Octopus Overlords

... e-season-2

They made their 20k goal in about a minute. Expected delivery in September.

First official update title:
Project Update #1: We funded in 2 minutes. Ummm... stretch goals?


Edit: and now season 3 is up:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/co ... e-season-3

This is how I know I'm losing my mind -- paying $220 seems like a great deal at this point.

If you don't have the original game it's not a bad deal at all.

You don't need the original game (now called season 1), though. Prison Outbreak (season 2) works as a standalone game. On the other hand you get more survivors and zombies if you get em all!

It doesn't look like they're shipping the original game to you ahead of time, so I might just go for the $150 level (which also seems like a great deal) and pick up Season 1 now. More likely that I'll play it then between now and September and possibly rope my buddy into paining the figures for me.

Yeah I didn't think of that. Having season 1 bump the price $70 makes it pretty easy since that's about what season 1 retails for ($72 at CSI right now). If you haven't played it before it also gives you a decent idea if you really want to spend that much overall.

First official update title:
Project Update #1: We funded in 2 minutes. Ummm... stretch goals?

Initial stretch rewards are underwhelming. All new zombie sculpts for season 2. 2 of 4 met in the opening hour where they got over a thousand backers.

So yeah, I'm a backer. And in the last hour it has *exploded*. They either underestimated how well it would be supported or they're sandbagging.

Smoove_B wrote:And in the last hour it has *exploded*.

It's only been open for two hours. I am not sure thd last was much bigger than the first.

I am sure they expected this response. The first one brought in about 750k and there have been a ton of people complaining about missing the KS on the first AND the sweet spot this time is 50% more money. I'm sure they expect a million plus this time, but I am doubtful of the 2.2 million kicktraq was suggesting last I looked.

Plus side the second set of stretch rewards are better. More dice and another survivor/zombivor.

I'm in for both games and the dogs as the sweet spot. Having two extra sets so soon gives me some remorse on getting the Abomination with extra figures on the first Kickstarter. I'm somewhat annoyed that they haven't completed shipments of the extra survivors/zombie survivors on the first Kickstarter.

Maybe I'm not used to this type of Kickstarter, but after sailing past half a million bucks (with a $25K initial goal) they announce you can buy a $10 optional character as a stretch goal? I've been in other projects where you can opt in to buy things that higher level supporters get for free as part of their pledge, but nothing like this. I don't like it.

The optional character is NOT a stretch goal. The matching zombivor for the optional character is a stretch goal... Not that it makes much difference.

You are already getting 6 extra survivors/zombivors, a few extra zombies, all new zombie sculpts, an upgraded first player token, and a set of dice. That's all on the first freakin day.

Take a look at the original zombicide kickstarter. It ran pretty much the exact same way.

Well I'm jumping in on this one since I missed season 1. Which means I may as well get the package with season 1 since I missed it last time.

Even though that's $220, it's a great deal for the 3 sets. There are lots of ideas on the boardgamegeek forums on how to use other miniatures as substitutes for the "Kickstarter exclusive" models from Season One.

Is the game really that amazing that it's worth the cost of a console or a new video card? I mean, I know you get a ton of plastic, but still. I'm honestly curious, since I've heard conflicting opinions on how the game came out. I spent $100 on Space Hulk, and that was because it was a limited availability thing. Twice that on season 2 of this alone seems bonkers unless the game is the second coming.

Season 2 of this is $100, not twice that. Season 2 plus the mall expansion is $150. Seasons 1 and 2 and the mall is $220.

$100 is probably too much for the game... But then you also get the zombie dogs mini expansion... And (3)6 more characters... And nifty extra dice... And extra zombies (you always want more zombies. There is a mechanic for running out and it's bad... For the players anyway )

It's a good fairly light tactical combat game. $100 good? Hard to say, but its worth it to me.

Funny you should mention the video card issue because that's exactly what it came down to for me. I realized I play way more boardgames than computer games now so this seemed like a solid investment of said $150. I can also (maybe) finally dip my toes into painting by doing "assembly line" work on the zombie hordes. It has dice...and cards...with lite RPG elements. And a chubby Steven Segal character with a katana.

I figure my old video card still does fine on 1080 resolutions.

