Customer Reviews

Zombie Dice

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Zombies rarely speak, but when they do, they typically only have one word in their vocabulary. Saying it like they do ("BraAAaAaaAaains") had us giggling throughout the games. Each player gets a turn with the dice (like Yahtzee) but what a player does with his turn is more exciting for everyone else to watch. The dice have brains, footprints, and gunshot bursts on them. 4 yellow dice have 2 of each symbol, 3 red and 6 green dice have two footprints each, with red having 3 gunshots and 1 brain, and green having the 3 brains and 1 gunshot.

You blindly take 3 dice and roll them. You keep your brains to your left, your gunshots to your right, and your footprints in the middle. As long as you haven't been shot 3 times, you can choose between rolling again, or eating (scoring) your brains and passing your turn. If you roll again, you must roll your footprint dice again, plus however many new dice you need to blindly pull from the cup to total 3. If you roll that 3rd gunshot, your turn is over and you don't get to eat your braaaAAAaains! Play continues in a race to 13 brains; once someone gets to 13, remaining players complete the current round and the zombie who ate the most brains wins.

Its the same 13 dice every turn, but turns go in a surprising variety of ways. Red footprints are going to have to be rolled again, which is scary, but even a red gunshot is a red die that isn't in the cup anymore - you could try to calculate the probabilities for your next throw, but in the end, you find a balance between your innate mathematical intuitions, the pressures of the current game score, and whatever sense of luck you possess. It's exciting, like gambling, and you are more engaged in your own risk/reward strategy (BraaaaAAaaaAAainnnns!) than with Yahtzee's more relaxed laundry list of things to accomplish.

There were no youngsters in my play groups, but I think kids would get this game, and older players can certainly offer helpful advice, so I think there is an educational vector here - its a fun way to exercise the probabilistic thinking muscles. But this is also a game you can introduce people into quickly, play once, and then play again, or do something else. Folks can easily rotate in and out of play.

For 2 players, 13 brains takes 5-15 minutes - additional players make the rounds longer, but the race to 13 seems to go faster too.

The "cup" is a stiff cardboard tube covered with the product art, with plastic caps on both ends - both come off, which is unfortunate when a zealous shaking pops the bottom off and sends 13 dice in all directions... if you are only a little more intelligent than I, you can avoid that problem. Sturdy black dice with recessed images painted in bright, unmistakable green, red, and yellow, and a succinct rules sheet that folds and fits in the tube complete the product. Its smaller than a beer can so you could take and play anywhere. (Tip: bring/find a little tray to toss the dice into, pass it with the dice cup)

This is a good dice game without the zombie motif. It's fast, engaging, and it can get exciting. If you embrace the whole zombie genre, it can get hilarious too. 2 to any number of players, I guess. Ages 9 to 99, I think.

BraaAAaAaainnNNsssS!

First off, apologies for the terrible title. Now, about the game. Steve Jackson is a game designer with a lot of fun games to his credit and Zombie Dice is definitely among the good ones. The object is simple, throw the dice, which represent humans, and try to get as many brains as you can. Each side and color (red, yellow and green, from hardest to easiest) have a different combination of brains (points), feet (throw again) and shotgun blasts (get 3 and no points for you!). You have to throw 3 dice to score points and can bank your points anytime before deciding to throw. The first to 13 points wins.

I played Zombie Dice with 6 friends to decide turn order in another board game and we had almost as much fun as with the other game itself! It's great for non-gamers because they get it and connects them to their inner gambler I think. Check it out for a quick, easy and fun game to get into.

This is a great game, and good for hours of enjoyment. What's included is 13 dice, an instruction sheet, and the tube they all come in.
Rules are simple. roll three dice, set ones that come up as brains to one side, shotgun blasts to another. If any come up as runners, you can choose to re-roll them along with however many needed from the cup to roll a total of three dice. You can choose to end your turn after any roll and add any brains you rolled to your score. If you get 3 shotgun blasts, your turn is over and you lose how ever many brains you have rolled that turn. When someone reaches 13 brains, play continues until the end of the round, at which point the person with the most brains wins.

