SilenZe: Zombie City
SilenZe: Zombie City Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
55 City cards deck (with Survivors on one side and Zombies on the other) (A) and 55 Resource cards deck (B).
Game Setup
Shuffle the City deck: the Survivors facing up and the Zombies facing down. Deal 2 cards to each player. These 2 Survivors will be part of your starting Shelters, place them in front of you. Then place the deck in the centre of the table, within everyone's reach, with the Survivors facing up. Shuffle the Resource deck and deal 3 cards to each player.
Note: If you're not happy with your starting hand, you may discard it and draw 3 new cards. Be careful! You can only do it once: you can't discard your second hand, and you will have to start the game with it.
Place the Resource deck face down in the centre of the table. Leave some space for discard piles next to each deck. The last person to watch or read something about Zombies will be the starting player.
The Shelter area is laid out with, from back to front: the Zombie line, the Barrier line, and the Survivors line. The City deck and its discard pile, and the Resource deck and its discard pile, sit in the centre of the table shared by all players.
Objective
Protect yourself against the Zombie threat while you try to rescue Survivors from the city, attracting them to your Shelter on the outskirts. But beware! There are other Shelters that have been posted in the area and will not hesitate to hinder or even boycott your progress to ensure their own survival.
Turn Sequence
Player's Turn is divided in 3 phases:
Phase 1 — Playing or discarding cards
You must choose one option between:
- Discarding as many cards as you want from your hand.
- Playing as many cards as you want from your hand, in the order you prefer.
After the incident, silence reigns in the city and any sound can attract the Zombies' attention. If there is any Noise, a Zombie from the city will be alerted. If it hears a second Noise, it will go towards its source.
Cards with this icon represent actions that make Noise. When a making Noise card is played, two things may happen:
- If the top card of the City deck is showing a Survivor, flip it and place it back on top of the deck, showing a Zombie side.
- If the card has already been flipped and it's showing a Zombie, it goes to the Shelter where the Noise was made.
Phase 2 - Zombie Attack
During this phase all Zombies in your Shelter attack at the same time. Each attacking Zombie eliminates one of your Survivors (sending them to the discard pile), unless you stop them from moving forward by using Barriers.
After the attack, all Zombies that have not been eliminated by Barriers remain in your Shelter and may attack you again in subsequent turns.
If at the end of this phase there are no Survivors in your Shelter, you are removed from the game. Discard all the cards in your hand and the Barriers of your Shelter. Then, distribute the Zombies that were in your Shelter between the player to your left and the one to your right, however you want.
Phase 3 — Drawing cards
If you have survived the Zombie attack, draw cards from the Resource deck until you have 3 in your hand. Then, the turn passes to the player to your left.
City Deck
The Survivor sides represent the humans that haven't been turned into Zombies yet and that you must rescue from the City, attracting them to your Shelter. Note: you can't attract Survivors from the City deck if the top card shows a Zombie.
The Zombie sides represent those infected by the virus. You should try to keep them away from your Shelter or eliminate them. There are 4 different Zombie types:
Regular Zombie (23) They are weak and can be eliminated with any weapon.
Strong Zombie (12) They are very tough, and can only be eliminated with some specific weapons.
Fast Zombie (18) These Regular Zombies are weak and vulnerable to any weapon as well, but they're as fast as the wind! When flipped, they go immediately to the Shelter where the Noise was made.
The Horde (2) When flipped, discard it and reveal as many Zombie cards from the City deck as there are players in the game. Send one of the Zombies to the Shelter of each player, including yours. Note: If another Horde card appears when revealing the Zombies, send the Zombies to your opponents (you keep none). Discard the second Horde card and resolve its effect in the same way as the previous one.
Resource Deck
There are 4 different Resource card types, differentiated by the background colour. If the deck runs out of Resource cards, shuffle the discarded ones and form a new deck with them.
Weapon Cards
They are used to eliminate Zombies in your Shelter. Once used, place them in the Resources discard pile. Eliminated Zombies will be placed in the City discard pile.
Axe (3) Eliminates 1 Regular or Fast Zombie in your Shelter.
Shotgun (6) Eliminates 1 Strong Zombie or 2 Regular (or Fast) Zombies in your Shelter. It makes Noise.
Revolver (4) Eliminates 1 Regular or Fast Zombie in your Shelter. It makes Noise.
