World War Z: The Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Overview
• Components
• Set Up
• Playing the Game
  • Playing as a Human (Turn Structure)
  • Sample Turn (Human Player)
  • Playing as a Zombie (Turn Structure)
  • Sample Turn (Zombie Player)
• Winning the Game
• Frequently Asked Questions

Game Overview

Game Objective: Combat the hordes of zombies spreading across the globe. Eliminate or weaken as many zombie hordes as possible so that when the Extinction Counter reaches its end, humanity survives to fight another day. If there are more than 10 zombie hordes of strengths 3 and 4, the zombies (including all zombie players) win and humans are doomed to extinction.

Key Terminology: Zombies across the world are represented on the world map in clusters called hordes. Hordes have varying strengths representing their size. Strength 1 is the smallest and weakest possible horde; strength 4 is the largest and strongest.

The world map is divided into 36 Zones. There are 6 Zones of each color. Six are Grey Zones, representing territories in which intelligence is scarce and the horde strength is therefore unknown.

Components

• 12 Zombie Grey Zone Tokens (for use in Grey Zones)
• 53 Zombie Horde Tokens: 33 Strength 1/2 Tokens and 20 Strength 3/4 Tokens (for use in the 36 Color Zones)
• 6 Aircraft Tokens
• 1 Extinction Counter Token
• 1 World Map Game Board
• 6 Role Cards
• 47 Combat Cards
• 57 Threat Escalation Cards
• 4 Game Pawns
• 1 White Human Battle Die
• 4 Black Zombie Polyhedral Battle Dice

Set Up

1. Turn the 12 Zombie Grey Zone Tokens number-side down. Mix them up and randomly place one token face-down on each of the 6 Grey Zones on the board. Set aside the remaining 6 Zombie Grey Zone Tokens (they will not be used).
2. Roll the White Human Battle Die. Place a Strength 2 Zombie Horde Token in each zone of the color rolled. If a 6 is rolled, reroll until a different number is rolled.
3. Each player chooses a game pawn and places it in the North American zone marked with a white star.
4. Deal one Role Card randomly to each player. Each player places his/her Role Card face-up in front of him/her. These roles represent the player's specific skill set in combating the zombie threat.
5. Separate the Combat and Threat Escalation Card Decks. Shuffle each deck and place them face-down near the board. Deal 3 Combat Cards to each player. Players keep their Combat Cards face-up in front of them throughout the game.
6. Place the 6 Aircraft Tokens on their respective circles on the aircraft carrier.
7. Place the Extinction Counter Token on "Round 1" in the bottom right corner of the board.
8. Roll the Human Battle Die and the player with the highest roll goes first.

Playing the Game

Game Length: Each "round" consists of one turn per player. Once each player takes a turn, advance the Extinction Counter Token one round. The number of rounds per game depends on the number of players:

• 2 players: 8 rounds
• 3 players: 7 rounds
• 4 players: 6 rounds

At the end of each round, advance the Extinction Counter. When the last round (as determined by the number of players) is completed, the game is over.

Playing as a Human (Turn Structure)

On each turn, a player performs the following actions:

1. Move to a new zone (if desired).
2. Equip for battle by playing Combat Cards.
3. Battle the zombie horde in the occupied zone.
4. Escalate the threat by drawing a Threat Escalation Card from the deck to reveal how the zombie threat has grown.

Players may both move and battle a zombie horde on each turn, but they must at least move or battle each turn.

1. Move to a new zone - At the beginning of his/her turn, a player may move to: a. Any adjacent zone; b. A zone connected by a yellow arrow; or c. Any zone with use of an Aircraft Token. Players collectively have access to 6 Aircraft Tokens over the course of the game. To use an Aircraft Token, the player removes the token from the aircraft carrier and moves his/her pawn to the desired zone on the board. When the Aircraft Tokens are gone, no more movement of this type may take place by any player.

   Players may only move once per turn unless otherwise specified by a Combat Card. If a player moves into a zone occupied by a Zombie Grey Zone Token, the player flips that token face-up and replaces it with a Zombie Horde Token of the corresponding strength number.

2. Equip for battle by playing Combat Cards - The Combat Card Deck contains two types of cards - weapons and tactics. Weapon Cards must be played during the Equip action of each turn immediately before battle. When a player uses Weapon Cards, s/he gives up those Weapon Cards only if s/he loses a battle. Players may use a maximum of two Weapon Cards simultaneously in any given battle, along with any number of Tactic Cards.

   Tactic Cards may be played at any time during a player's turn before escalating the threat. (Exception: To receive a bonus to a particular roll from a Tactic Card, players must use that Tactic Card before rolling the Human Battle Die. Other Tactic Cards may still be played after a battle, before drawing a Threat Escalation Card.) While weapons may be kept and reused until lost in battle, Tactic Cards can be used once only. Immediately discard Tactic Cards after using.

3. Battle the Zombie Horde - The zombie threat is kept in check by players battling the Zombie Hordes in their respective occupied zones. To battle a Zombie Horde, the player rolls the six-sided White Human Battle Die. The player to the left rolls for the zombie horde, choosing the appropriate battle die:

Sample Turn (Human Player)

A hypothetical Human Player has his/her pawn on the green zone in North America.

