Plaid Hat Games 'PH1000' PHGDOW001 Dead of Winter a Crossroads Game

GAMEPLAY This game involves you controlling a group of survivors in a post-apocalyptic zombie wasteland in the harshest of winters, hunting for supplies and killing the undead (and sometimes each other) in a fight to survive. You are housed in a makeshift colony and spend each turn either going to one of six locations (Garage, Police Station, Hospital, School, Grocery Store, Library) to look for items, or staying put, fighting the endless hordes of zombies that come your way wanting to ruin your home. Doing this is often a fine balance; players have to send the survivors they control out to look for enough supplies to meet the food requirements of the colony but can't do this too often as they also have to make sure they kill enough zombies every turn; if a location receives more zombies than there are places for it becomes "overrun", meaning it can no longer be accessed and anyone there at the time instantly dies. And if this wasn't hard enough, players also have to deal with "crises", which are certain themed events which require players to stockpile a stated number of a certain resource (tools, medicine or possibly additional food) in that round or otherwise face a cruel punishment which can be as severe as two survivors dying! Whilst doing this, players have to work together to complete a common goal (such as "collect 20 zombie samples" or "survive 10 rounds") as well as their own secret objective (such as "all your survivors must have one item equipped"). However this is not as straight forward as you may first think, as there is a small chance there is a traitor in your midst, which has a secret objective that the common goal must fail... They must go about this subtly though as to avoid getting "evicted" from the colony, forcing their survivors to be confined to the six other locations and fend for themselves... REVIEW I only played this game a couple of times before I wanted to buy it for myself: It's so much fun due to its in-depth gameplay mechanics: As there are so many decisions you have to make every turn, often quite difficult ones, it makes it quite challenging and fun, unlike some board games which follow a very linear decision process every time. This tied in with it's immersive design, with all the items following the zombie/post apocalyptic theme along with loads of narrative listed on the cards (a prime example being the crossroad cards, which are cards read out to each player before their turn, which poses you with a difficult decision with unknown consequences based on a short zombie/apostolic setting/scenario), gives the game a lot of character and your decisions more meaning. The game is also very well balanced; there are dozens of items and characters and combinations of the two to play with, and yet none seems ridiculously overpowered. Furthermore, players which may appear to be losing and have a lot of bad luck go their way can actually still do really well: Just the other day I had someone who was down to their last survivor and last bit of health, only to reveal that they had completed their secret objective regardless, whereas the rest of us with three survivors each and much better items had not! This makes such a refreshing change as some other complex games I've played, where if you don't get off to a good start it's very hard to get going, making it feel like you've lost the game before it's even begun. Due to the fact that you can have a different objectives, both common and secret every game you play (with the objectives being quite varied in nature, from killing certain amounts of zombies, to collecting items of a certain type and so on) the game has a lot of re-playability: I've played several games now and each has been rather different! Admittedly the game is more expensive than most, but it is well worth it. Not only are you getting an awful awful lot of cards, tokens and items for the price (see photos attached) but the game in general is of very high quality. None of the pieces feel flimsy or like they're going to break, with all the cards and tokens being made out of thick durable card: You even get given several plastic resealable bags to sort everything into! My only downside to this game is it can be quite confusing at first, especially to newcomers who haven't played this sort of game before. Having said this however, there is a very informative (albeit long) rule book, and even a video tutorial on the makers website for you to look at if you get stuck along the way. And believe me, taking the time to learn this game is most definitely worth it: Would highly recommend! Pros: # High amounts of re-playability. # Well polished, balanced and thought out gameplay mechanics. # No items or characters are ridiculously overpowered. # High quality board, characters and cards. Cons: # Quite complex for beginners # Can be slightly on the long side, especially if you have several players playing.