Sniper Rifle (2) Eliminates 1 Zombie of any type in your Shelter or on top of the City deck. It makes Noise.
Rescue Cards
They are used to attract Survivors from the City deck to your Shelter, as long as there is no Zombie on top of the deck.
Walkie-Talkie (4) Attracts the first Survivor from the City deck to your Shelter.
Flare gun (3) Attracts the first two Survivors from the City deck to your Shelter. It makes Noise.
Megaphone (4) Attracts the first Survivor from the City deck to your Shelter. It makes Noise.
Barrier Cards
They are used to stop the Zombies that threaten your Shelter from moving forward. Play them between the Survivors line and the Zombies line. The Barrier cards will remain there until a Zombie attack or another card destroys them, at which point they will be placed in the Resources discard pile.
Barricade (4) Discard this card to prevent the attack of 1 Zombie of any type.
Alarm (2) Discard this card to cancel the attack phase of this turn. It makes Noise.
Mines (2) Discard this card to eliminate up to 2 Zombies of any type in your Shelter. It makes Noise.
Note: If activating the Alarm or the Mines attracted a Zombie that was on top of the City deck (as these cards make Noise), it would not attack until our next turn.
Scheme Cards
Defending yourself from the Zombies will not be enough to become the most prosperous Shelter. You will also have to be cleverer than your opponents and use the Scheme cards to your advantage.
Sabotage (2) Destroy all the Shelter Barriers of another player of your choice. It makes Noise.
Bribery (2) Choose a player with more than 1 Survivor in their Shelter. Attract 1 Survivor from their Shelter to yours.
Eviction (2) Switch your entire Shelter with another player's Shelter. This includes Zombies and Barriers but NOT Survivors. It makes Noise.
Sacrifice (2) Eliminate 1 of your Survivors to deal all the Zombies from your Shelter among other players' Shelters. The distribution does not have to be equal, you can deal the Zombies as you prefer.
Drone (6) Send a Zombie from your Shelter to another player's Shelter of your choice. Also, you make Noise in their Shelter.
Surprise! (7) Send a Zombie from your Shelter AND the top card of the City deck with the Zombie side facing up to another player's Shelter.
Game End
There are two ways to end the game:
- If all the players except for one have been removed by the Zombies, the remaining player wins the game.
- If there are no Survivors in the City deck (either because it has run out of cards or because the last card is showing a Zombie), the Final Attack will begin.
Final Attack
"With no Survivors left, it makes no sense to make more forays into the city. It's time to defend the Shelters from the last standing Zombies and survive!"
From this moment on, the players' turns will skip Phase 3 — Drawing cards. The players may use cards from their hand and the Barriers in play, but they will have no way of getting new cards. It will be crucial to use the few remaining resources wisely!
If all players except for one have been removed by the Zombies, the remaining one wins the game. If more than one player manages to survive the final attack and there are no more Zombies left in the game, whoever has more Survivors in their Shelter wins. If they have the same number of Survivors, they share the victory.
Difficulty Variants
If you want to make the game easier, deal 3 starting Survivors to each player instead of 2 during the game setup. If you prefer to make it more difficult, deal only 1 Survivor to each player.
Expert Mode
"Survival hotshots use their resources skilfully, and are able to make difficult and risky decisions in times of pressure in order to protect their Shelter."
In expert mode, all cards that make Noise (those with the Noise symbol in their lower left corner) can be used in two different ways:
- Either by doing its effect and then making Noise.
- Or by making Noise WITHOUT doing its effect. For example, play a Sabotage card to make Noise without destroying another Shelter's Barriers, or play a Revolver to make Noise by shooting into the air.
This way you will have more options to devise your actions and combine cards to get the most out of each situation.
Note: Drone card makes Noise as part of its effect. It does not have the Noise symbol in its lower left corner, so it is not possible to play it just to make Noise.
Quick Guide
The rulebook's quick-reference page summarizes the icons used on the cards: Survivors, Shelter, Zombie of any type, Regular Zombie, Fast Zombie, Strong Zombie, Barrier, Eliminate, Prevent attack, Every Zombie, Survivor on the City deck, and Zombie on the City deck — plus a white silhouette meaning "in your Shelter" and a black silhouette meaning "in another Shelter or on the City deck". The Noise symbol means: flip the first Survivor of the City deck, or send the visible Zombie of the deck to your Shelter.