My first “legacy” game – review of “Zombie Kidz: Evolution”

The zombies are trying to break into your school! You have to act quickly and cooperation will be key. Get rid of the monsters that have already passed through the gates and put padlocks on so that no more of them get caught!

Móóóózg…

In Zombie Kidz: Evolution, players take on the role of kids who must bravely defend the school against evil zombies. It is a fully cooperative game, so we have to work together to win or … lose together.

On your turn, we roll a colored die to determine where the monster will appear. Then we can move our character to an adjacent field and defeat one or two zombies on it. If two children end up on a space with a gate, place a padlock marker on it. The game is won when the gates in the four corners of the board are closed. We will lose if there are too many zombies and we will not be able to add a new one to the board.

I think something’s bitten me

What distinguishes Zombie Kidz: Evolution from other games is the introduction of the so-called legacy system. This means that every few games we will add some new content to the game, hidden in thirteen closed envelopes.

Sometimes they will make the game easier, and other times they will hinder the game – without revealing the contents of the envelopes, let me just say that there will be a few additional rules that will greatly diversify the fun.

It is worth noting that after opening all envelopes, we still have a fully playable version of the game – we do not destroy any elements. We will put some stickers on it, so, for example, we will not resell such a game for replay. Of course, we can do our best not to make permanent changes, but I strongly urge you not to take this pleasure from yourself and your children.

Twenty-eight games later

The rather serious subject of the zombie apocalypse was treated lightly in Zombie Kidz: Evolution , sometimes with candy, but appropriate for the age of the audience. The basic rules of the game will be understandable even for children younger than the suggested 7 years, but with the opening of the envelopes of rules, the number of children grows and the young can get lost. For older players, the game may be too simple, so the ideal age for independent play would be between 7 and 10 years old.

The elements of the game are made solid, on thick cardboard and good paper, so they can withstand many games. Everything is colorful, cartoon-like and simply pleasing to the eye.

Opening envelopes arouses the greatest emotions. Although the game does not introduce any total revolution to the gameplay, there is usually a “wow” effect. During the game, we gain achievements that allow us to speed up the opening of the next envelope. We will open the last one after about 30 games.

After completing the campaign, i.e. opening all envelopes, the game continues to defend itself. We have a few variations available, and killing zombies together is still a lot of fun.

Dawn of the zombies is coming

I can only fault the linear development of the campaign – everyone will open the envelopes in the same order and after completion, each copy of the game will look exactly the same. Most of the “legacy” board games allow for greater freedom in conducting history and changing elements. However, if this is the first game of this type in our children’s collection (and I suspect that it will be the most common), then it should not bother us at all and we will have fun.