We have a multitude of Walking Dead tabletop games primarily due to the fact we are devotees to the show and the comics. Kirkman can do wrong at the Garage. Sometimes one play of a Walking Dead game is more than enough to know that there is a shortfall of connection or mechanics. The Walking Dead Something to Fear Card Game blissfully worked for us on all counts.
Gameplay
The Walking Dead Something To Fear is a semi-cooperative card game. (Semi-cooperative um, we are super competitive)
There are nine rounds to survive the relentless savage villains from The Walking Dead, including The Governor, Negan, Ezekiel and aggressive hordes of walkers.
It would help if you worked to survive as a group OR throw a player to the walkers to gain the most points for yourself – the latter is mostly how this went down.
Each player has nine-character cards, each with different characters from the show and a number. The Encounter deck is set up with cards that are appropriate for the number of players in the game. The Encounter deck is placed between the players, and cards are turned face up to form an Encounter row.
Players shuffle their character cards, then place them face down in front of them, and draws a hand of three each turn. The tie-breaker card is given to the player who has most recently read a comic book. Once we understand this rule, we all independently brought comics to the table; we are predictable, so now it is a role of dice to see who gets the tie-breaker card.
The Character cards are the same for players, and each has a unique ability you can use for the benefit of yourself or the group during the round. The numbers on the character card determine player order, highest first unless a unique ability that changes the order.
Encounter cards are the troubles you are going to run into in the form of people or problems trying to survive. These are to be collected in sets in your stash, and ones that are left make up the mob that you have to be careful the count because, at the end of the game, they can kill you.
The game is played over nine rounds consisting of; revealing your character card, encounter enemies, remaining enemies moved to the mob, and clean-up.
In the reveal Character cards, players will take one card from their hand and place it face-down. Everyone shows at the same time, and then you move to the next step. An Encounter with the enemy, character cards are revealed and played for their abilities from highest to lowest number on the card. Some have immediate effects that take place on reveal as well. Each character either uses their skill or secures a card from the Encounter row instead. These cards become part of your stash face-up in front of you. The tie-breaker card determines which player gets to use their Character ability first.
Cards either deal with Personal damage if they are in your Stash or Mob damage if they are in the mob to all players at the game end. The cards still in the row after Character abilities are completed are moved to the mob.
Each Encounter card scores differently, some giving straight-up points, and some are set collection. Others can pull in some good points at the cost of possibly dealing with you more end-game damage, so you must be careful with what you pick!
The game will end after the ninth round, and players then assess the damage from the mob plus their damage from cards in their stash. If you have more than 20 damage, you did not survive the game and cannot win, but if you survive, you count your stash points, and the player with the most points wins!
Bits and Bobs
6 Sets of Nine Characters
63 Encounter cards
1 Tie Breaker card
A Big Box
Our Thoughts
The game is swift to learn and can be played in less than 40 minutes. The artwork is an endearing balance of characters from the show and comics. A splendid selection of favorites.
There is a nice bit of strategy involved to minimize the danger to yourself and a big dose of sabotage to opponents. It’s not as involved or deep as other zombie games, but it is still a a great game. It is the most entertaining Walking Dead games we have played.
We highly recommend this game!
We take games with us when we travel, and this game fits the bill.
We left the box at home and put the cards in our GenCon dice bag- perfectly portable!
The choice of music while we play is debated before we play a game, however this was already in rotation at the Garage.
Here is the full track listing:
Jamie N Commons – “Lead Me Home” 2. Bear McCreary – “Main Title Theme Song” (UNKLE Remix) 3. Voxhaul Broadcast – “You Are The Wilderness” 4. Baby Bee – “Love Bug” 5. Fink – “Warm Shadow” (Dactyl Remix) 6. Of Monsters And Men – “Sinking Man” 7. Emily Kinney and Lauren Cohan (Beth & Maggie Greene)- “The Parting Glass” 8. Delta Spirit – “Running”
Ages 12+
20-45 minutes
Designers – Derek Funkhouser, Lizzy Funkhouser Artist – Justin Chan Publisher – Skybound Games
Nerdz Garage
Suzzan Smith