating at times
Zombie State offers an interesting strategic gaming experience set within an immersive zombie apocalypse setting. The main mechanic revolves around scavenging for resources while trying to explore and build settlements within a randomly generated map each time you play. Combat against the undead is done through dice rolls, making it both exciting but also intimidating as you never know how well you’ll do against them.
The game also allows for negotiation between players in order to share resources or complete objectives which adds an extra layer of strategy. Furthermore, Zombie State has a wide range of characters available with different themes such as doctors or merchants which provides variety within the game, allowing for new experiences every time you play.
Zombicide
Zombicide is a board game produced by the French company, CMON. It is set in an apocalyptic world ravaged by flesh-eating zombies. In the game, players take on the role of survivors and work together to eliminate hordes of undead enemies while scavenging for precious resources.
The game utilizes smart mechanics that allow players to quickly understand how to play and develop their own strategies for survival. Players can choose from six different survivor characters, each offering its own unique abilities such as ranged weapons or specialized defenses against zombies.
Players have two main objectives: Complete various scenarios provided by the game and eliminate as many zombies as possible before their time limit runs out. Throughout the game, players will need to manage their resources carefully to maintain their health level while fending off waves of zombies. By successfully completing missions and eliminating hordes of undead, players can earn rewards such as powerful weapons which can help them survive longer and fend off more dangerous enemies in future scenarios.
Unique Character Abilities
Different character classes come with unique abilities which make it easier for players to coordinate strategies effectively with one another.
For instance, Naya is capable of rushing faster than other characters; John has shotgun proficiency; Ron has carpenter skills that make him better at managing resources and building barricades; Dan brings military precision with his long range sniper rifle; Luther excels in close quarter combat; and Bones brings special tools for fights near cars or fire zones allowing greater flexibility when engaging undead foes.
Expansion Packs Offer More Variety
There are several expansion packs available for Zombicide which feature additional survivor characters, environments, scenarios, enemy types and weapons. These expansion packs add more variety to the core Zombicide experience while also making it more challenging as new threats arise in each expansion pack and require different tactics from what was previously used in the base game.
Expansion packs also provide higher levels of customization whereby players choose exactly what type of zombies they want to battle against and introduce awesome “special” zombie bosses into the mix that are tougher than regular ones yet yield bigger rewards when slain.
Tips for Getting Started With Zombie Board Games
If you are a fan of zombie movies or simply like playing tabletop games, zombie board games may be the perfect addition to your game night. Zombie board games present participants with a unique twist on cooperative adventure gaming. As opposed to other board games where you might have competing teams of players, zombie board games require collective effort in order to survive the in-game apocalypse and defeat overwhelming hordes of ravenous zombies.
When first starting with these horror themed games, it can be difficult to determine which is best suited for your individual group’s playstyle. Here are a few criteria which can help novice gamers make the right selection.
The first factor is the number of players recommended for the game – some zombie board game may feature more intricate story scenarios that should only be undertaken by small groups while others benefit from having more players as it provides an increased sense of suspense and possibilities due to larger team sizes and potentially more resources at their disposal.
It is important that you check out recommendations as to the optimal size for each game before settling on one particular title.
In addition, pay attention to how much time each game typically requires in order complete – this is especially useful when playing with groups less experienced or familiar with diversified boardgames as most will appreciate being able anticipate how long they will have to commit when initially selecting their mode entertainment for the evening.
While some may be fully devoted their undead plights for up three hours; shorter sessions allow everyone an ample opportunity become acquainted with a wider variety of titles over time without feeling overly compelled or rushed throughout their overall gaming experience.
Finally, consider each title’s level of difficulty based upon what kind adversaries await you within its universe – some older titles sporting well worn rulesets may present weaker opposition whereas newer offerings becoming increasingly complex, utilising advanced survivors skills, strategies, and technology in order making them truly formidable opponents for even veteran players.
Selecting an intermediate rather than beginners title at least early on can help newbies build confidence they need within the genre while pushing them become better versed faster than if kept completely isolated from challenging rulebooks opponent tactics.
Conclusion
Conclusion: Boardgames have been a popular pastime for years and today many players are leveraging the fun of boardgaming into zombie-themed scenarios. Zombie board games offer players plenty of action and adventure, taking players deep into the heart of a zombie apocalypse.
From cooperative story-driven adventures filled with difficult decisions to tense skirmish battles with player vs player warfare, numerous choices exist for those that love the horror genre. Zombie fans of all types have great options when it comes to board games that will deliver maximum excitement and satisfaction.
For beginner level players, card-based games like Zombies. or Zombie Bites provide fast and casy setup for quick play while still delivering a few special strategies for an exciting gaming experience. Players will also have access to many multiplayer versions of these card based games which will help introduce them to both single and cooperative gameplay concepts.
Another excellent option is the highly successful Krosmaster Arena from Japanime Games. The game hits all levels of difficulty thanks to its simple yet highly vicious tactical combat system – Krosmaster Arena can present newcomers with accessible rules while offering veterans intense challenge and hard-fought battles. All Kromer tables also feature beautiful miniatures that look fantastic perched atop their zombie themed game boards.
Finally, more serious gamers can make use of Pandora’s Zombicide Black Plague tabletop wargame from CMON Limited which takes cooperative strategic play to a whole different level. With over 100 miniatures in total, calculated strategy skills must be used as well as attentive resource management in order to survive each campaign mission inside Zombicide Black Plague’s zombie infested worlds.
No matter what type or level of player you may be (including beginners) there are plenty of great options available when it comes to top rated zombie boardgames so enjoy the action today.
I love playing all kinds of games – from classics like Monopoly to modern favourites like Ticket to Ride.
I created this blog as a way to share my love of board games with others, and provide information on the latest releases and news in the industry.
