Invasion of the Body Snatchers

November 22nd, 2017
Roswell 51, Unexpected Twist

Yikes! Here’s the final three cards in Reel 4 from a Shuffling Horror: Roswell 51 game
I ran at PAX Unplugged last weekend. A trifecta of Pod People familiar faces!
It’s as “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” as it gets – what are the odds?!?

Zombie World Series: Game 66

December 21st, 2013
News, Unexpected Twist, Zombie World Series I

The end is drawing near for the Pittsburgh 68 Zombie World Series! With only two games to go, the Zombies have clawed their way to a single game lead, breaking the dead heat.

Game 66 pitted three players against the Zombie Master. There was an unexpected twist at the start of Reel three when the first three cards in the Dealt Hand were all Familiar Faces (zombified survivors)! At that time only the Sheriff, the Farmer, and the Bartender were in play, so things looked grim from the start. The movie ended shortly thereafter – but not before introducing the two final Survivors: The Kid Sister and The Sorority Girl (who was the last one standing).

Only two games to go in our sixty-eight game series!

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!