Multiple Choice Zombie Apocalypse Survival Game: Choice of Zombies

English: Wordmark of the Zombies!!! board game. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I happen to check the site Choice of Games again after a while of not playing its multiple choice games, and lo and behold! A new game! This one is called Choice of Zombies, and is about a zombie apocalypse, if you couldn’t tell by the name. It was written by Heather Albano and Richard Jackson and I truthfully loved playing it. About ten times. Then I had to drag myself away and actually do something, like post on this blog, because everyone knows you can’t just sit at your computer all day preparing for the zombie apocalypse to come.

What appeals so much to me about this game? Maybe it’s all these crazy zombie stories going around lately. I mean, really. Did you hear about the guy in Florida? It was some homeless guy who was naked eating another man’s face. If I remember right, the other guy was also homeless and naked, but that’s not the point. The point is that it is believed by many people of the community that the zombie apocalypse is beginning, and if it is, you need to start looking at your options. Truthfully I think Choice of Zombies has some good options. Very informative.

Perhaps you’re wondering what’s so great about Choice of Zombies. Well, for one it will help you identify a zombie. Here’s a good way to tell, taken from the beginning of the game:

“But it certainly looks like there’s a man in your front yard, crouched down on all fours, gnawing at a leg.

A human leg. Definitely. It’s still wearing a sneaker. And a sock.”

I don’t know about you, but if I saw someone chewing on a leg in my yard, I’d assume it was a zombie. Or a cannibal. Neither are good things to have in your front yard.

The story also mentions how the news made a big deal of it.

“You heard about the outbreak in Milibury, of course. You just hadn’t thought it was as serious as the eleven o’clock news made it out. They get hysterical about everything. A couple of inches of snow, and it’s THE SNOWPOCALYPSE. You can’t really be blamed for putting their ZOMBIEPOCALYPSE warnings in the same category. Boy who cried wolf, right?”

I have to agree that the news does get a bit… worked up over everything. At least, everything that isn’t a big deal. I’m sure the news was quite upset when they found out their warnings might have actually helped people.

For those of you who have no EMT training, like me, you should probably go and at least learn CPR. You might also want to learn how to shoot a gun, because that’s important. Almost everyone should know how to shoot a gun. Almost. There are some people I can think of that if they knew how to shoot a gun, whether they ended up a zombie or not, I’d take them down. And I just barely know how to shoot a gun. (But I can shoot one, dangit!)

Now, even if you don’t think saving others is a big priority, save them anyway. In Choice of Zombies (I’m calling it CoZ from now on, ‘kay? ‘Kay.) you have a chance to save a kid named Kayden. In real life, you probably wouldn’t think about saving a kid. How could a child possibly help you? Well, let the game show you!

“The last door is to a pharmacy, but a quick try of the handle says it’s locked. However, above the pharmacy door is a louvered window. The plastic looks thoroughly weathered and sun-baked.

If you could bust out those louvers, Kayden might be able to crawl in and unlock the door from the other side.”

See that? And in the game, I do convince the kid to crawl in and unlock the door. There’s plenty of spaces that kids can get through so easily. Think about it. I mean, sure, children aren’t usually that great with the actual killing of zombies, but if they can buy you some time so that you can prepare to kill the horde coming at you, I think that’s a plus.

In the game I played, there’s also a girl named Jennifer that I saved. I have no idea why I never threw her to the zombies–I think I should have–but she’s one of those classic characters that the only thing she can do is mess everything up, including her own escape from a zombie. How could you possibly screw that up, you ask? Like this:

“She’s wearing high heels. Of course she is.”

Girls, if it’s a zombie apocalypse out there, don’t wear high heels. If that’s all you own, go barefoot. Otherwise I won’t feel bad if you hurt yourself running away from the zombies.

I didn’t save my adventure from the church, but in a crisis situation… DON’T GO TO A CHURCH. Yes, the older ones are made of stone and have great fortification capabilities. But you know what else they are? Full of loonies! In CoZ, one of the people from the church tried to feed Jennifer to the zombies (oh, why didn’t I just let them have her?). That’s right, a person from the church. There were zombies in the catacombs below the church! Stupid old church and their stupid crypt! There is no way I’m believing that any God–Christian, Hindu, Wiccan, Buddhist, and of them–would tell his/her followers to turn everyone into zombies. That’s just crazy.

But other than being great for teaching you how to survive, this game is (in my opinion) beautifully written, action packed, and Jennifer… I know a Jennifer. There is no way they could have made her more realistic than they did. I also love the plot twists. I’ve already given you one: the church is actually turning people into zombies. So I’m not going tell you any more secrets. If you want to know them, go check out the game yourself!