Now that Zombies Keep Out has become widely available in local game stores, more and more players have had a chance to try their hands at defending the bodgers’ workshop from the zombie horde.

So far, we’ve had a lot of great responses to Zombies Keep Out, both in person at various conventions as well as online. Here’s one reaction to the game that I particularly enjoyed; I think the author really captured the spirit behind Bodgers Games and gave readers a good feel for Zombies Keep Out.

One of the things I find very interesting about the many games of Zombies Keep Out played at recent conventions is the variety of approaches different players take to tackle the challenges of the game. Some players favor Terrible Things that add zombies, resulting in a mass of zombies at the bottom edge of the board that eventually creeps up to overwhelm the workshop. Other players balance adding zombies with shambling existing zombies toward the workshop, frequently winding up with a mass of zombies just outside the door.

The most successful players, however, let the zombies in. Well, okay, they don’t exactly let the zombies into the workshop—I just felt like saying it that way. Hopefully, you read it in a really creepy voice matching the way I said it in my head when I wrote it.

If you want to maximize your odds of success, you don’t need to keep all your barricades intact. Just one barricade on three locations is enough to win the game. That giant mass of zombies some players create is eventually going to advance en masse, but if zombies are gradually splattering against the barricades all game long you’ll never have an unstoppable horde at your door. You’ll also never find yourself in a situation where you can’t choose a not-so-terrible Terrible Thing like “Add 1 Runner to each Window column” because there are already 15 Runners tearing through your windows.

To truly maximize your odds of success, you want to think about your rows, columns, and zombie types. Let some zombies smash into the workshop to keep their numbers down, but try to always keep:

• At least one zombie in each row
• At least one zombie in each column
• At least one of each type of zombie in play

You might also want to keep a spare one or two blueprint parts down the progress track or have each player keep one or two spare cards in their hands. Following this plan of attack will guarantee you can always choose the least terrible Terrible Thing rather than being stuck with the one that will send a dozen zombies careening into your dwindling barricades.

Now that you have this knowledge, however, it doesn’t mean Zombies Keep Outwill become too easy. It just means you need to amp up the difficulty level! And it means you should become the first person in your game shop to overcome the Zombies Keep Out: IMPOSSIBLE MODE found on the back of the rulebook!

Living on the Edge,
-DC