The corner of my fancy, glossy box came dented and now my OCD won't let it go. Thanks for that, Amazon.
Do you have a slight feeling of déjà vu? Well, this isn’t the same black cat, Neo (if this were 1999 this lame joke would be way topical.) Nope, this is another The Walking Dead Board Game. If you missed my first unboxing of the Z-Man version of the game… how dare you! Now go ahead and check it out HERE… this unboxing will wait.
Here's a close-up. Snazzy, huh?
While the other game focused on the original artwork of the graphic novel Cryptozoic focuses on the AMC series and the actors from the show. One thing about having read the graphic novels first was I was completely taken aback at how “pretty” everyone was on the show. The art of the books is gritty and harsh. I always thought Lori left something to be desired in the books while on screen she’s a looker (a little skinny but I will excuse that since it’s an apocalypse and all.) And to answer your judging eye rolls… nope, I cannot get through a post without a digression. So there!
"Sudden Walker" has his eye on you!
Basically, this game plays pretty much the same as Z-Man’s version. You choose a survivor: Rick, Lori, Shane, Andrea, Dale, or Glenn. You then collect supplies, guns, transportation, and allies. The first player to collect all four location tiles wins… wait a minute, maybe this is the same black cat. There’s a glitch in the Matrix!
Stat cards or as I like to refer to them: Those with last names, those without.
OK, I am being a little unfair. This game has a few additional options that the other game does not. For one, you have the option to play as a walker. The movement and play is very similar to another zombie survival board game, The Last Night on Earth.
Compared to the Z-Man version this one is token light. In terms of unboxing, a very nice gift from the designers on that choice.
Another variation on the game is the ability to play team vs. team. Or more accurately, Team Zombie vs. Team Survivor. The geek in me yells, “foul!” on this though because the show and books have both been very careful to avoid the word “zombie.” Team Walker would have been more apropos.
Glenn aka "Walker Bait," you always bring the funny and that makes me love you.
There is one more thing I’d like to mention about the “board” itself. Instead of a traditional board this game uses a mat which I can only describe as thin mousepad-like material. While at first I thought, “hey, that’s cool and different” then I quickly thought, “wait… maybe they just cheaped out!” And I still can’t tell you if I like it or not. Another thing I noticed about the board/mat was that some of the spaces were hard to read. But I am not sure if that was due to the lighting in the studio or if the ink was too dark on the board/mat.
You know you were waiting for this... The overview!
My initial thoughts on the game were that it was very similar to other games and therefore a rip-off but I won’t know that until I play both of them. What is that you say? *cups ear* I think you just said, “You mean to tell us, Karen, that you haven’t even played all these games you keep showing us?” Yes, this is true. I have a real problem when it comes to collecting things I don’t have enough time for. But I urge you to listen to our show next week where we will be discussing Geekdom and Consumerism… because I know I’m not the only one who does this!
