Today we needed to go to a specialist medical appointment which turned out so well he didn’t want to see SWMBO again! YIPPEE! Seeing we were near her old shopping stomping grounds we decided to go to Southland, a large shopping mall, for some retail therapy. Half a new wardrobe latter and we came across Games World, a franchise games shop, and came across a couple of games that we had been looking at but the price was more than we were prepared to pay.

With a 60% off sale we could only hope, but low and behold both were there.

The first is a standalone game on the George A. Romero movie of the same name.

Night of the Living Dead: A Zombicide Game

Like always for me the game is just a bonus as I was really just after the 66 figures.

The great thing is that they are clad very like those in the original 1968 movie

In Night of the Living Dead: A Zombicide Game, players take on the role of the movie’s main characters, holed up in an isolated house while the dead come to life all around them.

The original movie sees the few survivors hunkering for safety in the house as the ghouls (as they’re called in the film) pose a continuous threat from outside.

It’s a tense psychological thriller full of gritty moods and dark themes, but the game lets the survivors take the fight to the hordes of the undead.

There have been a number of films in the franchise including:

• Night of the Living Dead (1968)
• Dawn of the Dead (1978);
• Day of the Dead (1985);
• Land of the Dead (2005);
• Diary of the Dead (2007); and
• Survival of the Dead (2009).

The second one we have been looking at as a “couples game” for a while is:

The Isle of Cats

The story goes that a fables island, home to a race of ancient cats, is under threat from the advancing armies of Vesh Darkhand. Your task is to race to the island in your boat, and get as many cats on board and away to safety before the island is destroyed. All the while outscoring your opponents of course.

Each player has a ship and the idea is to collect as many cats preferably in the same family so as to maximise points.

The game is for up to four players but can also be played solo.

The Isle of Cats solo mode has been designed to provide players with a similar experience to the multiplayer game. You won’t be competing to get the best score possible, but instead you will be faced against your sister who has her own ship!

The game has a 16+ rating although it really is a family game. The only reason is that some of the cards would be difficult for a younger child to understand without adult help but i am just guessing here.

The Isle of Cats is another one of those ‘easy to learn, hard to master’ abstract games.

The rules are fairly easy to get into, and the game gets its depth from the crunchy decisions you need to make; part strategy, part tactics.