How to play

A game of hide and seek. 1–6 players. About 30–45 minutes with 4 players.

Everyone starts as a survivor. Survivors hide, fight and scavenge for loot. Survivors who get bitten join the horde and hunt the rest. When the zombie deck runs out, the survivor with the most loot wins. If everyone has been bitten, the horde wins together.

What's in the box

• Survivor deck (60): hiding places, weapons, scavenge cards and burdens
• Zombie deck (60): Seek, Bite and Hunter cards
• Loot deck (60): junk, gear and valuables
• Fight deck (24): numbered 1–6 (Slip, Shove, Grapple, Haymaker, Kick, Knockout)
• 6 character cards: a survivor on one side, the same person as a zombie on the other
• First card and Target card

Setup

1. Each player takes a character card, survivor side up.
2. Shuffle the zombie deck. Count out 10 cards per player without looking at them and put the rest back in the box.
3. Shuffle the survivor, loot and Fight decks.
4. Deal each player 2 survivor cards.
5. Pick the first player. Starting with a random player and going clockwise, each player flips the top card of the loot deck. The first player to flip a card with stars keeps it and takes the First card. Shuffle the other flipped cards back into the loot deck.

A round

Each round has three steps: the zombies play, the survivors play, then the zombies attack.

1. Zombies play face down

• The horde plays 2 cards from the top of the zombie deck, face down, without anyone looking at them. The horde isn't a player: these cards just come off the deck.
• Each zombie player draws 2 zombie cards, keeps 1 and places it face down. The other goes on the bottom of the zombie deck.
• Zombie players can't show or discuss their cards.

2. Survivors play face up

The player with the First card goes first, then play continues clockwise. The first player also takes the Target card.

On your turn, draw 2 survivor cards and add them to the cards you kept from last round. Play 2 face up in front of you and discard the rest. If you have only 2 cards, you play both.

• Hiding place: your hide number. Some hiding places also make noise.
• Weapon: how many Fight cards you flip if you have to fight. Bigger weapons are louder.
• Scavenge: makes noise. You draw that many loot cards at the end of the round.
• Burden: makes noise and does nothing else. If you have a burden, you must play it, on top of your 2 cards. Two burdens: play both.

Two scavenge cards add up. Two hiding places or two weapons don't: you use the better one, and the other is a backup (see the end of the round).

Noise is the total of the noise numbers on the cards you played.

The Target card. If your noise is higher than the noise of the player holding the Target card, take it. A tie doesn't take it.

3. The zombies attack

The target. The player holding the Target card is the target. Every zombie card attacks the target.

Hunter cards add a second target: the next loudest survivor. If there's a tie, it's the tied survivor who played first. A second Hunter takes the next loudest after that. Hunted survivors face every zombie card too.

Flip the zombie cards and check each target:

1. Are you found? You're found if any Seek card is equal to or higher than your hiding place. With no hiding place, you're found automatically.
2. Are you bitten? If you're found and there's a Bite card, you fight. Only the strongest Bite card fights. The Bite card flips as many Fight cards as its number. You flip as many as your weapon shows, or 1 with bare hands. Each side keeps its highest card. If the zombie's card is higher, you're bitten. A tie goes to you.

A Seek card with no Bite card finds you but can't bite you.

End of the round

Burdens and scavenge cards are used up: discard them. Draw loot for your scavenge cards. Every other card you played goes back to your hand for next turn, unless it got beaten:

• If you were found, the hiding place you used is blown: discard it.
• If you fought and survived, the weapon you used breaks: discard it too.
• If you were bitten, you join the horde. Flip your character card to its zombie side. Discard your cards and your loot. From next round you play as a zombie.

If you played two hiding places or two weapons, only the one you used can be beaten. The other stays in your hand as a backup.

Discard the zombie cards that were played. Pass the First card clockwise to the next survivor.

Loot

Keep loot face up in front of you. Each card shows its stars.

• Junk (0 stars): garbage, empty cans, broken glass, rocks.
• Gear (1 star): each piece of gear has a power. Gear of the same kind doesn't stack.
• Sneakers: your noise is 1 lower every round.
• Protein Bar: if you lose a fight, discard this to flip 2 more Fight cards. You lose its star.
• Flashlight: when you scavenge, draw 1 more loot card.
• Crowbar: your bare hands flip 2 Fight cards instead of 1.
• Valuables (2 or 3 stars): no power, just worth a lot.

If the loot deck runs out, the town has been picked clean and scavenging finds nothing more.

Playing as a zombie

Each round, draw 2 zombie cards, keep 1 and play it face down. Put the other on the bottom of the zombie deck. You win with the rest of the horde if every survivor is bitten.

End of the game

When the last zombie card is drawn, finish that round. Then the game ends.

• The survivor with the most stars wins. Survivors with 0 stars can still win if nobody else alive has any. Players with the same total share the win.
• If every player has been bitten, the horde wins.

Solo

Play the same way with 10 zombie cards. Skip the loot flip at setup. The horde is your only enemy. Solo is meant to be hard: you'll usually lose.