featuring Donuts, Skwabuck, Lady J, MechaShiva, Katlyn G, Julez, Gavin, and Mr Taru. Skwabuck and Lady J had to leave after mall of horror, but Katlyn's arrival allowed us to play a second game. You can catch our session with 1313 Dead end drive in the following post.

If you are a local, and would like to join us on Thursday nights for gaming, drop a line to gavin@robotmartini.com or send me a message on facebook

Game Night vs Mall of Horror

Mall of Horror is a great negotiation game, which features a french view of zombies and the objectification of women. It is satisfyingly different from other die-driven games featuring zombies and gets almost any group excited -- even too excited sometimes…

The rule booklet is a little confusing, but is written simply enough, in large enough type to navigate quickly. The only question we really had was at the end of the game.

Specifically, does the game end immediately when a set number of survivors are left, or does it end at the end of the round in which a set number of survivors are left. Both options are completely legitimate, but provide slightly different strategic opportunities to consider. So, as always, read the rules first and agree on the group's interpretation ahead of time.

Like Quivadus, this is a game I usually do poorly at. I play the numbers well enough that my opponents assume I am a threat, which results in votes against me at the wrong time. Unlike Quivadas, I actually enjoy playing this game even when I lose, because there are enough non-vote based steps you can take to protect your chances. (i.e. what rooms you send your people to, what cards you play when, and so on)

Skwabuck was able to ride the game with no casualties, excellently manipulating her opponents the whole time. Though at the point in which two players were down to a single survivor worth 5 points or less each, the game does hit a snag. Those two players had no chance of 'winning' the game, at least within the rules. (king maker issues) So they lack incentive to keep playing, and thus the game slowed down and was not that satisfying to them.

House rules: Many players don't like Hardware because they feel under powered compared to the other cards in the game. So we like to say Hardware protects a single room from zombies, no matter how many there are, for one turn.