Humans set off into the stars in search of high-powered fuel and found it in the remote corner of the universe on the small planet PK-L7. Their discovery of Xenium — a dark, oily compound deep below the planet's surface — was everything they hoped for. But they found something else, too. The Xenos attack was brutal and unrelenting. While the scientists and soldiers have held them off the best they could, the Xenos are still coming...
Zombicide: Invader is a cooperative game in which 1-6 players face Xenos, an unfathomable swarm of infected Xenos controlled by the game itself. Each player takes on the role of one to six survivors in a sci-fi setting being overwhelmed by these Xenos. The goal is simple: Choose a mission, complete its objectives, kill as many Xenos as possible, and (most importantly) survive!
Survivors will fight Xenos, rescue each other, recover vital data, unveil dark secrets, and much more! Survivors can be civilians or soldiers, each with specialized skills. They all play together as a team, trading equipment, and covering each other. They use whatever weapons they can get to kill Xenos and slow the invasion. The better the weapon, the higher the body count, but the more Xenos will appear, attracted by the onslaught! Survivors must also be mindful of their location as conventional weapons work fine indoors, but the planet’s oxygen-starved surface, they'll need to arm themselves with more specialized weaponry. Lasers, anyone?
Most of the time, Xenos are predictable, but there are a lot of them and they use nasty tactics not encountered in previous Zombicide games. Only through cooperation can players achieve the Mission objectives and win.
- The reviewer loves Zombicide.
- Eager to play this new version.
- Zombicide
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- The iconography on the cards and no it's not because my eyes and I can't see it I know the glasses would have helped but some of the icons look very similar on the card so when it says add +2 if you have this icon we were all sitting there even the people with good eyes were sitting it's hard to make out because there were no colors to it
- This is one of the most tense games I've ever played because as you're playing it's like I need these things on my side but Tony you're getting them on your side is it more important that I get the evidence on my side and let you have that momentum or should I wait
- you boys were over there squealing in your pants we squeeze our pants that's right
- this is a perfect game for like me and my buddy who's like we have 45 minutes left in the night and we don't want to play a party game or a quick little card game we can get this on the table have some meat enjoy the and be done in 45 minutes
References (from this video)
- easy to pick up for casual players
- versatile with many expansion options
- cooperative tension and fun combat variety
- fan-favorite zombies can become repetitive
- table presence requires space
- cooperative horde combat
- space/alien-infected worlds; sci-fi zombie survival
- series of missions with escalating threats
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Cooperative Game — players work together to survive zombie hordes and complete objectives.
- cooperative squad-based combat — players work together to survive zombie hordes and complete objectives.
- modular missions — each scenario presents different maps and enemy spawns.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- tiny epic dungeons
- every time when i reach another envelope and i open it to see what new scenario what new adventure awaited me
- the app adds even more to the atmosphere
- the entire zombie side series for being a dungeon crawler that i can easily play even with completely casual players
- compression of the big version of gloomhaven
References (from this video)
- tightly designed action
- great for fans of zombie themes
- can be crunchy for new players
- zombie action with sci-fi twist
- space-age zombie apocalypse
- semi-cooperative / competitive waves
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- co-op / semi-co-op — players face waves of zombie enemies with individual goals.
- Scenario / Mission / Campaign Game — different missions shape each session.
- scenario-based play — different missions shape each session.
- Semi-Cooperative — players face waves of zombie enemies with individual goals.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- We the really all we do is give you the toys but the people who make you the toys—the elves there's the really the important ones.
- the more subs we get actually helps us more grow and then if we grow we can do more of these and get stuff to you
- donate to Sick Kids it’d be great help just to help the little ones
- Encore is a rolling right game.
- Star Realms is simple to teach and always fun to play.
- Flick of Faith is a rolling right game.