Are you looking for family-friendly zombie kid games?
My son loves zombies, but not all zombie games are appropriate for kids. That's why we were thrilled to receive Zombie Kidz Evolution board game to review from Iello.
Why Zombie Kidz Evolution is Perfect for Family Game Nights
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In Zombie Kidz Evolution, zombies are invading the school and the only ones who can save it are a group of brave kids. They must work together to eliminate the zombies from classrooms and lock all four entrances to the school.
How to Play Zombie Kidz Evolution
It's a cooperative board game, which means all players work together to win against the game. This is great for building teamwork skills and learning good sportsmanship.
This is also a legacy style game, which means it evolves the more you play it. We'll talk more about that in a bit.
Game Setup
When you set up this game, you will use either the “night side” of the board or the “day side.”
If you have only two players, use the night side of the board. It has additional doorways between classrooms, making it easier to move about the school.
For three or four players (and a two person mission), you will use the brighter, day side which restricts the rooms players can move through.
Start by placing all characters in the red room in the center of the board.
Place one zombie in each entryway (gate areas).
What To Do On Your Turn
Players will each take their own turn, but it's important to talk about what you are doing. You must coordinate with other players because you need two characters at the gate in order to lock it.
On your turn, the first thing you do is roll the die. Add a zombie to the room matching the color rolled. If you roll white, lucky you! No zombie is added.
Next, you must decide if you will move to an adjacent room or stay put.
If you stay, you can eliminate up to two zombies in your current room. If you move, you can eliminate up to two zombies in the room you moved to.
You can only move once per turn.
If there are three zombies in the room with you, you must move to an adjacent room. You cannot eliminate any of them. Rooms with three or more zombies become blocked. You cannot enter or move through a room with three zombies in it.
It's important to keep the number of zombies in the school under control, while also working to meet up with other players in order to lock the entrances.
When a second player moves to the entryway, high five the other player and place a lock token on the gate.
How to Win Zombie Kidz Evolution
Many cooperative games have one way to win, but multiple ways to lose. In this game, there is only one way to win and only one way to lose.
If you run out of zombies in the reserve and cannot place one when the die is rolled, the zombies win by overrunning the school.
If all four entrances are locked, the players succeeded in protecting the school and win!
Zombie Kidz Evolution Progress Chart
After each game, whether you win or lose, place a brain sticker on the progress chart on the back of the rule book.
Also check the missions to see if you completed one. You may one count one mission per game. If you did, then place a trophy sticker next to the mission and a trophy sticker on the progress chart.
Completing missions helps you progress faster, so make sure you place the brain sticker immediately after the game then add a trophy sticker as well if you completed a mission.
Note: We initially misunderstood and thought we were supposed to place a brain OR a trophy (instead of a brain) if we completed a mission. This was incorrect!
How the Game Evolves
As I mentioned before, Zombie Kidz Evolution is a legacy game. This means the game evolves the more you play it.
There are 13 mystery envelopes (don't worry, I won't spoil their contents for you!) included. As you track your progress, you will get to open up an envelope.
The envelopes contain items that change the game a bit. These include powers your characters gain, but they also make the zombies stronger too.
This keeps gameplay interesting and increasingly challenging!
Zombie Kidz Evolution Board Game Review
The Zombie Kidz Evolution game is ideal for families for several reasons:
- Easy to learn
- Easy to teach
- Quick to play
- Cooperative
- Family-friendly content
- Replay value
I love how easy it was for us to jump in and begin playing. My kids are used to playing cooperative games with us, so they already understood the general idea of how to play.
If your family plays a lot of cooperative games too, it may feel too easy to win in the beginning. Don't worry, the first envelope will help spice things up a bit!
The kids get excited about the progress chart. They each want to add the stickers, so I have them take turns applying the brains and trophies. It's fun having goals to work on with the missions and envelopes.
Since it's quick to play (about 15 minutes), we often play two games back-to-back.
This is a fantastic game for family game nights because the kids look forward to playing again and it continues to change. It's a great way to introduce legacy style games to your kids.
Unlike other legacy games, you aren't destroying cards etc in Zombie Kidz Evolution. Also, as you open more envelopes which add additional rules (and missions too), you can choose to play with the basic rules instead if you prefer.
This is a good option if the kids are feeling frustrated with the added challenges or you are teaching it to a new player.
Don't worry if all of you can't be available to play each time. It's OK to change the number of players and include new people when you play. In fact, there are missions for different player counts as well as an achievement for introducing the game to new people.
Get Zombie Kidz Evolution at your friendly local game store, through Iello's website, or on Amazon.
Zombie Kidz Evolution
