Eaten by Zombies - A Review.

Kickstarter.com has been making waves in board game development lately. Its no-risk preorder model allows indie designers and larger publishers alike to take more risks when releasing games. When a designer has a project that he wants to fund, but doesn’t have the money up front to print the game, or fears that the game may not have a large enough audience, he can pitch his project on kickstarter.com.  Potential buyers can “invest” in this idea by pledging money to the project, and in return will receive a copy of the game when it is printed. Most kickstarter projects offer some nifty goodies that are exclusive to the kickstarter campaign.  If the project does not earn enough money to fund it, the investors are not obligated to pay anything. This is great for both the game publishers, and the consumers; the publishers don’t end up with a bunch of unsold stock in their warehouses, and the consumer doesn’t lose money if a game isn’t printed.

One of the many publishers to begin embracing kickstarter as a means of offering game preorders is Mayday Games. Until now, Mayday Games has mostly been known for manufacturing card sleeves for hobby and euro games, but Mayday is entering the game publishing business with a bang this quarter with no fewer than three kickstarter projects, all of which are either already funded, or well on target to be funded. One of these titles is an interesting Zombie themed deck building game designed by Max Holliday, called Eaten By Zombies, of which I was fortunate enough to play an advanced copy.

In Eaten by Zombies, players work to defeat a zombie horde, by fighting, fleeing, and scavenging for items. Notice I didn’t say the players are working together to defeat the zombie horde; the game may seem to be somewhat cooperative at first glance, and there are ways to achieve a cooperative victory, but the easiest, and most prevalent way of winning involves being the last player alive. In order to stay alive, sometimes friendships have to be sacrificed. Eaten by Zombies turns the act of throwing other players under the bus into an art form. It’s more like throwing the other players under the bus, tying them to the bumper, backing over them a few times, and then dragging them for a few miles. You may think that this is one of those fabled "direct conflict" deck building games. No, it's not. Eaten by Zombies could only be categorized as a “Passive Aggressive deck-building game”. Players never really directly attack each other, but instead modify the environment to benefit themselves, and if someone gets eaten in the process, that’s just life.. or death.. or undeath. Imagine a zombie apocalypse let loose during a family reunion, and you get the drift.

Although there have been a slew of both zombie themed games and deck building games, Eaten by Zombies manages to tackle both with a great deal of originality. The art style in the game is wonderfully distinctive, with its fusion of 1950’s propaganda and zombie horror that manages to be both sinister and humorous at the same time. And, while Eaten by Zombies utilizes deck building mechanics, it only shares some passing similarity with others in the genre, focusing on hand management and deck un-building just as much as deck building; delivering mechanics and gameplay that are just as unique as it’s art style.

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Sherlock Holmes - Zombies - What More Do You Need? It's Victorian Undead!

Yes, the title of the comic is Victorian Undead.  That's what it promises and that's what you get.  I picked up issue 4 then scrambled to find 1-3.  The art is super and the story ain't that bad either.  Holmes and Watson behave pretty true to character.  I admit seeing a very human like automaton threw me a bit in issue one, but by the time armor clad, vulcan machine gun toting soldiers were bursting in to slaughter oodles of zombies, I really didn't mind so much.  The comic also has Sherlock's brother Mycroft in an intriguing role, and there's government conspiracy.  And you can probably guess who's invovled with the zombie incursion.  No, it's not as pschologically jarring as Kirkman's grim and gritty Walking Dead, nor is it a Romero-esque metaphor.   Sometimes a zombie is just a zombie and it takes somebody like Sherlock Holmes to get the job done.  Victorian Undead (published by Wildstorm) is a wild and wonderful romp through the gaslit streets of London. 

Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead Ready to Take a Bite Out of Prime Time

I’m probably not the best blogger in the world, especially for a geek.  I’m mean, blogging is all about sorting through tons of info, commenting on info, or adding to it.  That equals lots and lots of time dashing up, down, across, and through the information super-highway.  Yeah, I don’t do that.  I spend my time on the net, but lots more away from it.  When I get breaking info of the geekish or nerdy variety, I usually get it from my friendly local comic/gaming store.  Call me old fashion, but I like interacting with people I can see while leaning on a counter or perusing shelves of books or boxes of comics.  Just can’t do that online.  That is why, no doubt, that when I do find out something, it’s usually a few weeks or months old.  Sometimes years.

What, you well ask yourself, does that have to do with The Walking Dead and television?

Not a lot really.  But it was at my favorite comic shop (big shout out to Brian over at Cavalier Comics in Wise, VA – Hoody Hoo!) where I got the scoop.  Scoop, of course, being a relative term for me, but it has only been a few weeks since the announcement.  Okay, hold on to your hats lovers of the undead: AMC has given the green light for a pilot episode of The Walking Dead.

For those who aren’t familiar with it, The Walking Dead is one of the greatest things to come along since zombies started hanging out in shopping malls.  The main story follows the trials and tribulations of a police officer’s trek from small town Kentucky,  down to Georgia, and as of now, up to D.C.  Family members are found and lost, friends are made and lost, and all the while, zombies are everywhere.  The writing is intense, and the art is fantastic.   I recommend starting from the beginning, which is easy to do thanks to the trade collections.  And once bitten . . . (heh, heh, heh)

Anyway, AMC (of Mad Men fame) gave the green light for a pilot as of this January.  Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption and The Mist) is set to direct.  Kirkman himself will act as an executive producer.

Will it follow the storyline of the comic?  Who knows and who cares?  It’s Kirkman and zombies!  Either way, it’s a win-win situation.  Actually, it would be great to see what’s going on elsewhere in his zombiefied America. 

Over at Cavalier Comics, we’ve dreamed of this moment for years.  The Walking Dead is everything that’s great about a George Romero film, but with a much bigger canvas and more developed characters.  I doubt it will have the gore of a film, but even with Romero work, it’s the story that makes or breaks the work.  AMC, however, has been pushing the envelope with its current programming, so we’re bound to see some of the ultra-intense, ultra-violent scenes that make Kirkman’s reader’s jaws drop.  This seems like a project that will take a whole lot of effort to screw up.