W. Tan
United States
San Francisco
California
-
This expansion comes with a new scenario, a scenario/card explanation sheet, and 10 cards (5 Zombie, 5 Hero).
The scenario appears tilted in favor of the Heroes. They have 15 turns to acquire 4 Weapons (Ranged and/or Hand) and a First Aid Kit and bring these items to a random building. The reason I say tilted is 15 turns is a decent amount of time, and the items acquired, with the exception of the First Aid Kit, are not one-use (excepting a failed hand weapon break or a ranged weapon out of ammo roll). Further, these items are ones that the Heroes would find useful anyway (i.e., no great effort must be taken to meet the scenario objectives). Finally, the First Aid Kit and Ranged/Hand Weapons are now Scenario Search Items, so cards such as "Just What I Needed" can be used to pull them from the discard pile. One interesting hitch is these items must be brought to random building. Still, the trek to the building should not be difficult, since there are usually three buildings per L-shaped board section (I predict the Heroes will end the scenario in this section, though not start here, as that would lead to the section becoming infested with zombies by the end of the scenario. As zombies are less mobile compared to Heroes, it makes sense for the Heroes to begin in a different board section, then move to this Board section when they are ready to win).
The new cards are imaginative, and fill gaps in the Hero and Zombie decks very nicely. The designer has thoughtfully included "equivalent" Hero/Zombie card pairings on the explanation sheet, so players can selectively add new cards without upsetting the power level of either deck. Additionally, guessing "hidden information" (cards held by the opposing player) now becomes an even more tense part of the game (more on this later). Some notable cards are:
I’ll See You in Hell: Allows a Hero with an Explosive to commit suicide, automatically killing all Zombies in his space and killing Zombies in adjacent spaces on a roll of 3+ (alternatively, can be played to force the Zombie player to re-roll Fight dice). This Event fills a gap in the Hero deck by allowing unlucky Heroes with Dynamite but no Fire item to use the Dynamite. The Zombie player must now guess whether the Heroes have a means to use Dynamite, even though there is no Fire item in play. This introduces a new element of strategy to LNoE. Bonus points for being highly thematic.
No It Can’t Be: Allows the Zombie player to draw an unused Hero and place it on the Board as a Zombie Hero. However, costs 4 in-play Zombies to use. This card fills a gap in the Zombie deck, as Zombies can’t stand up to fully kitted-out Heroes (the Growing Hunger expansion also addresses this issue by adding Grave Dead). Using in-play but out of range Zombies as a mana-like resource to "cast" Events adds a new element of strategy for the Zombie player.
A Little Help Here: Play to cancel a fight when two or more Heroes occupy a space. This card provides Heroes with an incentive to group together while giving the Zombie player with the opportunity to use "This Could Be Our Last Night on Earth", "Bickering", "Catfight", etc. Creating new cards that encourage players to look at existing cards in new ways, while not making existing cards obsolete or under-powered, is simply great game design.
Unstoppable: Prevents wounds dealt to a Zombie from a Ranged Attack or ignited Gas Marker. Again, this card rewards skillful Hero/Zombie players who accurately "guess" what cards the other player holds.
The remaining cards Cigar, Legions of the Dead, Town Secrets, and Wireless Radio are similarly creative and useful.
Stock Up is an excellent expansion for a great game. LNoE is a heavily scenario based game. However, the base game comes with far too few scenarios (4). Stock Up adds another scenario and some well-designed, interesting cards. At $9.99, it is no more expensive on a per-scenario basis than either the base game or Growing Hunger. I strongly recommend this expansion.
-
|
|
