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It’s fair to say that I’ve got some doubts about my capacity to survive in an apocalypse, particularly one centred around sprawling hordes of undead-types. Bits of it look fun - the survivors on the telly shows have lots of adventures, there won’t be as many miserable people hogging all the seats on the bus, that initial free-for-all in the supermarkets - but then there’s the whole keeping-away-from-bitey-zombies thing that strikes me as a real downer. I tend to have lapses of concentration.
What I’m trying to say is that I could do with a little practice before the main event, and that’s where Survive Alive from Schnarf Games should come in handy. Think of it as revision for the inevitable zombie end-of-the-world.
Survive Alive is a competitive medium weight strategy-based draw and write board game set in a post-apocalyptic world lasting six rounds. Each round, survivors (players) need to manage their resources drawn from the community bag, build facilities for their characters in order to increase the community health and morale, and most importantly defend their base to protect from the zeds.
Players may scavenge the map for influence or befriend characters to boost their resource pile and grow the community.
At the end of each round, hordes of zeds will be looking for flesh and if you can’t beat them, you may be joining them! The player with the most influence points at the end of the sixth round is declared the winner.
There’s plenty of positive buzz building around Survive Alive, and in some ways it puts me in mind of a roll and write version of the videogame State of Decay – this is a very good thing. Strong theming wins many points for me, as it’s a surefire way of bringing the player into the world of the game, and there’s no doubt that Schnarf Games are onto a winner with this one. Word is that the resource management aspect is great fun and provides a lot of different options for survival, leading us to that golden word - replayability. If things don’t pan out well in one playthrough - by which we mean you end up as zombie lunch - then there’s plenty of other strategies to try on your next round.
Oh, and don’t go believing that roll and draw means the components are nothing to ‘write’ home about (oh dear), because Survive Alive looks smart. There’s a double sided map of the community in day and night time modes - the art is very attractive - and the player bases are laminated sheets so you can wipe them clean and start a fresh game straight after the last. There’s plenty of event and objective cards, and the character cards are full of personality. The player screens are great too, with a nice splash of action-orientated artwork showing you just how lively a zombie-infested existence can get.
The game will launch on Gamefound on 23rd July, here’s the pre-launch page so that you can register your interest and keep up to date (and I definitely think you should): Survive Alive by Schnarf Games - Gamefound. And in the meantime you can find the team on their website right here: Schnarf Games | Survive Alive Board Game It’s worth a look, because not only will you get updates, but also access to the introductory Print and Play version of the game. Now there’s an offer worth dying for. Get it? Forgive me