Zombie Run!
Zombie Run! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
There are 75 cards in this game:
- 15 Empty Streets (these are good!)
- 15 Zombie Hordes (these are bad!)
- 45 cards with varying numbers of zombies on them (the smaller the number, the better!)
Setup
The oldest player is the first dealer. Shuffle the deck. The dealer deals four cards to each player, face down. Dealer responsibilities rotate clockwise to the next player each round.
Each player puts the four cards they were dealt in front of them in a square (2 rows of 2). This is your "hand".
The dealer places the remaining cards face down in the center of the table. This is the "Draw Pile". The dealer also places one card face up next to the Draw Pile. This is the "Discard Pile".
Each player can look at two, and only two, of the cards in their hand. Lift them carefully so no one else can see. Now REMEMBER what those cards are. You want to have the fewest number of zombies in your hand, and you'll be swapping out high cards for low ones (hopefully) throughout the game.
But wait a minute: I only looked at two cards! What about the other two? You'll have to risk it!
Playing a Turn
Play continues clockwise with each player drawing cards from the Draw Pile or the Discard Pile and discarding one card from their hand.
On your turn, you take turns either drawing a card from the Draw Pile or the Discard Pile, looking at it, and choosing whether or not to exchange it for one of the cards in your hand. Since you haven't seen two of the cards in your hand, you'll need to decide whether you want to risk swapping out one of them for a drawn card or not (Ahhh! Choices!). Try and remember which card is where and try not to swap out a low card for a high one by accident (Ahhh! Mistakes!).
You MUST draw and discard a card on each turn. There is no passing: you don't flee from zombies by standing still!
Ending a Round
When you think you have the lowest total number of zombies in your hand, shout "I'VE GOT BRAAAAAINS!" and the round stops immediately (or shout something else silly like "DO YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME?"). You can only shout to end the round when 1) it's your turn, and 2) as you are discarding a card.
Each player then turns over all four of their cards and counts the number of zombies in their hand. Write the scores for each player down, shuffle all the cards together, and deal again to start a new round.
If you run out of cards during a game, have the dealer reshuffle the Discard Pile and use it to start a new Draw Pile.
Scoring Adjustments
- If the person who shouted out and ended the round does NOT have the lowest number of zombies in their hand, their score for the round DOUBLES (zombies hate liars).
- If the person who shouted out and ended the round TIES for the lowest score with another player(s), nothing happens, but that was a close call!
Winning the Game
The game lasts five rounds. The player with the lowest score after five rounds successfully escapes the town and wins (after all, the fewer zombies on your tail the better your chances of survival are). The rest of you are zombie bait.
Notes and Variations
- The number of zombies in your hand = the number of zombies chasing you.
- The number of rounds you play = the number of blocks to escape town. Want to play a longer game? Play five rounds for short games, 10 rounds for longer games.
- Was playing with four cards too easy? Try playing with five or six instead!
- Dogs can't look up. (Note: This has nothing to do with the game, but kudos if you know the reference!)
- Zombies hate bullet points.