Zombie Princess

• Designer: Ted Alspach
• Publisher: Bezier Games
• Players: 3-6
• Age: 10+
• Time: 45 minutes 
• preorder link: https://beziergames.com/products/zombie-princess 
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

In Rebel Princess, the princesses fought off unwarranted marriage proposals from pesky princes. Twenty-eight days later, the princes returned…as zombies!  The zombie horde is growing. It began with the princes, but it has spread to the local villagers, the adorable woodland creatures, and even our noble knights! The rebel princesses are the last of us. If they fail, the kingdom will fall forever into darkness — a true and horrific Zombieland!

Zombie Princess is the sequel to Rebel Princess. Just as Rebel Princess was a thoughtful modern spin on the classic trick-taking card game Hearts, Zombie Princess is a spin on the classic trick-taking card game Spades.

As legendary princesses in Zombie Princess, players compete individually or as teams! Each princess is armed with a unique player power, giving her or her teammate much needed flexibility or information. Zombie Princess takes place over four rounds, and each round has a special rule, making each game feel fresh and unique. Princesses bid on how many hordes of zombies they will eliminate… er… save each round. Will you eradicate the resident evil of the land, or will this be the dawn of the dead?

To start the game, each player is dealt 2 Princess cards, and players simultaneously choose one of them to play with for the entire game; the unchosen one is returned to the box.  Four round cards are chosen, making sure that the fourth card is a “final round” card with a darker background.  One round card is revealed at the start of each round and will put a special rule into effect for the round as well as dictate the passing of cards.  Each player also starts with 2 skulls.

To start each round, the main card deck is made up of 4 suits, with the length of each suit varying by player count.  The Red prince suit is always trump.  This deck is shuffled and dealt out equally. The Round card is flipped up and cards are passed to your left, right or partner as dictated by the card.  Also, read the special rule aloud so everyone knows what it is.  The starting player now takes coins from the supply declaring how many tricks they think they will take during the round, and then each player clockwise also bids.  In partnerships, the joint bid of the two partners is summed.   It is possible to bid nothing. If so, the bids in a partnership remain separate.

After bids have been made, a must follow trick taking hand is played, with Red always trump.  Trump cannot be led until it is broken. Once per round, a player may use the power of their Princess – they simply announce they want to use it, flip their Princess card over, and then resolve the power.  

When all the cards have been played, players now score the round.

• Collect Skulls earned from Princess Powers or 1 skull if you did not trigger your Princess effect
• Anyone who successfully made a zero bid take 5 skulls
• Players now check to see if they have missed their bid, and if so, they can pay skulls for each missed trick (i.e. tricks not taken to reach the bid).   Additionally, at this time, the player who won the trick with the Green 6 (The Frog) can decide whether or not to count the trick with the Green 6
• Gain or lose skulls based on the round card rule
• Now record scores for successful bids on the scoresheet – that is a bid that is equal or less than the number of tricks taken.  Unsuccessful bids score 0.
• Pay a penalty in skulls for each extra trick taken.

After the third round, there is a special hourglass leader calculation – each player/team sums their current score with the value of half of their skulls.  Whoever has the highest total is considered the leader for the effects of the final round card.

After four rounds, teams score 1 point for every 2 skulls left over, and the team with the most points wins.

My thoughts on the game

Just as its predecessor (Rebel Princess) was an elevated version of a traditional card game (Hearts), Zombie Princess is a new take on Spades.  The gist of the game is to be dealt a hand of cards, make a bid on how many tricks you think you can take given that a certain suit is always trump.  Players/teams are rewarded for making their bid, but penalties can accrue if you take overtricks.  

Here, that basic structure is complemented by the changes introduced in Rebel Princess. Namely, players each take on the role of a different Princess, and have a unique special ability to use during the game.  Further, each round of the game is governed by a Round card which also imposes a new rule onto the game for that round.

A new currency (Skulls) is added to the game – they can be earned via null bids and through some special powers in the game.  These Skulls can be later spent to help you make a bid or as a penalty for your overtricks.  Skulls are themselves worth essentially one-half a point, but they can be much more valuable if you spend them to make up a trick for a 6 bid (as you would have otherwise scored ZERO for the missed bid).

Unlike Spades, which is dry and abstract, Zombie Princess injects a bit of unpredictability to the proceedings.  Each round has its own special condition and pass rule to deal with, and then the powers for each princess can shake things up.  Further, the Frog (the Green 6) gives the winner of that trick a bit of flexibility in how they approach the rest of the hand.

If you liked Rebel Princess, there’s no reason to think that you wouldn’t like this game as well.  If you’re a Spades purist, there might be a bit too much rules overhead and unpredictability to the way each hand plays out.  But I’d certainly recommend this for those looking for a new trick taking game, especially one that handles partnerships well.

Thoughts from other Opinionated Gamers

Mark Jackson: I didn’t love Rebel Princess… but, in fairness, I don’t particularly enjoy Hearts. I’ve played a LOT of Spades (long-distance girlfriend + college dorm + Friday nights = massive amounts of Spades and Risk) – and I think the Zombie Princess take on a traditional card game favorite works really well.

Ratings from the Opinionated Gamers

• I love it!
• I like it. Dale Y, Mark Jackson
• Neutral. John P
• Not for me…

preorder link: https://beziergames.com/products/zombie-princess