Our objective to win the game was to deplete two non-colony locations of their resources. So far, so good: no casualties, morale still safe, and zombies at bay. The Hospital was nearly empty, with the School not far behind – we felt close to success on our first playthrough. Then crisis struck: Overpopulation! Too many useless mouths to feed. This crisis required that we submit food cards directly, as well as feed the colony normally for the turn. We were struggling to do either, unable to find enough food in any of the locations we tried. We reached the last player’s turn, knowing that we couldn’t fulfil the crisis’s requirements, nor feed the colony. The penalty for not completing the crisis would be the death of two survivors. We accepted this, came to terms with it, and sent the two ill-fated souls out on their last desperate mission to find more food. No such luck. With our possible moves for that turn exhausted, we proceeded to the next phase, already knowing the fate of our tragic survivors. We resolved the various stages as per normal, failing to feed the colony, resulting in starvation for that turn and the deduction of one morale point – no problem, still two remaining. We moved on to the crisis, which we hadn’t completed, and selected the two survivors to meet their doom, removing them from the board. Then we remembered a minor detail in the rulebook – the death of a survivor results in the loss of one morale point. Overpopulation claimed two of our survivors, and to our horror, we realised it also reduced us to 0 morale, ending the game. So close, yet so far! None of us had completed our secret objectives, so we were all losers. But, to our consternation, one of us revealed that they had a betrayal objective all along, but had perfectly concealed their motives in faux ignorance, this being our first time playing the game! All along they had been discarding and withholding food and tools. This ended a 5-year relationship, but began a new one with an absolutely fantastic board game! Tl;dr: a really outstanding board game, with huge re-playability. It’s difficult but fair, challenging us to plan every move ahead and work together (on the surface); victory will be all the sweeter for all of the problems you must overcome to attain it. It is complicated, and for our first game we kept the rulebook constantly on hand, just to ensure that we were playing the game correctly. But once you get to grips with it, the game is designed to run very smoothly, with all cards providing helpful prompts and details. The characterisation and storylines are genius, and there’s a real emotional investment in your survivors and their struggle – particularly if you draw Sparky the faithful stunt dog. If the genre appeals to you, then buy it, it feels like real value for money. It's playable for two to five people, but I think you could include more in some form if you wished - playing in pairs would still be fun, I think. 10/10 Would starve and be betrayed again.

Dead of Winter is a semi-cooperative game detailing the trials and tribulations of a colony of survivors in their first winter following the zombie apocalypse. There are lots of zombie games about at present but what first caught my eye about this one was the stunning artwork on the box and components. The production values are high throughout with clear and flavourful graphics. I won't go into detail about rules etc; suffice it to say that each player controls two colonists at the beginning of the game, all with their own special abilities and influence level and the group, as a whole has an overall objective to complete to win the game. Each turn consists of a new crisis afflicting the colony which the players have to deal with by spending the actions available to them. For example you might send one if your colonists out to the nearby town to search for supplies and food or you may use them to build barricades or try to clear zombies from particular locations etc. all the while that players are dealing with crises, the players need to work toward the group objective but also their own private agenda that they draw at the beginning of the game. They may need to amass the most food or medicine for example. However, it's also possible that one of the group is a traitor, working entirely towards their own ends which are at odds with the rest of the colony! Game play is very simple but also very tactical and the best laid plans can go astray due to the random element in the game: the Exposure Dice. Whenever a colonist moves through the winter cold to a new location or battles a zombie they must roll the dice. They may suffer exposure, take a wound or, worse still, be bitten! Colonists bitten in places crowded with other colonists can see the zombie plague rip quickly through the other survivors unless someone takes drastic action ( you know what that involves!!) Another fun element are the Crossroads Cards, randomly drawn, each card brings in interesting plot points which require players to make a choice, some of them drastic, between moral dilemmas. They don't apply all the time, the character the card is keyed to May not be in play for example, but they do add a sense of story to the game. All in all I love this game. It looks great, is easy to play but is different each time, giving it lots of replayability. Player interaction is also very good, especially when the group suspects a traitor is present! It's also fairly quick to play, even with a new group of players. Definitley worth a try!

