Zombie Dice
You draw three dice unseen and decide whether to eat on or stop: three shotguns in a turn and everything eaten is lost.
The player is a zombie hunting passers-by. They shake the cup, draw three dice without looking and roll them: a is a victim eaten, a a victim who fought back, one who got away and will have to be chased.
After the roll comes the choice: stop and score a point for every brain eaten — or carry on. Carrying on, the player leaves only the escapees on the table, draws from the cup back up to three and rolls again. The third shotgun of a turn ends everything: the brains of that turn are not scored.
The colour of a die decides how dangerous it is: green give brains more often, red shotguns, yellow sit between. But the colour is only visible once the die has been drawn, and they are drawn blind — so "one more" is decided in the dark, and the whole game is knowing when to stop.
Zombie dice
Under these rules: Drawn three at a time, unseen, and returned to the cup after each turn.
Thirteen dice in three colours and a cup they are drawn from unseen.
Every die carries three symbols: a brain, a shotgun and footprints. The colour says what to expect of it: green are the mildest, red the most dangerous, yellow in between. The colour is visible from outside, and that is the whole point of the cup: dice are drawn without looking, so which ones you got is something you learn after deciding to risk it.
Rules of Zombie Dice
What you need
Thirteen dice and a cup. Something to keep score with is up to the players.
The start
The first player is whoever won the last game, or whoever says "brains" with the most feeling.
A turn
The player shakes the cup, draws three dice without looking and rolls them.
Each die is a victim:
- brain — set to the left;
- shotgun — set to the right;
- footprints — stays in front of the player.
Carry on or stop
If three shotguns have been gathered, the turn is over and scores nothing.
Otherwise the player chooses:
- stop — score one point per brain set aside, put all the dice back in the cup and pass the turn on;
- carry on — leave every footprint die on the table, draw enough new dice from the cup to be rolling three again, and roll.
Once the new dice have been taken, stopping is no longer allowed: the roll must be made.
When the cup runs low
With fewer than three dice left in the cup, the player notes how many brains they have and puts the brain dice back in the cup. Shotguns stay in front of them. The turn then continues.
End of the game
Play goes on until somebody reaches thirteen brains. The round is then finished.
Whoever has the most brains at the end of that round wins. On a tie the leaders — and only they — play a tiebreaker round.
Sources
- Zombie Dice — rules · Steve Jackson Games Open source
Glossary of terms
- A brain
- A victim eaten. The die goes to your left and turns into a point at the end of the turn — if the turn lives that long.
- A shotgun
- The victim fought back. The die goes to your right; the third in a turn ends it with nothing scored.
- Footprints
- The victim escaped. The die stays in front of you and must be rerolled if you carry on.