Zombicide Gear Up: Rapid Review
Information:
Mechanics: Co-operative, Roll (Flip) and Write
Player Age: 14+ Player Count: 1 - 6 PlayersTime to Play: 30 Minutes
Game Designer: Jordy Adan, Marco Portugal
Player Age: 14+
Game Designer: Jordy Adan, Marco Portugal
Rundown:
Zombicide is back and this time without the presence of miniatures. Gear Up is a more portable Zombicide where you are trying to kill zombies while being overrun and aiming to collectively defeat the abomination (boss). This small version all comes in a unique package of a flip and write.
The game is made up of two rounds each consisting of nine turns. Every turn will have a card dictating the weapon that will activate and the zombie type that will move. There will also be a second card to determine which zombies will spawn this turn.
The second round will follow and this is when it becomes more challenging as the boss has been unleashed. The second card, as well as spawning more zombies, will dictate how the boss attacks using its special ability or if it just attacks with the yellow or blue damage. If you defeat the boss as a team then you win, but if any player dies (in typical Zombicide style) then everyone loses.
Alteration:
There are six characters and six bosses, as well as different modes from easy to challenging and eight different zombie types. Each character has four weapons that have different pentomino patterns that are used to eliminate these zombies. Every weapon will also have two abilities to be unlocked as you kill zombies. Combinations of these abilities keep each character feeling unique.
Each boss has two sides, a hard side and an easier side. Each boss will move between players once per turn in the second round to give each player an opportunity to hit or be hit by the boss. The main alteration that comes from the bosses are the special abilities and special attacks. Some will instantly damage you if your pentomino shape crosses a dotted line.
One of the main alterations comes from the four different difficulty levels. This gives players a reason to keep coming back, like normal Zombicide players are faced with the urge to finally win. I personally am yet to win at this Zombicide and have only played the first two difficulty levels.
Production:
The production is great! Each card in the game needs to be filled in from the bosses, zombies and characters. To solve this each card is dry erase ready. This helps create the atmosphere as you are trying to eliminate each zombie by filling their own pentomino health.
Interaction:
This is the first roll/flip and write game I’ve played that is a co-operative game. That is where the huge amount of interaction comes from, as each time a zombie spawns it is up to the player to designate where the zombies go. Each boss moves around the table, and players have options to attack using ranged weapons which allows them to do an attack on the cards that a player on their left or right has. This is a co-operative game where players will often lose if they don't coordinate the elimination of the growing horde.
Determination:
Key Points:
- Cooperative flip and write.
- Multiple difficulty levels.
- Encompasses the feeling of other zombicide games.
- For some players this game will be quite annoying as you lose more than you win.
Zombicide Gear Up perfectly mimics the feeling of it's larger game. This is done by the game constantly adding pressure from new zombies as well as challenging bosses. At the same time players get to experience the feeling of getting stronger as they upgrade their abilities much like the larger game. This is the kind of game I would love to see expanded, as it already comes with plenty of replay-ability it would be great to see more zombie types and bosses introduced while expanding the roster of playable characters. If you enjoy Zombicide and flip and writes, than this is a perfect addition to your collection. This has easily earnt a Go-To Golden game seal and I would love to see the world of Zombicide to continue expanding.
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