I Hate Zombies
I Hate Zombies Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 19 cards
- 14 wound tokens
- Rules
Setup
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Choose the dealer: the player who has played the most zombie games. The dealer sets aside the "Horde/Serum Against Zombies" card, shuffles all the other cards into a deck and deals one to each player (including themselves), zombie-side down. All cards stay on the table in view of the players.
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The dealer plays rock-paper-scissors (RPS) with the player to their left. If it is a tie, keep playing until someone wins. If the players do not know how to play RPS, they should ask the other players; someone will explain.
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The loser of the RPS game and every second player after them, going clockwise, flips their card zombie-side up and plays as a zombie. The player who won the RPS game does not become a zombie. The zombie who lost the RPS game takes the first turn.
In this example, the dealer (D) won the RPS game against the player to their left (L). Every second player, starting with L, becomes a zombie. D is not counted among them. The first turn is taken by L.
In this example, L won. Every second player, starting with D, becomes a zombie. The first turn is taken by D.
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Place the wound tokens in the centre of the table so that everyone can reach them easily.
Important: if the game has an odd number of players (other than a three-player game), place the "Horde/Serum Against Zombies" card in the centre of the table, face up on the correct side (see the card itself for details).
Game for 2–4 Players
When setting up the game, lay out an even number of cards in a circle. Turn every second card zombie-side up. We recommend playing with twelve cards, but for a shorter game take fewer cards.
- 2 players: one player plays the humans and the other plays the zombies, using the standard rules.
- 3 players: one player plays the humans and the other two play the zombies (taking turns).
- 4 players: two players play the humans and the other two play the zombies. Each player controls the characters on their own half of the table (see the diagram).
A player is eliminated from the game when they no longer control any character of their team.
Example game for four players: the diagram shows four groups of characters: characters under the control of Zombie-1, characters under the control of Zombie-2, characters under the control of Human-1 and characters under the control of Human-2.
No Rest from the Dead
On your turn (if you are playing a zombie), you attack the nearest human, either to the left or to the right. "Nearest" means that if your left neighbour is a zombie, you do not touch them, nor do you touch the zombie beyond them; instead you try to bite the person sitting behind them (a real human). Zombies never attack each other (corporate solidarity, and besides, they are not tasty).
When you attack a human, you play rock-paper-scissors with them. If you win, the human receives a wound. If you lose, you receive a wound. If it is a tie, nothing happens.
After this, pass the turn clockwise to the next zombie. Yes, you understood correctly: in this game humans do not get turns; they only fend off the dead.
Ow-ow, Someone Bit Me...
When you receive a wound, take a wound token from the supply and place it on your character card, with the side showing the number 1 face up. When you receive another wound, flip the token over, and so on.
- If you are a human and you have received 2 wounds, you are infected and turn into a nasty zombie. Flip your card zombie-side up and discard all the tokens from it. You now play for the other team.
- If you are a zombie and you have received 3 wounds, your character is killed and is eliminated from the game. In addition, whenever a zombie is killed, one of the humans (the humans agree among themselves who) may heal one wound.
End of the Light... That Is, the Game
- If all the zombies are killed, the surviving humans win. Congratulations! You have survived yet another zombie apocalypse. See you in the next game.
- If all the humans have been turned into zombies, the surviving zombies win. But not everyone: if you are the last human who was turned into a zombie, you have lost. You were humanity's last hope and let everyone down. Congratulations to you as well!