Zombie Coasters

Zombie Coasters
Jonathan Hartshorn
Stop the Zombie plague before it gets out of hand!
:Players	Players:	1 - 3
:Time	Length:	unknown
:Complexity	Complexity:	unknown
Trios per color:		5
Number of colors:		1 per player + 1
Pyramid trios:
Monochr. stashes:		1 per player + 1
Five-color sets:
- - - - - - Other equipment - - - - - -
Treehouse die, Martian coasters, 15 markers
Setup time:		1–3 minutes
Playing time:
Strategy depth:		unknown
Random chance:		Medium
Game mechanics:		Martian coaster-ish, Multi-turn
Theme:		Zombie
BGG Link:
Status: Playtesting (v1.0), Year released: 2007
Well, with Zombie Fluxx coming out, what'd you expect?

Status

Under development

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This game is currently under development, in the Playtesting stage. Feedback is strongly encouraged! Feel free to give comments on game design or structure on the talk page.

ZOMBIE COASTERS

Far away in a remote, secret underground laboratory, scientists have discovered a way to re-animate the dead. Only problem is that they haven't figured out a way to control them yet, and they have an inexplicable desire to kill and eat eyeballs. They've already eaten their own, and now they are spilling out of the re-animation vat to get yours! Luckily, the (now) dead security guards have left behind their shotguns for you, and locked all the doors leading out...

SETUP

Arrange the four coasters like you would for Martian Coasters. Choose a coaster to be the Zombies' area and choose a coaster to be the Living players' area. The living players can start thier nests wherever they like within the living area. Divide up the 15 counters evenly amongst all the players discarding any extras. These counters are your bullets. Place one of the large Green pyramids on the "vat"(the center space of the zombies' area). Also put another large Zombie into the Zombie area for each player in the game. Keep the rest of the Zombies off-board arranged in nests. The living player starting closest to the "vat" will be first. Play should resolve in a clockwise direction from there.

OBJECT/WINNING

To Destroy the vat (thereby stopping the potential undead plague) and be the last one to die...(Oh, so you thought you'd monkey around with life and death and live to tell the tale? HA! Everyone dies in this zombie flick, baby!) If you are the last player to die, then you win(sort of)! If the Vat is not destroyed, no can win. If you all die and the vat is still operational, then you all lose and the Zombies win!

Destroying the Vat: In order for a player to destroy the vat the following conditions must be met:

• It must be your turn
• You must be a living player. (Zombies don't want the vat destroyed!)
• You must use a "Blow some ammo" action
• You must be only one space away from the vat.
• The Vat must be empty. If there is a Zombie in the vat when you attempt to destroy it, the Zombie will take the damage instead. This could still be okay if the zombie is something other than a large pyramid since you can shoot up to 3 bullets in one turn.

ACTIONS

A player or Zombie can choose to do one or two of a few things on his/her/it's turn.

THE LIVING

• Move!: This is generally a good thing to do. A player may move a number of spaces equal to his piece's current pip count(I.E.: Large=3 Medium=2 Small=1) and must honor the arrows just like in Martian Coasters. Players cannot occupy the same space as another player, but may travel through the other player(s) as long as enough movement points remain to get to an open space. A player may choose to use all or none of his/her movement points.
• Take a free shot!: Also a good thing to do. When a player ends up within one space of a Zombie after a move, the player may also shoot one zombie without expending any ammo. Hits are always automatic (Hey, Zombies are slow you know?). A shot zombie is immediately replaced with the next smallest pyramid from one of the zombie nests to reflect the damage done to it. It is also lain down on it's side to show that it was shot on the previous player's turn. This is important because the zombie must get back up before it can continue to persue anyone. Stack any zombie nest without a large piece on top of that large piece. A small zombie that is shot is destroyed and sent back to any zombie nest without a small piece.
• Blow some ammo!: A player may, instead of moving, shoot at zombies up to four spaces away by spending his/her ammo counters. Each shot costs 1 bullet and a player can expend up to 3 shots per turn. Bullets do not have to follow the arrows. To determine range to the target zombie just count four squares starting with the square next to your player. If you can't reach, then the Zombie cannot be hit. Optional Shooting rule: You cannot count range through other pieces. Example: if you would have to count a square that another piece is in, you can't use that "route" to shoot on.
• Let Fate intervene: instead of moving, a player may roll the treehouse die and follow the result given. They are the same as Martian Coasters with one exception:

TIP: lay down any Zombies within one space of the player rolling the die.

ZOMBIES

• Spawn: Create a zombie by choosing the smallest piece from on top of any nest(Example: If there are 5 nests, and one of the nests has a medium on top and the rest are larges, then the medium piece must be used to spawn.)and put it on the Vat. If there is a Zombie already in the Vat, then no other Zombies can spawn until that Zombie moves. Note: A newly spawned Zombie cannot move until after the living-turn./ Also, if there are no Zombies in the Vat, the first person to start the DEATH-TURN Must Spawn another Zombie as a free action, then he/she may move one of the other zombies.
• Shamble..: Zombies, regardless of their size, can move only one space at a time. They also must obey the arrows. If a Zombie has been shot by a player then it must spend this movement getting back up.
• ATTACK!: If a Zombie can move onto a space occupied by a living player's piece as part of it's move, then the zombie can attack! Do this by dropping the Zombie pyramid onto the player's pyramid. If the Zombie is bigger than the player, then the player is killed immediately. If not, then reduce the player's pyramid size by one. If this reduction makes the player smaller than the zombie, he/she is not killed immediately but would be on the zombie's following turn. An attacking zombie remains on top of the player's pyramid until he/she takes a free shot to remove it.

TURNS

So who, you might be asking yourself, is controlling these marauding Zombies anyway? Well, the answer to this is: Everyone playing gets to control the Zombies. There are two Turns in this game; The LIFE-TURN and the DEATH-TURN.

• LIFE-TURN: All living players will move/take their actions in the Turn order stated above in SETUP.
• DEATH-TURN: The player who went first in the LIFE-TURN will Spawn/Shamble/Attack with one Zombie. Then the next player, and so on until all the Zombies have performed an action. When there are no zombies left to take actions, the LIFE-TURN begins starting with the person who performed the last DEATH-TURN.

NOTE: Each Zombie can only take one action during the DEATH-TURN.

IF YOU DIE

If you die during the game, your Pyramid is immediately replaced with the largest green piece available from the Zombies' nests. You are now a zombie and you lose the game. The good news is that you still get to take your turns like normal During the LIFE-TURN, and you still get to control other Zombies during the DEATH-TURN. More good news: Now you can try and kill the other players! MMmmmm.. Eyeballs are YUMMY!!! Note: It might not be a bad idea to mark your personal Zombie with a neutral pyramid color or something. If your new Zombie is wasted by the living players, then just move your marker to the next Largest Zombie already in play, and that one is now your Personal Zombie. If there aren't anymore left, then you're out of luck until another Zombie is spawned.