Team up, gear up, and survive the zombie apocalypse one mission at a time. My review of Zombicide and why the miniatures alone are worth talking about.
Players: 1-6 | Time: 60 minutes to 3 hours | Age: 14+ | My Rating: 4 out of 5 cupcakes
What Is Zombicide?
Zombicide is a cooperative zombie survival board game for 1 to 6 players. You and your group each control a survivor with unique abilities, work together to complete mission objectives, find weapons, and try very hard not to get eaten.
It launched on Kickstarter years ago and raised nearly $800,000 from backers before the campaign even ended. Since then, it’s spawned an entire franchise with settings ranging from modern day to medieval to sci-fi.
How the Game Works
Each game session is a scenario with specific objectives. Sometimes you need to collect items. Sometimes you need to escape. Sometimes you just need to survive a certain number of rounds. Whatever the mission, you’ll spend your turns moving, searching for equipment, attacking zombies, or making noise to draw the horde in a direction that helps your team.
After all players take their turns, zombies activate. They move toward the nearest survivor they can see or hear, and if there are no survivors nearby, they follow noise. Managing noise levels is a huge part of staying alive.
Leveling Up Adds Real Excitement
Here’s what I love about Zombicide: your survivors get stronger as you kill zombies. As they earn experience, they unlock new abilities. More actions per turn. Better combat skills. Healing powers. That progression makes you feel genuinely attached to your character over the course of a session.
But there’s a catch. The more zombies you kill, the more that spawn at the end of each round. So getting more powerful also makes the game harder. It’s a brilliantly tense mechanic.
The Miniatures Are Stunning
Let’s talk about the components for a second. Zombicide comes with highly detailed plastic miniatures for every zombie and survivor. They’re gorgeous. The double-sided map tiles create the zombie-infested city, and the whole setup looks incredible on the table. This is not a game that skimps on production quality.
Setup Takes a Minute
I’ll be real with you: the setup can be a little involved depending on which scenario you’re playing. It’s not so bad once you’ve done it a few times, but your first game might require some patience. Totally worth it, but worth knowing ahead of time.
Do I Recommend It?
Yes, for anyone who enjoys cooperative games or zombie movies and shows. This game captures that desperate, band-of-survivors feeling really well. Playing with a larger group is especially chaotic and fun. I’ve only played it with four people, but sure would love to try it with six!
My Rating: 4 out of 5 Cupcakes
A top-tier cooperative experience with amazing miniatures and satisfying progression. Slight setup time is the only thing keeping it from five.
