Plaid Hat Games 'PH1000' PHGDOW001 Dead of Winter a Crossroads Game

GAMEPLAYThis game involves you controlling a group of survivors in a post-apocalyptic zombie wasteland in the harshest of winters, hunting for supplies and killing the undead (and sometimes each other) in a fight to survive. You are housed in a makeshift colony and spend each turn either going to one of six locations (Garage, Police Station, Hospital, School, Grocery Store, Library) to look for items, or staying put, fighting the endless hordes of zombies that come your way wanting to ruin your home. Doing this is often a fine balance; players have to send the survivors they control out to look for enough supplies to meet the food requirements of the colony but can't do this too often as they also have to make sure they kill enough zombies every turn; if a location receives more zombies than there are places for it becomes "overrun", meaning it can no longer be accessed and anyone there at the time instantly dies. And if this wasn't hard enough, players also have to deal with "crises", which are certain themed events which require players to stockpile a stated number of a certain resource (tools, medicine or possibly additional food) in that round or otherwise face a cruel punishment which can be as severe as two survivors dying! Whilst doing this, players have to work together to complete a common goal (such as "collect 20 zombie samples" or "survive 10 rounds") as well as their own secret objective (such as "all your survivors must have one item equipped"). However this is not as straight forward as you may first think, as there is a small chance there is a traitor in your midst, which has a secret objective that the common goal must fail... They must go about this subtly though as to avoid getting "evicted" from the colony, forcing their survivors to be confined to the six other locations and fend for themselves...REVIEWI only played this game a couple of times before I wanted to buy it for myself: It's so much fun due to its in-depth gameplay mechanics: As there are so many decisions you have to make every turn, often quite difficult ones, it makes it quite challenging and fun, unlike some board games which follow a very linear decision process every time. This tied in with it's immersive design, with all the items following the zombie/post apocalyptic theme along with loads of narrative listed on the cards (a prime example being the crossroad cards, which are cards read out to each player before their turn, which poses you with a difficult decision with unknown consequences based on a short zombie/apostolic setting/scenario), gives the game a lot of character and your decisions more meaning. The game is also very well balanced; there are dozens of items and characters and combinations of the two to play with, and yet none seems ridiculously overpowered. Furthermore, players which may appear to be losing and have a lot of bad luck go their way can actually still do really well: Just the other day I had someone who was down to their last survivor and last bit of health, only to reveal that they had completed their secret objective regardless, whereas the rest of us with three survivors each and much better items had not! This makes such a refreshing change as some other complex games I've played, where if you don't get off to a good start it's very hard to get going, making it feel like you've lost the game before it's even begun. Due to the fact that you can have a different objectives, both common and secret every game you play (with the objectives being quite varied in nature, from killing certain amounts of zombies, to collecting items of a certain type and so on) the game has a lot of re-playability: I've played several games now and each has been rather different! Admittedly the game is more expensive than most, but it is well worth it. Not only are you getting an awful awful lot of cards, tokens and items for the price (see photos attached) but the game in general is of very high quality. None of the pieces feel flimsy or like they're going to break, with all the cards and tokens being made out of thick durable card: You even get given several plastic resealable bags to sort everything into! My only downside to this game is it can be quite confusing at first, especially to newcomers who haven't played this sort of game before. Having said this however, there is a very informative (albeit long) rule book, and even a video tutorial on the makers website for you to look at if you get stuck along the way. And believe me, taking the time to learn this game is most definitely worth it: Would highly recommend!Pros:# High amounts of re-playability.# Well polished, balanced and thought out gameplay mechanics.# No items or characters are ridiculously overpowered.# High quality board, characters and cards.Cons:# Quite complex for beginners# Can be slightly on the long side, especially if you have several players playing.

