What better way to shed the working week on a Friday night than by gathering together with a bunch of foolhardy adventurers to stave off the zombie apocalypse! That was exactly the occasion when the World Domination Collective gathered to test our mettle against Run, Fight, or Die and then Last Night On Earth.
There was blood, sweat, more blood, some glorious deaths (accompanied for a variety of cuss-words from a few corners – edited out here to preserve our family friendly status), and an abundance of laughter among the chaos and carnage.
Here’s our take on the evening’s events and these two variations of zombie-themed boardgaming…
Here’s our take on the evening’s events and these two variations of zombie-themed boardgaming…
Run, Fight or Die
Pitched as a unique zombie game that forces you to face zombie ‘from a first person perspective’ (as in a first-person video game), RFD does a swell job of creating that sense of rising tension.
Each player has their own board in front of them, divided into three zones. Zombies enter the board in zone three and each turn they advance a zone as more come on behind them (and sometimes in front of them, depending on your cards and dice). If they move past the final zone, you take a wound.
Pitched as a unique zombie game that forces you to face zombie ‘from a first person perspective’ (as in a first-person video game), RFD does a swell job of creating that sense of rising tension.
Each player has their own board in front of them, divided into three zones. Zombies enter the board in zone three and each turn they advance a zone as more come on behind them (and sometimes in front of them, depending on your cards and dice). If they move past the final zone, you take a wound.
Like King of Tokyo (another outstanding game that is long overdue for it’s very own review here), Run, Fight or Die utilises the yahtzee style dice mechanics – the game is built around the rolling of a set of dice with the option of two further re-rolls.
First you roll an event die to see what happens (anything from a hideous ambush or zombie charge, through to discovery of much needed medicine or an extremely rare and welcome ‘all quiet’ event in which nothing happens). Then you roll the main dice, which is where the action happens.
First you roll an event die to see what happens (anything from a hideous ambush or zombie charge, through to discovery of much needed medicine or an extremely rare and welcome ‘all quiet’ event in which nothing happens). Then you roll the main dice, which is where the action happens.
Your roll will either yield weapons (guns, baseball bats), help you visit locations or search for followers (which add much needed victory points – as long as you can keep them and yourself alive!), or…add even more zombies to your board.
And you can’t re-roll zombie icons unless you take a ‘fleeing’ card in return…which frequently turns it into an out of the frying pan and into the fire experience.
And you can’t re-roll zombie icons unless you take a ‘fleeing’ card in return…which frequently turns it into an out of the frying pan and into the fire experience.
In our session, most of us were managing to hold our zombies at bay – mostly thanks to a healthy supply of baseball bats – but we weren’t doing so well at attracting followers. That is apart from Kelvin and Craig, who were streaming ahead collecting followers and amassing victory points like nobody’s business. The game typically lasts until the first player dies or someone collects five followers. And that’s where the fine print comes in. You can have all the followers in the world but if you aren’t alive when the game ends it counts for naught.
And due to some backhanded jiggery pokery from around the table, Kelvin and Craig were left to bite the dust, despite their large group of followers, as everyone else crawled, limped and hobbled over the finish line. Not only that, Blaine – who had snuck in late to the game (we let him off on account of having been parent help at a school sleepover at the zoo the night before!) – managed to whip up a small handful of victory points in his short innings, and found himself left with the final victory!
It really does prove that in a zombie apocalypse you really on have to outrun the last guy.
Run, Fight or Die is a fun game of rising tension. We enjoyed it. It was a little longer than it needed to be on our first play as we were all playing it for the first time, but by the final rounds it was speeding along and once familiar I think it would run to a good 30-40mins which would be ideal. A healthy dose of light-hearted fun that paved the way for the real star of the evening’s death and destruction…
Run, Fight or Die is a fun game of rising tension. We enjoyed it. It was a little longer than it needed to be on our first play as we were all playing it for the first time, but by the final rounds it was speeding along and once familiar I think it would run to a good 30-40mins which would be ideal. A healthy dose of light-hearted fun that paved the way for the real star of the evening’s death and destruction…
Last Night On Earth
Last Night on Earth is hands-down my favourite zombie game. It’s one of my favourite boardgames full-stop.
We’ve also played City of Horror, Dead of Winter, and Zombicide – they’re each very different and we’ve thoroughly enjoyed them all.
But everyone seems to agree there’s something really special about Last Night on Earth.
Last Night on Earth is hands-down my favourite zombie game. It’s one of my favourite boardgames full-stop.
We’ve also played City of Horror, Dead of Winter, and Zombicide – they’re each very different and we’ve thoroughly enjoyed them all.
But everyone seems to agree there’s something really special about Last Night on Earth.
Every single game has these absolutely epic moments that put you right in the story with the characters and you can ‘see’ it happening. You end the game feeling like you’ve spent the last hour and a half in a B-grade Zombie Movie (in the absolutely fantastic Sharknado sense of the b-grade title, not the Megashark vs Giant Octopus sounds-fun-but-is-really-just-dumb variety).
Last Night on Earth is made by Flying Frog Productions who are famous for doing all of their own art using real people dressed up in theme – glorious full-colour photos of farmhands with pitchforks running away from beautifully made-up hordes of the undead adorn all the cards and components. They clearly had a blast making the game and it just radiates that sense of fun.
In short, up to four players take on the role of the survivors – managing one survivor each, and up to two players take on the role of the zombies. The game begins, wonderfully, with the zombie turn first as new zombies spawn on the corners of the board and begin to hunt the survivors. The survivors not only have to survive but have a variety of objectives they need to achieve to win. Depending on what scenario you play this can be anything from finding the keys to the truck in the centre of town and escaping, to dousing the zombie hive in gasoline and burning the place to the ground before fleeing, or holing up inside the manor and surviving incoming waves on zombies long enough to see daylight again
As the desperately doomed humans, on each turn you’ll typically split your choices between running in and out of different buildings trying to find weapons or medicine until you are ready to stand and fight.
