WhatTheFoodWhat the Food?!
Squirmy Beast, 2013

FOOD FIGHT! In this silly, fun, card game, you pick up and throw funny food combos at other kids and attempt to avoid the humiliation of getting hit yourself. Bright, colorful cards and funny food combos make this a fun, lightweight game that is great for families or the young-at-heart.

What the Food?! comes with 10 different characters, and a deck of various food and action cards. Players start with a character ID Card which comes with a specialized action card for that character. Each player also receives a targeting card in their favorite condiment flavor (ketchup, mustard, relish, etc). The condiment flavor has no game effect, but is a nice thematic touch. All the non-event cards are shuffled and 2 cards dealt to each player. The event cards are then shuffled into the deck and play begins. The player who ate last, or player with the relish condiment becomes the first player and receives the first player token. Again, in a nice thematic touch, a cute little hamburger piece is used as the first player token. Each player also receives a set of basic starting actions (duck, throw and grab).

Each round, players use their target card to point to another player, then chooses three of their actions to play that round, placing them in a face down pile in front of them with their first action on top. Simultaneously, each action is revealed and resolved with players either throwing food, attempting to duck a throw, or using a special power. Those players who get hit suffer a humiliation token. The first player to 10 humiliation loses the game. Play ends immediately and the player with the least humiliation wins.

The quality of the cards and pieces is very nice, with beautiful thematic art and funny content. On the surface, it may come across as a kids’ game, but is really great for adults and teens. It has a nice balance and the action cards give a lot of choices. Many times it comes to out-guessing your opponents and playing the right combination at the right times, which may be off-putting to some folks. I have played this with a variety of folks, many of whom were a little wary of it at first, but almost everyone has had a great time with the game.

If you are looking for a great family game, with a little complexity and a lot of hilarity, pick up What the Food?! Highly recommended and would make a great gift!

ZombiesZombies!!!
Twilight Creations, 2001

The Zombie Apocalypse is here! In this game that led off the Zombie game craze in 2001, players explore a modular board and kill zombies. Lots of zombies. The game comes with 100 plastic zombies, but if that isn’t enough, you can buy packs of more zombies! The object of the game is to be the first player to reach the “Helipad” tile to escape the infested city, or to kill 25 zombies. Players build the board as they go, exploring the city, adding zombies and slaughtering their way to victory.

Today, there are Zombie games galore, but Zombies!!! still stands out as a simple, well balanced, hack and slash board game. The instructions are clear and well written, the toy value is fantastic with so many little minis and the re-play value is good because of the massive number of board combinations. Plus the fact that there have been 12 expansions and several spin-offs from the game.

During their turn, players draw a board tile and place it, add zombies, combat zombies on their space, draw and play event cards, move their player token and move zombies. Combat is simple, being resolved by a simple roll of a 6 sided die.

A nice feature is that when a player draws the Helipad space, the player with the least amount of zombies places it, helping to balance the game.

So if you are looking for a medium weight kill-em-all type zombie game, this game is for you. Recommended.