\\\\\SHORT REVIEW/////Highly recommend it! Great for every type of person, smart or dumb it’s intuitive to learn and play. This standalone expansion has a similar number of components found in the original game however it also includes 3 extra modules that are all unique and exciting to play. This is odd as this is cheaper than the original game even though it surpasses it greatly with variety and substance. Unique and thought-provoking narrative is provided by each game and you can keep replaying this game knowing it will never get stale.Be warned that a decent sized space is needed. I do not recommend this game to people who have NO intention of learning the game as you won’t be able to pick it up easily if you are new to board games. I also don’t recommend this game to people who are going to only play a single game with new board game players, this is because warm up games are needed to get past the learning period and get to the good stuff (proper storytelling, tension, surprising twists etc).The game is so intuitive to learn that my family has mastered it only after a few games (trust me, that’s saying something)!REPLAYABILITY [⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆] STORY TELLING [⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆] COST [⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆]LOOKS [⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆] FUN FACTOR [⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆] STRATEGY [⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆]NEW MODULES [⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆]PICK UP AND PLAY [⋆⋆⋆] (long time to set up, preparation games are needed for new players)BUY THIS GAME and have fun!\\\\\IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO BUY THIS GAME/////I recommend that if you buy this game to have at least one person look at the rules and teach themselves how to play, after taking charge after a few rounds everyone should know how to play the game.The modules will be confusing to new board game players so if you are playing with them I would only introduce at most the improvement module to not over confuse them and yourself.If on the other hand, you are playing with board game pros the game handles this by allowing hardcore play for example. This allows for all walks of life to enjoy this game to its full potential.I’m trying to get my family addicted to board games and this is the second game I bought. I found it easier to teach them the game initially by referring to the information card that each player is given. I really recommend referring to this card as frequently as possible to increase the independence of each player and their overall knowledge of the game.\\\\\LONG REVIEW/////I was motivated to write a review as there isn't that much information on “The Long Night” standalone expansion compared to the original (When I posted this there are over a hundred reviews for the original game however only around 5 reviews on this standalone expansion).Something that is not made as blatantly obvious as I would like is that you get near the same number of components sold in the original game, they don’t skimp out on anything. When you buy this game, you are also given 3 extra modules that you can add at your discretion which are each unique and can cater to everyone’s interest and knowledge of how the game works.The artwork is beautiful, the pieces are made of strong card so that it will survive years of abuse, the number of flat figurines is immense. Because of the number of tokens, location pieces, cards etc you will need a decent sized table to fit everything on, especially if you include the modules.The story elements are amazing. When you take a break from the game you will be thinking about how to play the next move, strategists will love this. This game can be played fully cooperatively or a traitor can be added, this adds tension to the entire game and can add a shocking end to your game. Prepare yourself for the possibility of losing loving/strong relationships after backstabbing begins.The replay value is astounding, as someone who is extremely stingy when it comes to money this game is definitely worth every penny, it costs less than most other board games so that's a bonus. This game is a STEAL at < £30 when the original game has less substance and is more expensive. If you are not worried about owning the original game and purely want the better game you need to buy the “The Long Night” game. Buying the original game is up to you, I personally haven’t, however, the increase in characters and special events can sway the richer of us to pay extra.Like said previously, the only time I do not recommend this game is where you know that the people you will play with will not budge when it comes to learning the game initially or when you are in a situation where you could only play this game once with a group and that’s it (warm up games are needed to know how to play).There’s still so much more to mention, special scenarios, adult themed cards etc. These are either explanatory or are detailed very well in the rulebook that comes with the game.I can't recommend this game enough! I’ve bonded with my family over my nerdy passion so I can’t be happier :)\\\\\BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF EACH MODULE/////IMPROVEMENTS MODULE:This module is extremely easy to pick up and I personally added it to my first game without a problem. It’s all about upgrading your colony to give you an advantage in certain situations. This again adds more story to the game that is being played (my family burst out into laughter after I tried to punch a zombie from a tower we just built, oddly enough you needed a ranged weapon to be able to do that).BANDITS MODULE:Now you must fight another force other than zombies, sneaking into their base is very much a risk-reward situation. The game can lead to someone being the leader of the bandits which is always entertaining.RAXXON MODULE:This module is my favourite as it includes the special zombies and the pills. You get excited whenever a special zombie attacks you however you then remember that this zombie could cost you the entire game. They are varied and if you enjoy zombies you’ll just be entertained by their premise. Pills are another risk-reward situation that is to do with indefinitely provided enhances or downgrades.