Chomon

I brought the game from Essen and it was my biggest investment at the fair. Not only fnancially but emotionally too: i read the rulebook, watched the gameplay videos, preordered it, got the authors signature and promo card… and basically I was really enthusiastic about it.

The more it is unpleasant now to say, that I regret buying it.

During the first few games we felt like there was no real emotions on the table. Much rather: overcalculated moves and blind luck. I decided to gave this game three more runs even after I thought it was just kind of ‘meh’… and well, it still is kind of ‘meh’ game for me.

First of all it is very random game of blind moves. You base your strategy on a hand of cards you draw at the beginning (random or draft) and abilities of your characters (random). Come to think of it: game gives you like 5-7 cards + 4 moves (because there are 4 turns) + 3-4 characters… basically 15-20 decisions to make during the hour long game.

And at times game really drags on (box says 45 minutes, our games tend to last twice as much). The worst moments are the movement selection phase – when players try to consider all the possibilities. And actually games encourages this “overthinking attitude”, since it is really unforgiving. At times bad move can cost you two of your characters in one round. Furthermore you find your move “stupid” only afterwards, because you couldn’t have known where the zombies will come up. I must also say it is hard to explain the game to new players, since there is a lot to take in at first – and knowing the flow of the game gives you an unfair advantage.

The moments of backstabbing and negotiation (the selling points of the game) occur at times, but there’s really not much to them – nothing more than finger pointing. To its defense: This game is beautiful. I would say ‘overproduced’ really. But sadly that’s not good enough for me – not why I bring my games to the table.