(Photos credited to CMON)
Written by Ed Carter, Staff Writer
DCeased: Gotham City Outbreak a Zombicide game
1-6 players, 45-90 min
CMON and Spin Master games
Dice rolling, miniatures, simple mechanics, easy to learn
The Anti-life equation is in Gotham City!
The anti-life equation is a techno virus that Darkseid has unleashed. Turning everyone it infects into insane zombies who only want to spread and infect anyone it comes into contact with. It began in Metropolis and no one is safe, not even Superman. It has spread so far that now even the streets of Gotham have turned into bedlam. The only difference now is those infected and those who aren’t. Once enemies, villains have joined with heroes in an effort to turn the tide and save whoever is left!
This is a lite version of the Dceased game from CMON, it is totally compatible with its big box Kickstarter brother soon to be released. Here the zombies are cardboard standees and only the heroes (zombie heroes too) are miniatures. The game doesn’t have trays for the heroes but uses clips to track health and power, reminiscent of First edition Zombicide. Players keep track of their experience with a dial as well; besides that, this is a fully playable version, it comes complete with scenarios, dice, and map tiles. The price is also 1/3 of the Kickstarter version, retailing at around $35.
The game is played in turns with each turn consisting of 3 phases; hero phase, enemy phase, and end phase.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend: Heroes and villains unite?
To start, each game uses a minimum of 4 heroes, (non-zombies) no matter how many players. There are 6 heroes to choose from; each with their own attacks and abilities. Take 2 matching sliders and set the power at 0 and health at the maximum. Take the corresponding miniature with its color base. Hand each player an experience dial set to zero and an activation token
Select a mission and assemble the map tiles, adding any objective tokens required: including the spawn tokens. Shuffle the equipment, zombie hero, spawn, hero traits, and bystander decks. Place one random bystander and one equipment card in the allotted spaces on each tile. Place the heroes in the starting space. Add any starting zombies and you are ready to begin.
We need to save as many as we can! The hero phase
Select a starting hero to take their turn; first, a hero gains 1 power when they activate. Next, each here can do 3 actions on their turn. These include move, gain power, gain a heroic trait, attack, take a hero action, rescue a bystander, interact with the map, open a door, and trade.
A map tile is divided into zones. Moving is basically moving from one zone to another and normally costs one action per zone. To move from a zone with enemies cost one additional action per enemy in the zone.
Zones are both interior and exterior to enter an interior zone requires an open a door action. Once a door is opened, spawn zombies in the allotted spaces and reveal any bystanders in the building. Place the matching bystander token in the space where the card was.
Zombies are spawned based on the hero with the highest experience level. Reveal the top card of the spawn deck and place the matching number and type of zombies in the zone. Special spawn cards may require additional actions, see the rulebook for those actions. The one special action to note is spawning a zombie hero. Draw the top zombie hero card and place the matching miniature in the zone and follow any additional instructions on the card.
To rescue a bystander, enter the zone with the bystander and if the zone is free of enemies, the bystander can be rescued. Take the bystanders card and this will provide additional bonuses as long as the bystander remains with your hero. Move the token with you as you move along. Note that a bystander is also a target of zombies so keeping them safe is vital. Losing a bystander has serious consequences so avoid it at all costs. See the rulebook for bystander eliminations.
A interact action lets a player pick up any objective tokens and equipment cards in their zone. Each hero can carry one piece of equipment at any time. Equipment and bystanders can be switched with a trade action when 2 heroes are in the same zone.
A hero can take a gain power action to gain 2 power. Power can be used for hero actions, hero traits, and attack boosts. A player can spend power to add additional dice when making an attack. Hero actions may cost power to use as well as the one-time actions on heroic trait cards.
A hero can gain a trait with a heroic trait action. Each hero can have a maximum of 2 traits at a time. A trait is a one-time action that provides the hero a bonus ability.