This is my solo and large group mini game. Everyone likes killing the zombie hordes. The amount of plastic is insane between the new sets and the 3rd tray of figures from Abomination support of the first Kickstarter.

Smoove_B wrote:Funny you should mention the video card issue because that's exactly what it came down to for me. I realized I play way more boardgames than computer games now so this seemed like a solid investment of said $150. I can also (maybe) finally dip my toes into painting by doing "assembly line" work on the zombie hordes. It has dice...and cards...with lite RPG elements. And a chubby Steven Segal character with a katana.

While I'm also in the "play more board games than PC games lately" camp, $100-$150 buys A LOT of board games.

I expected Zombiecide to be heavier than it is. I like it, but don't need to buy it, as I have a friend who must have every zombie game.

Chaz wrote:

Smoove_B wrote:Funny you should mention the video card issue because that's exactly what it came down to for me. I realized I play way more boardgames than computer games now so this seemed like a solid investment of said $150. I can also (maybe) finally dip my toes into painting by doing "assembly line" work on the zombie hordes. It has dice...and cards...with lite RPG elements. And a chubby Steven Segal character with a katana.

While I'm also in the "play more board games than PC games lately" camp, $100-$150 buys A LOT of board games.

If you mostly buy CheapAss games, sure! You'd get maybe two medium to large boardgames for $150 if you bought in a place that sells them cheap. You'd perhaps get three games if you bought smaller ones with cheaper components. The typical Fantasy Flight Games boardgames? Forget it!

I checked the local price for the original Zombicide from one of the cheaper boardgame retailers in Norway earlier today. I discovered that what I'm paying in this new Kickstarter campaign for Zombicide Season 2, the Toxic City Mall, Zombie Dogz, European shipping, and all the extras that we're getting, I'd be able to purchase Zombicide Season 1 retail and have just a little bit of money left over. Of course, this is influenced by the Norwegian Krone being priced very high right now, while the US Dollar is priced low, but anyway...

Dunno, my last CSI order was $130, and included Netrunner, Mice & Mystics, Flash Point, and Libertalia. Maybe not a lot, but four is definitely more than one.

Chaz wrote:Dunno, my last CSI order was $130, and included Netrunner, Mice & Mystics, Flash Point, and Libertalia. Maybe not a lot, but four is definitely more than one.

Sure, but out of those, one is a card game and the others feature cheap components. That's sensible as a way to present a reasonable price point to hesitant gamers, but it makes them hard to compare to Zombicide, a game that is packed with a myriad of different and detailed plastic figurines. Zombicide could have been a LOT cheaper if they had gone for cardboard tokens or cards with plastic stands, but that would have seriously detracted from the game's atmosphere. You get what you pay for in terms of components. Whether it's worth it from a gameplay perspective is an entirely different thing, and quite likely varies drastically from person to person.

I don't know that I'd call any of the components "cheap", especially Mice & Mystics. They definitely have less plastic. But yeah, it basically comes down to whether the ton of chrome that you get in Zombicide is worth the really high premium.

Chaz wrote:I don't know that I'd call any of the components "cheap", especially Mice & Mystics. They definitely have less plastic. But yeah, it basically comes down to whether the ton of chrome that you get in Zombicide is worth the really high premium.

M&M minis aren't cheap by comparison, but there are VERY few of them comparatively speaking. 22 in M&M vs 71 in Zombicide... and Zombicide has far more than 71 if you kickstarted it.

The latest optional add-on Survivor is Shau... I mean Fred. Of the dead. He's got red on him.

Oh $150 is no joke (and certainly a large commitment on my end) but my buddy and I alternate (more or less) who purchases games for our monthly gaming nights and after he just picked up all kinds of Descent 2.0 goodness, this seems like another good addition to our catalog of board gaming. I have no doubts between the painting and playing we'll actually get good use out of it. Particularly because it works solo up to six in a co-op environment. As much fun as it was watching Trent blow multiple fuses during Last Night on Earth, at least we'd be in this one together...

This actually looks cool as hell (and fun to paint), but I can't get past the price point. It may be a good value relative to comparable products, but I'm still looking at spending several months of personal savings just to get a single board game. That's a hurdle, and likely an unsurpassable one.

