July 11th, 2013
News, Zombie World Series I
For those who haven’t been following along, and/or just found out about Pittsburgh 68 at a recent game convention this summer, let’s bring you up to speed on the Pittsburgh 68 Zombie World Series!
The P68 ZWS is a series of 68 games spread out across four quarters of 17 games each. As you can guess, it’s Survivors versus Zombies, and each victory gains the winning team one point. Helping us run and track all these games is an awesome throng of Zombie Masters from a bunch of different states. Series games have been played in IN, MA, NJ, NY, PA, OH, and VA.
The first quarter began in October (2012) and the Survivors took that series by a single game. In the second quarter, the Survivors led by a single game again, giving them a two game lead. Then, over Memorial Day Weekend, we held a mini-series where each of our Zombie Masters ran a game and reported back the results. The team with the most victories was awarded a 3 point bonus lead. Unfortunately for the zombies, the Survivors won and established a five game lead!
This brings us to the current quarter…
The third quarter was timed with the start of the summer game convention season: it began at Origins Game Fair (June) and has continued through to Dexcon in Morristown NJ. Between these two cons, fourteen games for this quarter have been played. More bad news for zombie fans… as of right now the zombies trail seven games behind! There’s no doubt that the Survivors are in full zombie annihilation mode!
Or maybe this lead is just what the Survivors need to give them that false sense of security…
We shall see!
See More »
June 30th, 2013
Shuffling Horror Alt Rules, Shuffling Horrors
As per the normal rules of Pittsburgh 68, a reel immediately ends when the final card of the Reel Pile is eliminated or taken. The current turn is over and no other player action may be taken. This is important, because the next reel resets the turn sequence to the first payer to the right of the Zombie Master.
For this reason, it is to the players’ advantage to delay the end of a reel to allow as many Survivors to act as possible, while assuring that the Zombie Master does not get a final action.
In games with a large number of Survivor players (4+), the Continuity rule is encouraged. This rule simply resumes the action with the player whose turn was next, but was cut short by the end of the reel. This also gives the game a sense of film continuity, as opposed to a choppy non-sequitar grindhouse-style cut of a grainy, gritty B movie!
The Continuity rule also allows the Zombie Master’s turn comes up that much earlier during the round, too.
Keep in mind, that Reel 4 always plays around to the Zombie Masters turn.
The final reel is never over until it’s over!
See More »
June 30th, 2013
Shuffling Horror Alt Rules, Shuffling Horrors
Experienced players know that the flow of Pittsburgh 68 can change in a heartbeat: the turn of one card can trigger an avalanche of zombies and immediately ruin the Survivors’ best laid plans. Then there are those odd games where the Zombie Master just can’t get their footing. What’s a ZM to do?
As per the rules for the Opening Scene of Reel 1, any zombie that appears in the first three cards automatically “stumbles” into the Zombie Master’s hand as lone zombies. This is not done for the start of the subsequent reels: Reels 2 through 4 have no Opening Scene stumble. However, if there are no in-play zombies at the start of a subsequent reel, the ZM can try to introduce some Background Zombies to get things started.
To do so, the ZM starts the reel as normal, shuffling the Dead Pile and dealing the requisite number of cards for the reel. The ZM then secretly draws a number of cards from the Dead Pile. The number of cards drawn is equal to the current reel number (two cards for Reel 2, three cards for Reel 3, and four cards for Reel 4). Just as the rules for the Opening Scene, any zombie that is drawn is immediately placed as a lone zombie. Non-zombie cards are returned to the Dead Pile.
Background Zombies
At the start of a reel, there can be no zombies in any Zombie Player’s hand.
After the shuffling and counting of the Reel Pile, the ZM draws a number of cards equal to the reel number from the Dead Pile. Two cards for Reel 2, three cards for Reel 3, and four cards for Reel 4.
Any zombies that are drawn may be placed in the ZM’s hand. All other cards are ignored and returned to the Dead Pile.
Drawn zombies cannot be used to create throngs, and must be placed as lone zombies in the ZM’s hand. The exception to this is Reel 4 if all four cards are zombies. The fourth card can be placed to create a throng or given to another Zombie Player’s hand.
The reel then begins as normal.
An advantage of the ZM secretly previewing the bonus cards is that they will get a sense of what cards are NOT in the Reel Pile. While drawing zero zombies is a bummer, the knowledge that The Cellar or Killing Machine won’t be coming into play can be very gratifying…
As with all other Alt Rules, at the start of the game, players should be told which Alt Rules are in play. For Background Zombies, wily Survivors can strategically thwart the ZM’s bonus by leaving a zombie in play.
