Kids Say:

“Something about this game doesn’t sit right with me. The instruction manual is a book, and that never bodes well. I always felt like there were a bunch of things I should be doing that I didn’t know about. My two starting characters got bit and died early. I was able to pick a new character, but I went four rounds with no items in my hand, and with bad die rolls, there was no hope of getting new ones. Each turn felt like ten minutes long, which is only fun when it's your turn.”

Adults Say:

“This is the third zombie-themed game we’ve played in the last few weeks, but Dead of Winter is far more sophisticated than the others, both in terms of game play and storytelling. This feels like playing through a season of The Walking Dead.  You rarely  go through a round without losing a beloved main character, and the other survivors are often more dangerous than the zombies. The drama comes not just from the war between the living and the dead, but from the way the characters’ empathy and humanity are tested by increasingly stressful situations.”

“You spend the first round steeling yourself for the zombie onslaught, and the rest of the game taking your chances running to the store or gas station, rooting through detritus to find food, medicine, tools and other helpful stuff.  The zombies are never far away, increasing in number, if not severity.  And it turns out that everyone has their own secret objective - some of which agree with the group goal, and some that don’t.  This lends color to every turn and leads to the possibility that at any moment, a survivor could be voted out of the colony, making the players live together with a wary, shaky trust.”

“Characters can die pretty suddenly. This keeps things interesting, but makes long attachments to strategy rather pointless.”