Played this game a few times before I bought my very own copy. If you love strategy board games (and zombie related films etc) then you would enjoy this. You can choose how long the game is going to be which is bonus as a lot of these type of games can go for ages. Usually a short game takes about 45 minutes depending on obviously the speed of the players. It does take a while to pick up all the different aspects of the game and very easy to forget some steps - especially the crossroad cards which is a very important part of the game really (being a crossroads game after all). Only down side is you roll a die to determine if you get killed whilst moving or when attacking. You can use item cards to avoid doing this but you can easily eat up all the cards that you might need at a later stage. Basically the object of the game is to complete a group objective that everyone is working towards (unless you are a betrayer who wants the group to fail). Also each player will have their own secret objective such as collecting certain items which can hinder the group as a whole. You can play the game without a betrayer which I would recommend if starting out with this game as it gets everyone used to the dynamics. Each player starts with 2 survivors each and on their turn either move to a location to search/kill zombies or stay at the colony to protect it. The survivors have their own abilities which usually dictates what they will be doing in the game. On each turn there is a separate crisis to avoid by the group collecting a number of certain cards. A betrayer can add cards of another type which acts as a -1 when the total count is done. Adding to the crisis cards is secret so you won't know who put in what. You need to remember to contribute to the crisis when you can, supply the survivors staying at the colony with food, keeping the colony clean (if you use a food or medicine card for instance this is added to the waste at the colony and mustn't go to 10 otherwise the group loses 1 morale). Morale usually starts around 6 or 5 on a short game and if it goes down to zero it is game over. Morale is also lost in other ways like a survivor dying. A short game usually consists of 5 to 6 rounds so can go quite quick if you are playing with people who don't ponder over their turn for 2 hours. Overall I would recommend this game. It is a bit pricey but it does come with a lot of components and is very well made.

Like many others I'm getting a bit bored with the zombie culture. Everywhere you turn there seems to be undead shuffling towards you, movies, video games and TV. After playing a few rounds of dead of winter you start to realise that the zombies in this game are not so much the objective as a tiny thorn in your side. Instead the many different events and crises you go through in one short round hinder your every move. Trying to avoid your people from starving to death or finding petrol to over come challenges becomes very intense. Also the interesting part in this game is the secret objectives each player has to complete in order to sit on the winners bench. I cannot describe the almost hysterical anger and crazed smile on my face when we lost the game due to starvation and morale dropping to zero when my good friend revealed that he was betraying us holding back on food (and lots and lots of weapons) in order to sabotage our success. There is a lot to remember about this game and it takes a while of going to and from rules to drill them into your head, but this makes each play through very different. Not recommended for a casual gaming night with people who have only experienced monopoly or Uno but once you and your friends have played a few games is loads o fun.

I've been looking for a game in this genre for a while, something that not only covers the theme, but incorporates the survival element, the relationships between survivors and the inevitable escalation - DoW doesn't disappoint. The rules seem complicated to start with, but as soon as you play a turn, you realise that they are not, also included is a handy crib sheet for all players to have. When you play, at first things seem easy to manage, gather supplies, food, fuel weapons, even the number of zombies on the board seem manageable, everyone working together for the good of the colony...then something happens, someone makes a questionable move, leading to paranoia, food gets scarce, zombies start adding up... And... Then there are the, quite frankly, brilliant crossroads cards, which add to the narrative, through some real curve balls and morale dilemmas. I've played it four times already, and each time has been varied and interesting. The number of variations the game has, from the sheer number of survivors, scenarios, game modes, hard core mode, it has replayability in spades. And did I mention hard? I've yet to 'win' a game, and it doesn't really matter, I keep coming back for the experience it gives for anywhere between 45 mins to 2 hours. Its funny, devastating, it will question your morales, it will give you tense fist biting, eye covering moments and it will destroy you in equal measure, but you will have fun doing it!