1. Move The player wants to fly to the yellow zone in South America, which is occupied by a strength 3 horde. The player removes one Aircraft Token from the board and moves his/her pawn to that zone.
2. Equip The player also plays a Classified Briefing Tactic Card, allowing him/her to look at the face-down horde in the African Grey Zone. Even though he/she is not traveling to that zone, the Classified Briefing gives an additional +1 bonus to the first battle roll this turn. The player discards the Classified Briefing Tactic Card. The player plays a Lobo Weapon Card, giving him/her +2 to his/her next battle roll.
3. Battle The player rolls the Human Battle Die. S/he rolls a 5. By adding the +2 bonus from the Lobo weapon card and the +1 bonus from the Classified Briefing Tactic Card, the player has a total battle roll of 8. The player to his/her left rolls the yellow 10-sided Zombie Battle Die corresponding to the strength 3 horde. The zombie die roll results in an 8. Human players win ties, so the horde is defeated and decreases to strength 2. The player draws a Combat Card for winning the battle and places it face-down in front of him/her. S/he then decides to battle the horde again, once again using just the Lobo Weapon Card (+2). S/he rolls the Human Battle Die while the player to his/her left rolls the blue 8-sided Zombie Die corresponding to the now strength 2 horde. The player rolls a 2. Adding the +2 bonus from the Lobo, the player's final battle roll total is 4. The Zombie Battle Die rolls a 5. This time, the player is defeated. S/he discards his/her Lobo Weapon Card and decides not to battle again.
4. Escalate the threat To end his/her turn, the player draws a Threat Escalation Card from the deck. The card is Mass Reanimation. S/he rolls the Human Battle Die and rolls a 2. The yellow number 2 corresponds to the yellow zones on the board, so s/he increases the horde strength by 2 in every yellow zone on the board, including the zone s/he occupies. (If there are no hordes in any of these zones, s/he places a strength 2 horde there.)

Playing as a Zombie (Turn Structure)

When a player loses a battle and has no Combat Cards to discard, s/he is infected by the zombie horde. That player removes his/her pawn from the board and flips his/her Role Card to show the side with the zombie soldier. That player does not draw a Threat Escalation Card at the end of his/her turn, as s/he has already escalated the threat by turning into a zombie. (Exception: If a player becomes a zombie on his/her last turn, the player does draw a Threat Escalation Card.)

Beginning on that player's next turn, s/he may manipulate the zombie hordes to attack the human players. The player may move and/or attack as follows:

1. Move a horde into an adjacent zone unoccupied by a zombie horde or combine two adjacent hordes to create a horde in one of the zones equal to the sum of the two individual hordes; and/or
2. Attack a human player by engaging him/her in a single battle. If the zombie player wishes to attack in this way, the attack must occur in the zone in which the player moved or combined hordes in step 1.

After a player becomes a zombie, s/he takes control of the Zombie Battle Dice for the remainder of play. If multiple players are zombies, they share this duty.

Battles initiated by zombies follow the same procedure as those initiated by humans, with the humans having the opportunity to equip themselves and play Combat Cards. Zombie players suffer no penalty for losing a battle other than the zombie horde decreasing by 1 strength. The zombie player may only battle once regardless of whether s/he wins or loses.

Sample Turn (Zombie Player)

On his/her previous turn, a player lost a battle against a horde and had no more Combat Cards to discard. S/he became a zombie and removed his/her pawn from the board. S/he did not draw a Threat Escalation Card.

1. Move This turn, the now-zombie player uses his/her move action to move a strength 3 horde from the red zone in Asia into the brown zone to its north which already contained a strength 1 horde. This creates a strength 4 horde.
2. Attack The player then attacks the human player occupying the newly created strength 4 zone. The human player has an opportunity to equip himself/herself with Combat Cards. The human player then rolls the Human Battle Die, and the zombie rolls the red 12-sided Zombie Battle Die corresponding to a level 4 horde. The human's total including bonuses is 9; the zombie rolls a 10. The zombie wins and the human must discard any Weapon Cards used in the battle (or if no Weapon Cards were used, must discard another Combat Card.) The zombie player's turn is over. If the zombie player had chosen NOT to move, s/he could have attacked a human player in any zone occupied by a Zombie Horde.

Winning the Game

The game ends after the final round, as determined by the number of players. At this time, remove all strength 1 and 2 Zombie Horde Tokens from the board. Count the remaining strength 3 and 4 horde tokens. If the count is 10 or fewer, the humans have staved off the zombie threat and win the game. If there are more than 10, the zombies (including all zombie players) have won and humans are doomed to extinction.

Human players do not automatically lose if there are more than ten strength 3 and 4 hordes on the board in the middle of the game. Humans only lose if there are more than 10 of these hordes at the end of the game.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: If I have the Elite Response Team Role and roll the color red during setup, do I still place the strength 2 horde in the starting zone? A: Yes. The starting zombie hordes are placed before the Role Cards are dealt.

Q: If I play Rapid Transport Tactic Combat Card and win another battle, do I draw another Combat Card? A: Yes. Rapid Transport Tactic Combat Card gives you a new turn, so you draw one Combat Card for your first victory of the turn, as normal.

Q: If I draw a Combat Card for having won a battle and then turn it over at the end of my turn to see that it is a Rapid Transport Tactic Combat Card, may I play that card this turn? A: No. You may only flip the Combat Card when you turn ends, at which point you are no longer able to play Tactic Cards such as a Rapid Transport Tactic Combat Card.

Q: What if I become a zombie on another player's turn (as a result of being attacked by another player playing as a zombie?) A: If this happens, remove your game pawn from the board. On your next turn, begin play as a zombie.

Q: If I use a Booby Trap Tactic Combat Card to decrease the strength of a zombie horde in my zone, do I draw a Combat Card for winning the battle? A: No. You may use a Booby Trap Tactic Combat Card only when you lose a battle, so you do not draw a Combat Card even though the strength of the horde has decreased.