The Final Shuffle: Games 60-68

October 1st, 2013
News, Zombie World Series I

As October creeps upon us, the final games of the Pittsburgh 68 Zombie World Series begin. Two games were played in Ohio last month and delivered two Survivor wins. This broke the dead heat score of 31/31 and has given the Survivors a two game lead.  Seven games remain!

The series began during Halloween week last year.

It’s fitting that we wrap it all up this month in true zombie style!

Pittsburgh 68 Demo Mat

September 27th, 2013
News, Shuffling Horrors

Just posting a quick pic of the Pittsburgh 68 demo mat that we unveiled at Gen Con 2013.

Lots of players really loved the layout and wanted to buy one from us.

Alas, we only had one for our GameWick Games booth demos!

P68 ZWS: Dead Heat

August 27th, 2013
News, Zombie World Series I

The fourth and final quarter of the Pittsburgh 68 Zombie World Series kicked off at Gen Con 2013! The Survivors started this last quarter with a comfortable four game lead, and so, there was no room for any idle shuffling by our Pittsburgh zombies!

The first game was played on Wednesday, Gen Con Fan Night. The Zombies wasted no time in showing a little undead vengeance – and they didn’t let up until the end! A total of eight series games were run (Games 52 thru 59). Of these games, the Zombies took 6 and the Survivors only 2. Now, the score is tie: 31/31.

Only nine games to go in our 68 game series!

Nothing like going into the final stretch in a dead heat…

P68 ZWS: Third Quarter Results

August 8th, 2013
News, Zombie World Series I

The third quarter of the Pittsburgh 68 Zombie World Series concluded at the World Boardgaming Championships in Lancaster PA. The final game of the quarter (Game 51 for those of you who are counting down at home) was the third straight victory for the Zombies. Still, they are stumbling four games behind the Survivors!

But the series ain’t over yet, folks! Next week, the fourth quarter begins at Gen Con, a four day gaming convention in Indianapolis. Each quarter is composed of 17 games. Over the course of Gen Con, up to 13 games of this final quarter may be played!

Many of the third quarter games were run at Origins Game Fair and Dexcon. As always, big thanks to our line-up of Zombie Masters who ran games in New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, and Pennsylvania this quarter!

Now, it’s time for us to start shuffling a little faster, folks…

The Survivors are getting a little too comfy with this whole Living Dead thing!

P68 FAQ: Holding Items

August 8th, 2013
Pittsburgh 68, Shuffling Horror FAQ

“How Many Items Can A Survivor Hold?”

A frequently asked question during intro convention play.

The answer is found under Players Hand on page 4 of the Pittsburgh 68 rulebook: “A Survivor Player can have three survivors in-play, each of whom can hold two additional cards (Item or Power Play).”

This means that a single Survivor can hold both The Axe (an item) and The Killing Machine (a power play card). That is a particularly brutal combo in the hands of The College Guy. A Survivor can also hold two Items, though can only use one per action. Damage from items does not stack (another frequently asked question).

The ability for a Survivor to hold two items lets them stockpile weapons, perhaps for the future use of other Survivors who appear later in the game. A Survivor can TAKE and item from another Survivor (if that player allows). A Survivor can never TAKE+ATTACK from another Survivor (otherwise a weapon, such as The Revolver, would just be passed from Survivor to Survivor to Survivor).

Oddly enough, in all the convention games we’ve played, we have yet to see a single Survivor hold both power play cards (The Scream Machine and The Killing Machine). The Killing Machine is best paired with a weapon, though…

With only two slots per Survivor, some tough choices are ahead.

Unexpected Twist: Stumble Ends Reel

July 13th, 2013
Unexpected Twist

Just like a movie, the game Pittsburgh 68 can throw unexpected plot twists at the players and Zombie Master.  As we hear about them here at Zombie HQ, we’ll post them under our Unexpected Twist thread. These aren’t so much questions on rules, but interesting outcomes of where the game can go. Moments when the players say, “Wow. I didn’t see that one coming!”

Here’s our first Unexpected Twist from a Zombie Master in Indiana:

It is the Zombie Master’s turn. There is only a single card left in the Reel Pile. The Dealt Hand has two Item cards covered with zombies. The third card is a lone zombie. The ZM takes the lone zombie and attacks, then replaces the empty slot with the Stumble card (the last card for the Reel).

The Stumble card causes the ZM to take the zombie cards that are covering the Item cards. Now, the only cards remaining in the dealt hand are the items. Unexpectedly, since it is the end of the ZM’s turn and only Item cards remain, he can immediately end the reel (via Clipping The Reel rules, page 6).

Talk about a game changer! The Survivors had some hope to grab those items, if they could just clear away those covering zombies. Then, by the flop of a single card, all hope is dashed! The zombie throngs swell, the reel is over!

The reel need not be over though; it would be the ZM’s choice to end the reel. It could be more advantageous to let it play out another round (especially if the ZM could sneak in some Sanctuary attacks). Also, if this twist occurred on the fourth/final reel of the game, it would also trigger a final full round of play that ends on the ZM’s next turn (as per “Ending Reel 4” rules on page 5 of the P68 rulebook).

If you have interesting twists in your games, let us know!