This game here, this darn game! I've played it through four times now and not once have we been able to fend off the hordes of zombies marching toward's our starving survivor's colony. If it's not the main objective that gets you, it's your own personal objective, and if not that then that round's crisis will get you, and if not that it can be starvation, or frostbite, or random events that happen every player's go, or being eaten alive! Best money I ever spent was on this. You not only get an amazing game the the amount of detail that's gone into making it is insane, the amount of cards and pieces you get, a lot of them just for fluff and aesthetics, is amazing. It's so well made I honestly think it's now ruined other games for me by raising the bar so high! The fluff and lore that's in the game too make each and every time you play a new and exciting story that will have you on the edge of your seat and probably in tears from loss and frustration by the end. 10/10 would weep uncontrollably again. WARNING: Game has a lot of rules so I suggest watching their online tutorial first before you dive in. Also the longer versions can take up to 5 hours. But there are short versions which take max an hour thirty minutes.

This is a really brilliant game. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a serious board game that might normally be put off by their perceived complexity. Whilst the rule book is relatively "thick" it is very well written and it takes no time at all to get the hang of the game mechanics. We bought it for our son this Xmas and by the end of the holidays we had played 5 times are were still enjoying it. The balance of the game has clearly been very well thought out. Each of our games ended on a real cliff hanger with the possibility that either the survivors or the "zombies/winter" won. The idea of having individual objectives as well as group objectives worked very well as did the outside chance of having a betrayer in the midst who could be exiled if identified. I won't try to describe the game setting as this is covered very well by others. Again: if you are looking to "move up" from the standard fare have a go at this beautifully produced and very clever strategy game. Our 12 year old daughter loved it and was well able to cope with the rules and probably was keener than the rest to keep on playing.

Just opened the game and found out that some cards are missingn

I wish there were more stars I could add for this game. It took me forever to learn the rules but it was totally worth it. The creators should be affiliated for the tense and involving gameplay and truly simulates what might actually happen during a zombie apocalypse. You need concentrated time and focus to play this, and you'll feel like you've been put through the ringer at the end of it, but it in the best way possible. The pieces are well made and yes, there are quite a few things to keep in mind while playing, but they all add so much value to the gameplay and are really quite intuitive. Are you searching for something at the library? Well, you're bound to attract attention. Highly recommend it for more seasoned board gamers.

Great game with a lot a re-playability due to the large amount of possible combinations of objectives, personal goals and character choices. There's a lot of strategy involved and you'll often find yourself brainstorming a lot with your friends which adds to the experience. Add to that a potential for PvP with the possibility of having an unknown traitor and you end up with a game with strategy, guessing/fooling and a big variety of things to do. -- Super jeu avec un gros potentiel pour refaire des parties dû à la combinaison des divers objectifs, buts personnels et choix des personnages. Le jeu implique pas mal de stratégie et vous vous retrouverez souvent à réfléchir en groupe avec vos amis, ce qui ajoute à l'expérience du jeu. Ajoutez à ça un potentiel de joueur contre joueur avec la possibilité d'avoir un traitre caché dans la partie et vous avez un jeu avec de la stratégie, de la déduction/tromperie et un paquet de choses à faire.

What makes Dead of Winter truly unique is its semi-cooperative nature. Players must work together to achieve the group objective; whether it's gathering supplies, surviving harsh winters, or fending off zombies - while also managing their secret personal goals. And if there's a betrayer in your group, things get even more chaotic. The constant push-pull between collaboration and suspicion creates an unmatched level of tension and excitement. This is one of the first board games that I remember incorporating this factor and it has bred a whole genre in itself. The gameplay itself is richly thematic and beautifully designed. The crossroads cards are a standout feature, adding layers of narrative depth and moral dilemmas to every turn (much like This War of Mine or FrostPunk). These moments make you feel like you’re living in a gripping survival story rather than just playing a game. The mechanics are well-balanced, and the variety of scenarios keeps the game fresh and replayable. I’ve played Dead of Winter countless times over the years and every session feels like a unique adventure. We’ve laughed, argued, strategized, and even accused each other of betrayal. The game doesn’t just challenge your strategy - it tests your ability to navigate human relationships under pressure. It's what keeps this game in our rotation even after 10 years of playing. If you’re a fan of thematic games with a strong narrative element, Dead of Winter is a must-have for your collection. Just be prepared to question everyone’s motives and ethics, including your own.

Jogo top, toda a questão da cooperação e competição entre os jogadores. Fantástico