Finally, heroes can attack using their attack action or with equipment. Attacks are ranged or melee. Look at the attack to determine. It will indicate the range, base number of dice, the target for success number, and the amount of damage it does. Each zombie type has a toughness that requires a number of successful hits to defeat. In addition, there is a targeting priority to follow when multiple zombie types are in the same zone. To make an attack, select the attack type, and the zone being targeted, and roll the dice including any modifiers. For every success, score 1 hit and assign damage to targets in the zone based on the target priority table. Score enough hits and defeat that zombie and remove it from the zone. For each successful attack, increase the hero’s experience based on the zombie type. As heroes gain experience they unlock more hero actions.
Once a player has taken 3 actions, flip their activation token to indicate they have completed their turn and have the next player repeat. Once all players have taken their actions, the enemy phase begins.
We must spread the virus to everyone everywhere! The enemy phase.
First, all active bystanders move one zone towards the closest hero, unless if there are enemies in the zone, then the bystander remains where they are. Next, each enemy activates by either attacking any hero or bystander in their zone or moving one zone to the closest hero or bystander.
Each attack succeeds and causes one wound. Damage is then assigned by the heroes and bystanders in the zone. If a bystander suffers one wound, they are eliminated. Remove their standees and cards from the game. A hero can take wounds up to their health and are eliminated after that. If a hero is eliminated, remove their miniature from the zone.
If a zombie cannot attack it will move one zone to a zone with heroes and/or bystanders. The zombie heroes have 2 actions so they will either move, move, and attack or attack twice.
The last part is to spawn more enemies. Starting at zone 1, draw a spawn card and add zombies following the same rules when spawning in buildings, adding the appropriate number of zombies and type indicated on the card based on the highest experience level of the heroes. Do the same for all of the spawning tokens in clockwise order around the map.
We’re not done yet! Not even close: End phase
Follow any end phase instructions according to the scenario or cards that have end phase instructions. Flip all activation tokens over to their ready side and the heroes take another hero phase. The game continues until either all of the heroes are eliminated or the players complete the objectives to win.
Is this really the end? Some final thoughts
DCeased, while using heroes like Marvel Zombies, is a unique game in itself. It can be combined with Marvel Zombies heroes’ resistance, but can also be used in Zombicide second edition games. Simply add the heroic trait cards as well as the equipment decks, and voila Batman is now in the regular world of Zombicide.
I really like the power mechanics, adding additional dice to attacks allows a hero to defeat a zombie hero or multiple zombies in one attack by adding all of their successes together much like the concentrated fire from Zombicide Invader.
I think it’s a great introduction game to the world of Zombicide; especially with its low price point. It has all of the mechanics of the full Dceased game. You learn this, and you know the rules for the big box game, in addition to the basic mechanics of any Zombicide game. I am glad that CMON worked with Spin Master games to release this version. I can see even gamers who backed the Kickstarter wanting this because it offers different heroes than the base game comes with.
I personally have no problem with standees instead of miniatures so the lack of the zombie miniature horde is no problem. It saves space and money.
I wish it did have the player dashboards as they are always a nice tool to have. I think with extended play, the hero cards can get worn from using the sliders just like the first edition Zombicide ones did. And the sliders easily slip off and can get lost.
Overall this is another well-made version of Zombicide and worth looking into.
Check out more game reviews on Movin Meeples.
Hi, I’m Lynn, and I Make.
Props, Cosplay, Scale Models, Home Projects, and just about anything else that involves me Making.
Eldwenne’s Fantasy™ and Wire Wrapture Artistically Twisted ™
Jodi invites you to explore your well-being with designs from Wire Wrapture Artistically Twisted™ and to declare your favorite fandom proudly with designs from Eldwenne’s Fantasy™.
A riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a warm tortilla, served to you fresh using patented space-age technology. all games played on this channel are using original hardware and software whenever possible.
A positive podcast about video games. Chris and Ashley go over the video games we love.
*Bigs thanks to*
Chris and Lynn
Dustin Hatchett
If you like what you see, please consider joining our Patreon Family.
For as little as $1 a month, you can really help us out.