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2021 · 1-6 players · 60min · weight 2.38 · 5,266 ratings
At a glance — v4 wide
Controlled-vocabulary primitives + 8-axis MDA aesthetic vector. Vocab v1.
Spend action points to move, search for loot, and attack zombies; kill counts raise your XP but also spawn stronger hordes.
- [3]escalating_threat— “find guns and gear up — the longer you wait, the more dangerous the situation becomes”
- [2]variable_player_powers— “survivors who must co-operate in order to survive; xp_drives_spawn_difficulty”
- [2]action_point_movement— “Spend AP to move, search, and shoot zombies on a city tile-grid”
- [2]event_deck_seeded_threat— “draw worse spawns; noise_aggro_pull; scenario_objective_grid”
Archetype fits — v4 deep
How well this game shape maps to mobile archetype templates. Composite is a weighted sum of the 10 fit dimensions.
| Archetype | Composite | LTF | Session | Combo | Arc | Share | 5in | Onboard |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coop Strongest archetype fit. Cooperative Game with shared fail-state, scenario campaign giving content_extensibility, escalating_threat for arc_tightness. Variable Player Powers = inter-player payoff stacking. But visual_legibility on a 5-inch screen is the killer dimension — Pandemic-shape (board + everyone's hand) compresses badly. bluff_info_asymmetry middling because info is mostly open. | 6.00 | 7.0 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Balatro xp_drives_spawn_difficulty is genuinely Balatro-shape (the harder you scale, the harder the encounter scales) — combo_scaling lifts via gear-stacking. 25 scenarios + Multiple Maps gives strong content_extensibility. But 30-min loop overshoots StS sweet spot, and visual_legibility tanks: tile-grid + minis + spawn cards on a 5-inch screen requires major compression. | 5.00 | 6.0 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Snap 30-min coop scenarios are the wrong category for 3-min PvP matches. No factional decks, no lane-vs-lane structure. | 3.90 | 5.0 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Cozy escalating_threat is an explicit anti-cozy primitive. Zombie horror tone is the antithesis of cozy. No tier triggers cozy. | 3.60 | 3.0 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Wordle 30-min coop scenario campaign is an order of magnitude beyond Wordle's 60-90s. Wrong category. | 2.40 | 3.0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
Translation candidate
Composite fit_score = bayes×0.30 + wish×0.18 + compress×0.17 + difficulty×0.20 + headroom×0.15.
Hex/grid combat and dice rolls port cleanly, but the dungeon-crawl scenario sprawl is content-heavy and miniature-driven.
Rules card
Synthesized from sources below. Readiness: draft-ready. Confidence: 0.67.
Readiness
draft-ready (confidence=0.67, rules=0.65, fun=0.70). BGG rank: 496; year: 2021; weight: 2.38; playtime: 60 min
| Source | Quality | Role | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
llm_memory | 0.65 | draft synthesis | sonnet-self-rated-7 |
Core Loop
Cooperative miniatures dungeon-crawler in a zombie-apocalypse setting. Each player controls one or more Survivors. Rounds alternate Player Phase → Zombie Phase. In Player Phase, each Survivor takes 3 actions (move, search, attack, open door, trade, reorganize, etc.). Search produces equipment cards (weapons, armor, items). In Zombie Phase, existing zombies activate (move toward noisiest tile, attack if adjacent), then a Spawn step adds new zombies on each spawn marker based on the highest-Danger-Level Survivor.
Turn Structure and State
- No manual/BGA/transcript source is present; card relies on memory plus BGG context.
- BGG description anchor: Zombicide, the board game, has taken the world by storm with over two million copies sold since its release in 2012 and spawning a cult franchise of cooperative zombie slaying all over the world. In Zombicide, zombies are controlled by the game, while players take on the role of survivors who must co-operate in order to survive and thrive in a world overrun by the bloodthirsty undead. Find guns and gear to take [...]
Win Condition and Arc
Each scenario has its own objective (rescue, find item, reach extraction). Lose if any Survivor dies (in most scenarios) or objective fails. Arc: starts easy (pistols, low spawns), but XP gain pushes Survivors up Danger Levels which spawns more and worse zombies — the core risk/reward tension.
Decision Primitives
BGG mechanisms: Action Points, Cooperative Game, Dice Rolling, Modular Board, Multiple Maps, Scenario / Mission / Campaign Game, Variable Player Powers
Memory-derived primitives:
- Action-point allowance per Survivor (3 actions)
- Dice-pool combat with weapon-specific dice/accuracy/damage profiles
- Noise tokens (each action = 1 noise; zombies move toward loudest)
- Threat escalation via Danger Levels (Blue → Yellow → Orange → Red) tied to XP
- Deck-driven zombie spawning
- Line of sight on grid streets/buildings
v4 controlled primitives: escalating_threat, variable_player_powers, action_point_movement, event_deck_seeded_threat
Top iOS archetype fits: coop 6.0, balatro 5.0, snap 3.9.
Why It Is Fun
Power fantasy. Survivors get progressively stronger (dual-wielding shotguns, chainsaws), but the spawn rate scales with you, so leveling up is a double-edged sword. Big miniature combat with dice fests.
Friction and Failure Modes
- Treat Sonnet-memory edge rules as draft until confirmed by manual, BGA, or transcript.
- Needs at least one stronger rules authority before final extraction use.
Translation and Design Hooks
- Use this card to ask: which primitive carries the fun if theme/licensing is removed?
- For iOS, look for short-session compression, clear state visualization, and a digital-only twist.
- For new tabletop design, look for the tension source and decide whether to preserve or invert it.
Edge Rules and Gotchas
- Skills unlock at each Danger Level (player picks from a small choice each upgrade).
- Friendly fire: if you shoot into a zone with both Survivors and zombies, you must allocate hits to Survivors first by priority order (in 2nd ed, this is a key tension; armor and "Tough" mitigate).
- Berserker / Toxic / Runner / Walker / Fatty / Abomination — different zombie types with different rules; Abomination requires high-damage weapons (molotov, .50 cal).
- Noise: ALL actions in a tile generate noise except silenced ones; zombies always path to highest-noise zone with Survivors visible/known.
- 2nd Edition specifically streamlined the equipment deck, removed some token clutter, and rebalanced spawn cards vs the 1st-edition Black Plague/Modern Zombicide.
- Reorganize/Trade are free actions in some editions, costed in others — 2nd ed specifies.
Sources Used
[
{
"kind": "llm_memory",
"path": "data/llm_memory_sonnet/286751.md",
"quality": 0.65,
"note": "sonnet-self-rated-7"
}
]
Sources (1)
Inputs to rules-card synthesis. Click any pill with ↗ to open the original source.