I've already spent way too much money on board games this year... what's another $220?

Too much money for me but I'm still getting this game, I just can't stop myself it looks so good.

Just don't buy extra zombies or the Battle Foam inserts if they're offered. At this pace, I expect they'll be dipping into the Kickstarter well before too long with the next expansions soon. And there are just too many figures for the foam to be worthwhile.

So looking at it now, which of the extras are actually worth purchasing? I've actually never played Zombicide before but a friend of mine swears by it so I am jumping in at the $220 level and now I am deciding if I want add-ons or not.

Is it important to have lots of sets of dice? Or are those just for looks? In terms of survivors, I see that there are several survivors now available to add-on but how important would it be to add more? I wouldn't mind the zombivore version of these since they would come with them as well, but am I going to need or want more survivors? The other big one I was wondering about was the extra tiles. Any need for this?

You don't need the dice or extra dogs. More tiles won't be useful unless you make your own scenarios, so pass.

Survivors are nice due to the Kickstarter exclusivity but there will be pleny between the 3 game sets. The Season 1 survivors were pretty iconic so BGG has plenty of ideas for substitutes. I'll get a few optional survivors for Season 2 and already upped by $20. But I won't get them all.

Zarathud wrote:You don't need the dice or extra dogs. More tiles won't be useful unless you make your own scenarios, so pass.

Survivors are nice due to the Kickstarter exclusivity but there will be pleny between the 3 game sets. The Season 1 survivors were pretty iconic so BGG has plenty of ideas for substitutes. I'll get a few optional survivors for Season 2 and already upped by $20. But I won't get them all.

Yup, the extra dice that already come with the KS are all you need. It's good to have a set for each side of the table. Other than that the survivors give you variety. Can you really pass up Shaun of the D... err... Fred? The girls are pandering a need of a completely different sort.

Of course I still don't have the paid survivors from the season 1 KS so I don't know how good they might be.

I'm going back and forth now as it would cost $50 to get the five bonus survivors unlocked. What's crazy is that there are three original S1 survivors going for ~$50 each on ebay.

Smoove_B wrote:I'm going back and forth now as it would cost $50 to get the five bonus survivors unlocked. What's crazy is that there are three original S1 survivors going for ~$50 each on ebay.

I am just going to get the ones I want.. the problem is the ones I want are basically all of them. Obviously I need all the bimbos, then Shaun and Tallahassee, I mean Fred and whatever they called the other guy.

You are going to have a huge variety of survivors already, you don't NEED more. I am glad to have El Cholo from the season 1 KS though. He is the only one in the game (pre season2) that can kill an abomination without a molotov.

That's the other thing - they're not just alternate models. They each have skills or abilities that would add variety to the scenarios. I can walk away from model variants. But change up the skills? I can't do it.

This is going to break my bank by the time it is all over. I dropped down to the $150 level because I found Zombicide on amazon for $65 and wanted to play it now instead of waiting. So now I have almost talked myself into thinking I can afford to go to $200 on my pledge and pick up each of the optional survivors. Maybe $210 because who can pass up glow in the dark dice? I was going to spend $220 originally... I mean I could still pledge up to $220...

I wonder how many more optional survivors there will be when this is over. It is starting to look like a lot. Way too many for me to justify buying even with creative accounting.

Skip the dice, trust me.

With 3 sets of zombies, extra boxes don't make sense anymore. Except for those "walk of the dead" cards in box #1, those were Season 1 promos and nice for gameplay. You'll get extra zombies at the 150 level anyway.

Get the promo survivors you want, but there will be proxy minis from elsewhere if Season 1 is any indicator. The Boardgame Geek forums also have other survivor concepts, too.

And you will still break the bank.

But..but...but... glow in the dark! What if I need to play a frantic game in the dark, I can see my dice then!

The first box of zombies does seem intriguing since they include the cards. After the last update I have little interest in the other zombies.I like that they are offering them (especially as it will up the pledge total) but that you don't need to buy them to get the different molds. I appreciate that.

The latest stretch goals have not been as intriguing. I was hoping for something a little bigger at the million dollar mark.

Damn. The zombie boxes contain additional "walk of the dead" zombie action cards. It's like highway robbery.