Each die is one of three colors, Green, Yellow, or Red, which rate the difficulty, or, your chances of successfully rolling brains. Green dice have 3 brains, 2 runners, and 1 shotgun. Yellow dice have 2 brains, 2 runners, and 2 shotguns. While red dice have 1 brain, 2 runners, and 3 shotguns.

Though the game is rated as for 10 years and up, my 6 year old learned the basics in a matter of minutes, and got the hang of the strategy involved after several play throughs, and is now one of his favorite games. Though there really isn't much education wise, this game can teach him about the possibility of losing everything on a bad gamble. When you live in Las Vegas, this can be an important lesson.

Durability is medium. 13 6 sided dice and a cardboard tube and a plastic lid. Dice can get lost easy if you aren't careful, and the tube, while it seems pretty strong, could possibly get crushed or damaged by a spilled drink.

My 5 year old is learning to understand the gaming concept of continuing to attempt to score at the risk of losing accumulated points. Or as she says, "I ain't gonna roll again and lose my 4 brains. I might get shot again." I am so proud.

I got this for my nine year old son figuring it would make for some good family gaming. The rules are simple to learn and have just a trace of strategy to keep it from being a game of pure luck. The theme is well done with the artwork on the instructions, dice, and packaging all excellent.

In fact it's not a bad game at all. However I am calling this a novelty in my review and the reason for the three stars is it has very little replay value. It's fun a few times and then, at least in our family, it wasn't picked up again. There are lots of simple games that are played over and over again, but not this one.

Steve Jackson Games makes many great games; I've been a customer for years. Zombie Dice though, just doesn't have enough replay value to be more than a one day novelty. Maybe buy it for your Halloween party or other one time event and it's fine for that, but this game won't be the centerpiece of a family game night like many classics might be.

a fun party game that is quick and allows for as many players as you want. also a different way to teach odds and probability. this is important in math and in the case of a zombie apocalypse.

I played this game at a meetup in NYC. It's pretty much a mindless fun game. Of course, the dice detemine your fate. Getting three bombs ends your turn and cancels out any brains you got during that turn. After each roll, you can stop and "bank" the number of brains you got in that turn. When someone gets 13 brains, the other players get one final turn to try and tie or beat the leading player.

There is some strategy involved. Red dice have more bombs and green dice have more brains. You ramdomly select three dice to roll on each turn. The one game I played, I needed eight brains to tie, nine brains to win. I ended up getting nine brains. So I'm living proof that it's possible to come from behind and win in this game.

I wasn't sure how this game would play, only that it seemed pretty sweet
just by the title. I gotta tell you, this game is a LOT of fun. The rules
are very simple: You roll three random dice, the 3 possible results are
footprints, shotgun blast or brains. Brains means you score a point,
any dice that show footprints must be rolled again, and a shotgun blast
is kind of like a strike against you. After your first roll you can either
roll 3 more dice(that includes ones that came up footprints) or pass on
your turn. If you get three dice that come up shotgun blasts, you're out!
The green dice are easiest to roll a brain on, the yellow are medium
difficulty and the red dice are the hardest. All these dynamics come together
beautifully to make one hell of a simple, fun dice game.

Have fun with your Zombie friends!

Roll the dice to try to eat the brains of as many victims as you can. Some of the humans will run away, and some of them will have shotguns. BLAM! If you get blasted three times, you lose all the brains you ate in that round. If you are a careful and cautious zombie, you will stop before you get blasted thrice, and keep your tasty brains! Eat 13 brains, and you win! Yum!

Zombie Dice is fast-paced, fun, and easy to play for your whole family. It's on my must-have list to have for the zombie apocalypse. After all, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!

Just got mine in the mail.

Very nice quality dice. Colorful and easily recognizable icons. The icons are "etched" deeply into the die, making the dice durable and long lasting.

The dice container consist of a simple cardboard tube, with removable plastic end caps. Not very good at all. But it's functional enough for carrying the dice around, and can be used to shake up the dice.

Game instructions are simple and easy to understand.

I had first seen "Zombie Dice" as a free iPhone App. The iPhone app was fun to play, and had high quality graphics and standards. After playing the iPhone version for awhile, I decided to order the actual dice version.

I'd take a few points off for the cardboard tube, but the actual dice and game itself are excellent. Excellent purchase.