But who really wants to leave one of those things around… Always leads to trouble… Remember Bub?
See More »
June 21st, 2013
News, Zombie World Series I
The third quarter of the Pittsburgh 68 Zombie World Series began at Origins Game Fair in Columbus OH. Three games were run on the event schedule (Games 35, 36, and 37), and the Survivors won twice. For the Zombies, two outta three ain’t good!
Game 35 was a brutal zombie victory. Game over at the end of Reel 1!
Game 36 was a gripping 8 Survivor game that went the full four reels. By the end, it was 8 Zombie Players versus one lone Survivor, who succeeded Flail after Flail after Flail. Adding insult to injury, the player pressed their luck by spending only a single spoint for each Flail roll. An almost certain apocalyptic victory stolen from the zombies!
Game 37 was a 4 Survivor game that played out like a Scooby Doo episode. If it weren’t for those meddling dice rolls…
The Survivors now have a six game series lead!
See More »
June 7th, 2013
Shuffling Horror Alt Rules, Shuffling Horrors
To put a little more tension in the game, try using The Backseat Zombie rules when The Car appears. When it does, the Zombie Master buries a random card from The Dead Pile (discard pile) underneath it. This mystery card is only revealed when a Survivor enters the car.
When the card is revealed, the following applies:
If it is an ITEM card, the Survivor may automatically take it (free action) or they may leave it there for anther Survivor (who must move to The Car to get it)
If it is a ZOMBIE card, it gets an immediate attack on the Survivor. The zombie stays at the Car until the zombie is destroyed. Until then, there is no resting bonus in the Car…
If it’s a PLOT DEVICE or SHUFFLING HORROR card, it is played immediately. There is also a slight chance that The Cellar is revealed; in such a case it is immediately put into play.
This rule only can occur if The Car appears (and so might never be triggered). It should not be used for The Cellar. This way there is at least one Sanctuary card that is completely safe for the Survivors to enter during play. This rule also forces the Survivors to explore The Car early, to clear it of any zombies should they want to make use of the sanctuary later in the game.
Besides, we’re working on some special Alt Rule for The Cellar…
See More »
June 7th, 2013
News, Pittsburgh 68
(Note: The full GameWick Games events schedule is found here.)
Here’s the Pittsburgh 68 events we will be running at the Origins Game Fair. A portion of these games are part of our Zombie World Series (Third Quarter). The Survivors are ahead by 5 victories, so the Zombies need to catch up. If you play in one of the Zombie World Series events, the Zombies are going for the win!
Pittsburgh 68 Zombie World Series
Join in the grim fun and try to keep the Survivors ahead of the Zombies! This game is part of a series run by GameWick Games this summer. Each game scores a point for either the Survivors or the Zombies. You start as a member of the Survivor “home team” (in Pittsburgh of course), but you might end up playing for the “visiting” team before the game is thru. Pittsburgh 68 is a fast-paced card-n-dice game that plays like a good old creepy zombie flick.
Shuffling Horror-Pittsburgh 68
A cooperative little card game until it’s not! Pittsburgh 68 is a fast paced card-n-dice game that pays homage to a time when slow moving zombies ruled. Players face an ever growing zombie problem (which they might end up being a part of). When eliminated, players are not out of the game – they shuffle back in as zombies. A new and creepy game from GameWick Games!
Pittsburgh 68 Event Menu at Origins
(Please confirm times with the onsite program book)
Weds Nite Special
Join us as we kick off the third quarter of our Zombie World Series!
9 pm – The Pittsburgh 68 Zombie World Series
Thursday
10 am: Pittsburgh 68, A Game of Shuffling Horror (2 hrs)
2 pm: Pittsburgh 68, A Game of Shuffling Horror (2 hrs)
4 pm: Pittsburgh 68, A Game of Shuffling Horror (2 hrs)
Friday
10 am: Pittsburgh 68, A Game of Shuffling Horror (2 hrs)
4 pm: Pittsburgh 68, A Game of Shuffling Horror (2 hrs)
9 pm: The Pittsburgh 68 Zombie World Series (2 hrs)
10 pm: The Pittsburgh 68 Zombie World Series (2 hrs)
Saturday
10 am: Pittsburgh 68, A Game of Shuffling Horror (2 hrs)
2 pm: Pittsburgh 68, A Game of Shuffling Horror (2 hrs)
4 pm: Pittsburgh 68, A Game of Shuffling Horror (2 hrs)
See More »
