Dead of Winter by Plaid Hat Games is the first in the "Crossroads" series of board games.
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There are a number of ways to play the game, depending on the preferences of those partaking however, the primary goal of the game is to work together and survive in a post-apocalyptic world whilst facing challenges from both the world outside and troubles from within the colony.
(This is undoubtedly one of the most difficult games I've had the opportunity to enjoy.)
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The game is created for 2 - 5 players of ages 13+ however, it's possible for younger ones to play with the removal of certain elements from the game.
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Players begin the game as part of a small colony of survivors, the majority of the human race has expired and have been transformed in to mindless, flesh-eating Zombies.
(As opposed to the chess playing, tea drinking Zombies with whom we are most familiar.)
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There are a plethora of scenarios from which to choose, from these scenarios a "Normal Mode" and a "Hard Mode" can be chosen, each scenario comes with it's own brief backstory to "set the mood." With each scenario, the set-up for the game differs from the number of rounds, colony moral, number of Zombies at each location and "Victory" conditions.
Players begin the game with 2 survivors they choose from a set of 4 cards dealt to them at random, there's a plethora of survivors within this game, which ensures that each game will give you the opportunity to implement different tactics to your play-style given the abilities of the survivors you choose.
(Personally, I'm always hoping to be dealt the red-heads as I do rather appreciate their abilities, as well as their visual appeal. But that's a secret between us, agreed?)
Each survivor has a variety of stats and each affect game play in a variety of ways. Influence - the number circled in red - determines who starts the game first, attack - the number below influence - determines the number on a dice required in order to attack, and search - the number below attack - determines the number on a dice required to perform a search at non-colony locations.
(My goodness, aren't they wonderfully multi-functional humans!)
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Whilst players are encouraged to work in tandem to achieve the primary objective, one may consider Dead of Winter to be a semi-cooperative, psychological survival game as, within the standard set-up of the board, players are also dealt a "Secret Objective" card which gives each individual player a personal objective to complete by the end of the game.
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These objectives can be rather benign, set up the player with a consuming obsession that may put the colony at risk, a mission to sabotage the colony or, at the absolute worst, instill within the player a burning desire for revenge!!!
(My goodness, how fascinating the human mind is! What is it, I wonder, that drives us to such actions?)
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As a result of these "Secret Objectives," games could end with a variety of results, with some players winning, others losing, everyone winning or everyone losing. It adds a thrilling psychological aspect to the game as it causes you to question and analyze the actions of everyone around you.
"Did they make a mistake, or was that intentional?"
"Why are they wasting our resources like that, what are they thinking!?"
"Are they working against us so that we all die?"
"We can't afford to take on a helpless survivor, they know that! Why would they bring one in to the colony!?"
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It is possible to remove players from the colony by way of Exile, if enough players agree that an individual's actions are highly detrimental to your ultimate goal, once a player is exiled, they are still allowed to continue playing, they are no longer allowed in the colony and their "Secret Objective" goals change.
But be aware, exiling players incurs a penalty.
(Oh, did I mention, players can also attack one another, if their hearts so desire. How fun!)
But that is not all, oh no, not by a long shot!
In addition to the primary objective and your personal, secret objective, there are also crises that happen each round. Each crisis is drawn from the "Crisis Card" deck and burdens the players with the goal of acquiring additional supplies for the colony and, if this objective is not met by the end of the round, the colony often finds itself in a detrimental state.
(My goodness! It's not easy being a survivor in a post-apocalyptic world!)
To top it all off, adding insult to injury, when certain conditions are met during each player's turn, a Crossroads event may trigger, leading our brave colonists to make rather difficult - and potentially highly detrimental choices - players are often required to vote together with either a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" in order to decide what happens within these micro-events and the colony is rewarded, punished or allowed life to continue as normal depending on the choices made.
(These events are often fantastic opportunities for betrayers to "twisted-logic" the group in to choosing the more detrimental choices - and a great opportunity to develop persuasive skills.-)
With so many twists and turns, as well as the wide variety of scenarios, survivors, choices, secret goals and unpredictability of location searching, Dead of Winter is a game with almost infinite replay-ability.
(Not to mention there are currently a couple of expansions to the core game which I've yet to have the honour of experiencing, adding even more variety to each consecutive game.)
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Dead of Winter is an experience achievable only through the medium of table-top games and is a story focused game based upon surviving a deadly winter in a post-apocalyptic, zombie ridden world where resources are scarce, all survivors are dealing with their own psychological turmoil but must work together in order to defend the colony from external threats, unexpected crises, sourcing enough food to ensure everyone eats and maintaining colony moral.
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You'll often find yourself making difficult, thematic decisions that may even have you questioning your own morality as you weigh the considerations as to whether or not you follow what's best for yourself, or for the colony.
(I truly appreciated playing this game as it gave me insight into my own internal world, allowing me to see the values I truly hold within, and those I've maintained in order to safely navigate society. Don't worry, I'm not a violent sociopath! Though I could be considered something of a Cereal Killer - I have Corn Flakes for Breakfast and Weetabix for Supper.-)
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There are also many ways in which this game can be played, a fully co-operative variant of the game is included within the rule book, but with a little bit of imagination, it can be personally customized to the specific desires of your group should a certain experience be desired.
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This is a fantastic game to play with friends or as a family, and is a phenomenal bonding experience for all involved and, if you pay attention, a great way to truly get to know the inner workings of your friends and family!
(There's also a "flick-'em-up" version of the game, which I imagine would look rather wonderful!)