Our game got off to a fantastic start as we quickly found a can of gasoline and a chainsaw. “This is going to be far too easy; it’s almost unfair” we thought…wrongly.
Our game got off to a fantastic start as we quickly found a can of gasoline and a chainsaw. “This is going to be far too easy; it’s almost unfair” we thought…wrongly.
Our mission was simple. The zombies had found four entrances onto the farm we were holed up in. All we needed to do was find some explosives and blow three of those entrance points, and the undead menance they contained, to kingdom come. We already had gasoline and a chainsaw and it was only our second turn.
We agreed that the others of us would hold of the dim-witted ‘walkers’ while Craig went and played with matches. I stood my ground and drew in the approaching zombies, grinning like a madman as I prepared to start up my Husqvarna-from-Hell.
Turns out whoever had bought this chainsaw had been shopping at The Warehouse or Kmart. Thanks to a poor roll of the dice the chainsaw stalled and failed on it’s first go. I went down in a pile of hungry should-have-been-headless-but-now-I’m-about-to-join-them zombies in utter shock and horror.
Turns out whoever had bought this chainsaw had been shopping at The Warehouse or Kmart. Thanks to a poor roll of the dice the chainsaw stalled and failed on it’s first go. I went down in a pile of hungry should-have-been-headless-but-now-I’m-about-to-join-them zombies in utter shock and horror.
Barely shedding a tear over my demise, Kelvin, and Roland were next and they also found chainsaws. While things were taking on a grey, tastless hue for me, they were looking up for my still-human comrades.
Craig made it to the first zombie spawning point and hurled the gasoline. On his next turn he dodged between two zombies, stepping out of the range of danger and hurling a lighter behind him to bring this first foul chapter to a fiery close.
Craig made it to the first zombie spawning point and hurled the gasoline. On his next turn he dodged between two zombies, stepping out of the range of danger and hurling a lighter behind him to bring this first foul chapter to a fiery close.
And yet, some days, fate just doesn’t favour the living.
Another failed dice roll and the lighter when out, failing to ignite the gasoline. Well that was irritating – but we’ve still got the chainsaws right?
Wrong.
Whoever was responsible for maintaining the tools in this town, well let’s just say that they were clocking up the frequent flyer miles at Cheap & Cheerful Limited. Except it wasn’t so cheerful for us.
Another failed dice roll and the lighter when out, failing to ignite the gasoline. Well that was irritating – but we’ve still got the chainsaws right?
Wrong.
Whoever was responsible for maintaining the tools in this town, well let’s just say that they were clocking up the frequent flyer miles at Cheap & Cheerful Limited. Except it wasn’t so cheerful for us.
Roland’s chainsaw failed in exactly the same way as mine – a miss on the first roll, which means you have to discard it. Basically it didn’t even start!
It was a contagious fate with Kelvin coming to the very same end.
With a chainsaw in hand, you roll an extra dice in combat (bringing your total to three dice against the zombie’s one dice). You also automatically kill the zombies on a roll of 3 or higher. Basically you can’t lose – except we all did.
It was a contagious fate with Kelvin coming to the very same end.
With a chainsaw in hand, you roll an extra dice in combat (bringing your total to three dice against the zombie’s one dice). You also automatically kill the zombies on a roll of 3 or higher. Basically you can’t lose – except we all did.
I can just see myself, Kelvin and Roland all staring at our chainsaw’s in disbelief, refusing to give up as we kept pulling on the starter cord before the coming horde closed on us.
‘Just one more; it’ll start this time!’
Except it didn’t and now Craig was left with the fate of humanity resting on his shoulders alone.
‘Just one more; it’ll start this time!’
Except it didn’t and now Craig was left with the fate of humanity resting on his shoulders alone.
He did admirably. He managed to run back, pick up the lighter and ignite the gasoline this time – engulfing three zombies in flames and bringing immediate shouts of joy from his (now undead) previous companions.
But it was shortlived.
Sadly for Craig he’d drawn Sally the Highschool Sweetheart as his character, and despite finding an abundance of shotguns, she simply wasn’t strong enough to lift one, let alone shoot the thing.
Craig/Sally held out well – fending them off with a pitch fork for a while until, like all good things, it snapped and came to an end. So did Craig.
But it was shortlived.
Sadly for Craig he’d drawn Sally the Highschool Sweetheart as his character, and despite finding an abundance of shotguns, she simply wasn’t strong enough to lift one, let alone shoot the thing.
Craig/Sally held out well – fending them off with a pitch fork for a while until, like all good things, it snapped and came to an end. So did Craig.
Our tale has come to an end, but it’s one we would happily play again anytime. Last Night on Earth is not just a game, it’s an experience. More than nearly any other game we’ve played, it’s memorable. You will have a total blast and we couldn’t recommend it more highly. If zombies aren’t your thing, the theme obviously won’t appeal, but don’t be put off. The prevailing atmosphere of this game is one of fun, more than horror. It’s as good a time as you can have in any boardgame.
But for now, we leave the future of humanity in your hands.
Our night was over. The Zombie horde had won and were left to crawl the ravaged plains of civilisation looking for their next victims.
If they come to your house, our advice is to forget the chainsaw. Go for the machete and the axe - those weapons won’t stall on you!
Our night was over. The Zombie horde had won and were left to crawl the ravaged plains of civilisation looking for their next victims.
If they come to your house, our advice is to forget the chainsaw. Go for the machete and the axe - those weapons won’t stall on you!