When people talk about “gateway games,” they’re referring to games that get people into gaming in general, and while board games and card games are great, none of them have the depth and freedom I love about role playing games. When I talk about gateway games, I mean those rare games that could be a gateway to RPGs!
One such game is Last Night on Earth by Flying Frog Productions. The basic game takes place in a small town overrun by hordes of the undead. The characters are put through any one of 5 different scenarios with goals ranging from defending your base, rescuing survivors, to getting the fudge out of town! Players can choose from eight different characters, each with their own strengths, weaknesses and special abilities (not to mention their own miniature) that add another dimension of strategy to this fantastic game! Whatever your character’s goals are – the clock is ticking! You have until the sun sets to finish your mission – afterwards the undead come out in force and take over the town!
The game is for two to six players, some playing as the heroes of the game while others play as the zombies! Oh yeah, baby! My wife and son won’t play with me anymore because I always call “zombies” first! Each Hero can collect Hero Cards that are either Items that aid them in completing their goals and weapons they can use against the undead or Events that can give the Hero an edge or save them from certain doom! Zombies get cards as well that give them special abilities or unlock events that make it even harder for the Heroes. I never thought being a zombie hoard would be so much fun!
I want to take a moment to specifically talk about the miniatures for this game; they are about the size of standard RPG mini’s (a big factor in my decision to buy the game) and are just as detailed. The only downside (for me anyway) are that they do not come pre-painted. Many gamers out there love to buy and paint miniatures, but I just don’t have the patience or time. Even so, I have used them for my other games and they work well. The sculpts capture the character perfectly. I just wish they’d get a license to do a Walking Dead version of the game!
The tiles for the game are beautiful and appropriately creepy, one could easily use them for an adventure set in a small town. I particularly enjoy the church, school and the blood-soaked hospital. You can even buy expansion packs that offer new locations, new scenarios and even new characters to add variety to your experience. Did I mention that the game comes with a soundtrack, because it comes with a soundtrack! Yeah, you even get a CD with eleven original track to help set the mood! In addition to all this, the game also enjoys online support including free scenarios!
Not only is Last Night on Earth a fun game all by itself, with enough strategy and depth to make the replay value high, but with the tiles, miniatures, various scenarios, game expansions, and a handful of dice, it’s just a stone’s throw away from being a great tabletop role playing game! I haven’t needed to use this strategy yet, in fact, just the opposite; I’m trying to convert a group of heavy-deep role players into folks who also play board and card games. How about all of you? Have you converted non-gamers in the past? What games did you use?
Alex Montoya
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Sounds like fun! But if we’re playing it this week, I call zombies! Mwahahaha!;)