Nov. 6, 2013 -- The Walking Dead has conquered comics and TV. Now zombies are coming for your favorite board games.
Coinciding with Halloween, USAopoly has released Walking Dead versions of old favorites Monopoly and RISK. As if those games weren’t cutthroat enough already!
“RISK: The Walking Dead Survival Edition,” as it’s called, blew me away – in the game and out of it! That’s because, by design, there are no survivors.
First, the designers took full advantage of Rick Grimes’ awful new world by creating an entirely new board. Gone are the six populated continents and familiar, frequently contested territories like Siam, North Africa and Kamchatka. Instead four “Survivor” groups battle over 32 territories broken into six “Zones,” all of them familiar to Walking Dead fans.
In addition to the Survivor groups (Rick’s, the Governor’s, the Greene Family and “Prisoners”), there are, of course, the Dead. They comprise a fifth, and incredibly dangerous, “group.”
In fact, the game can be viewed as essentially a losing battle of attrition against the Walkers, because they inevitably “win.” They generate spontaneously all over the board, in heavily fortified places and behind battle lines, and in greater and greater numbers as the game wears on.
Worse, your own troops can “turn” when killed! A 50/50 roll of the dice determines whether your fallen are taken off the board – or join the slavering hordes you’re already fighting.
While fending off the Walkers, the Survivors battle each other for territory, resources and, often, just to survive to the next turn. Reinforcement and battle rules during those turns are standard RISK mechanisms, buttressed by “Supply” and “Event” cards that can offer welcome relief – or toss an undead monkey wrench into long-term strategy.
While it all seems pretty grim, the game compensates by giving each group a unique advantage. Rick’s group is more mobile than the others, for example, while the Greene Family group has only a 33 percent chance of being turned. While the Walkers have the shocking advantage of being able to “recruit” from your ranks, they also are given a die-roll handicap to indicate their lack of strategy (and brains).
But eventually everyone dies, or an “Overrun” is declared. And that’s it. Everyone counts up territories and other valuable elements they held at the end of the world, and whosoever had the most toys at death is declared the winner. Talk about a Pyrrhic victory!
The result is an unpredictable game where numbers and fortunes can turn on a roll of the dice or a turn of a card. And generally the Walkers will kill everyone, or the Overrun is declared, within 4-7 rounds, so long games – an occasional complaint about RISK – aren’t possible.
If that’s too much of a downer, there’s a more standard version of game rules included where the Walkers act as just another group. Game play there is much like a regular RISK game, albeit on unfamiliar turf.
Meanwhile, “Monopoly: The Walking Dead Survival Edition” is a hoot.
While the play is the same as regular Monopoly, the equipment and terminology have been thoroughly, and often hilariously, Walker-ized.
Houses and Hotels have become Walls and Guard Towers, respectively. Playing pieces, instead of the usual top hats and Scottie dogs, include Rick’s hat, Michonne’s katana, a broken telephone and even a bucket of body parts. And since regular money is useless in a zombie apocalypse, the legal tender replaces dead presidents with icons for first-aid kits ($1), sacks of seed ($5), boxes of food ($10), gallons of fuel ($20), knives ($50), firearms ($100) and cartridges ($500).
But despite the apocalypse, real estate remains important. In fact, this comics-related quote seems particularly apt: “Stocks may rise and fall, utilities and transportation systems may collapse. People are no damn good, but they will always need land and they’ll pay through the nose to get it.”
That was Lex Luthor in Superman: The Movie, so it’s the wrong comic-book property. But it remains true in “The Walking Dead,” demonstrating that there are some truths even zombies can’t change.
However, all the Monopoly properties have been re-named appropriately, from Atlanta’s Survivor’s Camp (formerly Mediterranean Ave.) to the Greene Family Farmhouse (New York Avenue) to The Hilltop Colony (Park Place). So “Walking Dead” aficionados will feel right at home – which is to say, nervously looking over their shoulders. There are no utilities or railroads in this barbaric world, of course, so the familiar Water Works and Reading are replaced by water bottles and horses. And naturally, stops like “Luxury Tax” are a bit more, well, dangerous. Be prepared to pay for “protection”!
The biggest fun, though, is the new wording on Community Chest and Chance cards, re-named Supply Chest and Scavenge, respectively. My favorite is the new Get Out of Jail Free card, featuring the blurb “You’ve got guts. Walker camouflage hides your scent.” Well, that’s one way out of a trap!
Both RISK and Monopoly Survival Editions are available at any comic-book shop. To find a local one, go to www.comicshoplocator.com.
Contact Captain Comics at capncomics@aol.com.
Replies
I am something of a purist when it comes to Monopoly. I don’t go in for those special editions. (I wouldn’t mind buying some of the lead figures if they were sold separately, but they’re not.) We have a vintage replica edition. The American internet public really let me down when they voted for the stupid cat instead of the cool robot. I always (always) play the top hat, but I would have considered switching to the robot.
I have played Risk a grand total of three times in my life: once when I was about ten, once in college (vodka Risk), and once in my 30s. Hated it each time. If vodka Risk didn’t entice me, it’s not likely a zombie version would.
I am more of the opposite of Jeff. I find Monopoly one of the most mind-numbingly boring games. I would rather play a game of Titan over Monopoly! A little board game humor for you. (Is this thing on?)
I used to play a lot of Risk. Most of the time it was an online version called Global Wars back 20+ years ago. Much easier to play since you and your opponents can take turns when you have time to. The worst part was you could get really screwed by the random number generator. I do like that this version ensures everyone dies, that is interesting. Kind of reminds me of the card game Nuclear War in which it was at least possible everyone could die.
Risk is best played with five other drunks, and oddly enough, it's been nearly twenty-five years since I've been in the same room with five other drunks and a Risk board.
As for Monopoly - well, if there is a Hell, I expect I'll be spending all eternity there playing Monopoly, so I see no reason to play it again in this life.
I have to say I've never been much for Monopoly. But I was a RISK fiend when I was a kid, and managed to find a few games up through college. It helped, I guess, that I can count on one hand the times I lost. I can see why my opponents might lose interest, as many of them did.