Shuffling Horror Week: Pittsburgh, Part 2-Game Masters
November 3rd, 2014
News, Shuffling Horror Week, Shuffling Horrors
–Shuffling Horror Week Update: Day 7, Halloween, Game 10–
The final game of Shuffling Horror Week took place at Game Masters in northern Pittsburgh, not very far from the area where George Romero filmed our game’s muse, Night of the Living Dead. Surely, this was a sign that a zombie victory was in the cards tonight. The Shuffler and his zombies were one game away from winning the series. This game would determine if they had what it takes to cause a total zombie apocalypse!
Imagine the Shuffler’s shock when 11 players packed the table for this final game. This was going to be a BIG finale and would require the Shuffler to pull out all the stops. He knew this throng of Pittsburgh players would not yield their home turf without a good fight! He dealt each a single survivor and then started the first reel.
There was one consolation from the start: the deck had the twelfth survivor, that one unused survivor, in it as a zombie.
OK… It wasn’t much of a consolation…
In large games of Pittsburgh 68 (seven of more survivor players), it is suggested to restrict the initial spoint distribution to the survivors. Such a tactic helps to balance the game from the start (and gives it that “Apocalypse Already In Progress” feel). The Shuffler started each player with four general spoints. This meant that there were 44 general spoints in play when the game began (11 players with 4 each). In addition, he set aside 20 spoints for the Sanctuary cards (12 for The Cellar and 8 for The Car). This brought the spoint count to 64. He threw another 4 spoints onto the table and brought the total to 68. The game was capped at this amount. (This rule is found on the last page of the rulebook).
The horror was now ready to begin!
Reel 1: 10 cards, 11 Survivors versus 1 Zombie player. The first ten minutes of the full was full of weapons, Killing Machine, The Cellar, and Scream Queen. It was a ridiculous walk in the park for the Survivors. Luckily there was a Stumble, Clutch and Surge to keep things interesting. Still, no survivor fell and it looked like we were on our way to a Scooby Doo. The Shuffler only needed to eliminate a single survivor to give him a little wiggle room.
Reel 2: 20 cards, 11 Survivors versus 1 Zombie player. This reel was head-to-head conflict, as every Shuffling Horror card was triggered: Stumble, Surge, Lurch, and Clutch. The plot devices, Run For It and Hold Them Back also helped to cause some chaos for the group (these cards REALLY help with big group balance) – not to mention a never-ending three card zombie bonus. The net effect of all these Zombie Master bonuses was a heavy spoint drain for the survivors. They were in pretty bad shape, but both sanctuaries were now in play. The reel ended with the first survivor eliminated. Most importantly, the Shuffler had assembled five full throngs – and it stayed this way until the end of the game…
This Can’t Be Beat!
Reel 3: 15 cards, 9 Survivors versus 2 Zombie players. It was a struggle for the Survivors, and two more were eliminated. The Cellar was destroyed, too, leaving only The Car to hide in (of course, the Shuffler dealt a Backseat Zombie into it). Things weren’t looking so good for Pittsburgh…
Reel 4: 10 cards, 7 Survivors versus 4 Zombie players. The final ten minutes of the film! From the start, the survivors showed grit. They focused on clearing the reel to trigger the final round. One survivor dashed into The Car and found Four Lone Zombies within. The Sheriff stayed put and quickly picked these zombies off with his rifle. This heroic action would seal his fate: the final wave of zombie attacks was nigh!
The Endgame: To win, the remaining seven survivors had to survive the onslaught of the four zombie players. Two survivors jumped into the Car. One more survivor fell. Six still standing: three in the car, three without. Throngs of lone zombies circled the car, but it held up to their attacks.
The Shuffler was still poised with five full throngs and was the last attack to go; he focused his attacks on those outside the car, but all succeeded their flail tests. On his final attack, the Shuffler rolled snake-eyes on the Sheriff, eliminating one final player.
Or Can It?
At the film’s end, five Survivors remained.
Five had been zombified by the Shuffler and his undead cohorts.
Not a zombie win, but not bad for a night’s work!
Shuffling Horror Week 2014 ends with no true winners…
Just survivors with a zombie problem that they have to deal with in the sequel!
The 2014 Series Ends In A Dead Heat!
