Resident Evil: The Board Game

I've never really been a tabletop gamer, but I have played REmake dozens of times. It was actually my first entry into this survival horror genre, and my love for Resident Evil has only grown since then.When I saw that this board game existed I knew I just had to get it. I was confident in getting the game because it's possible to play solo, but thankfully my fiance and I ended up playing about 8 of the ~19 scenarios in the campaign together, and we've both been enjoying it. We are looking forward to having a couple of friends join us so we can play some 4-player co-op scenarios.As I would assume with other tabletop games, this game involves several rules and steps you need to memorize as you play the game. During your first handful of scenarios you'll find yourself repeatedly returning to the instruction manual to determine what happens when an enemy lands on your square, or what a specific icon on a card means, or under which conditions you or an enemy can perform specific actions. To play this game correctly there is a lot of trial and error involved; and yes, you will likely make several mistakes or accidentally cheat, but it's all part of the learning process- and part of the fun and investment.I think what this game achieves best is the survival horror feel. Players navigate and survive the Spencer Mansion based on their ability to conserve ammo and items as much as possible, knowing when to evade vs attack, when to open or close a door linked to your tile, and when to take actions that risk enemies' reactions. This isnt a game where you can have your characters walk into a room and 'kill' every zombie and move on. Every choice can have its consequences. A corpse left behind can become a zombie again- or worse - a crimson head. A room that was once unexplored or empty can spawn several enemies as you enter it. Item searches and puzzles in every scenario can come with a risk just before you can reach them. If you play with friends, each scenario can require communication with your teammates on how to survive difficult enemy encounters. The game comes with a sense of tension as the danger is slowly being elevated. The more you spend resources or the longer you take to explore, the higher the overall danger level becomes. If you intend to play through the campaign, you'll see soon enough how your decisions will affect how well-prepared for the next scenario you will be. The deeper you go into the mansion, the harder each scenario will get, and the more complicated the conditions of winning will be. This overall experience follows the feel of the video game very well, and the fact that they were able to turn it into a board game is just excellent in my opinion.The only problem I have with the board game is that the tile art can be very dark. It's also difficult to see door tiles. If you dont have the 3D terrain set which as far as I'm concerned isnt available yet for separate purchase, you'll be stuck with tiny rectangular tiles that represent doors which are just as dark as the map tile art. When you play, be sure that you are in a well-lit room so that you can visually identify whether a door piece is opened or closed, as this will have a strong impact on the gameplay. I guess I can't complain too much because the dark tile art is faithful to the darkness of the game, but I think they went a little too far with it for the board game.Outside of that I can't really complain too much about the game. If there is anything to update this review with as we progress through the campaign I will add it here. Until then, I'm overall glad that this is a fun, challenging, and faithful experience in reference to the video game.

I'm a big fan of board games and a big fan of Resident Evil. My all-time favorite game is Space Hulk, and I didn't think I'd ever find another game that comes close for me.Resident Evil: The Board Game has now done that. Space Hulk is still my favorite, but this is a close 2nd.This game does a really good job of combining theme and mechanics to present a very enjoyable experience, with plenty of tension and atmosphere, and allows for very satisfying games. I wouldn't call this a heavy ruleset, but it's not quite a light ruleset either. There are around 30 pages of rules, plus a separate scenario book with additional scenario specific rules.I find that the rule book is mostly very well written, and that usually if I think something is missing or confusing, it just takes a little more time to understand certain rules. But once they click, they make sense. My biggest complaint is that while most of the rules are logical and therefore easy to remember, there are a handful of rules that are pretty easy to forget if you don't just outright memorize them.All in all though, after several plays and re-reading the rule book several times, everything does make sense.And finally, the components are well made, although some tiles are very dark which makes it hard to identify pictures and symbols on the tiles.Overall, this is a great game with some minor issues that I can highly recommend adding to your collection, especially if you are a RE fan, but I think any board gamer who enjoys tense games would like it.

The game came in great condition and no missing pieces. All the figures and cards have nice details to that are fun to look at. This is the first RE board game I've played so it took some time to get used to the rules on how set up the game itself. After some trial and error it got a lot easier to keep a steady flow with the game rounds. my wife and I love playing this on weekends trying to survive and escape the mansion.

I was intimidated by some of the rules, but once the game was set up and I began playing, I was engrossed in the story and found that gameplay is quick moving, focused, and the text on cards is delightfully scary!Until now, my favorite zombie board game has been Dead of Winter: The Long Night--I love the crossroads deck, the sci-fi weapons and mutated zombies, and found the various characters a blast. I played it so much that I gave it away so that I could branch out and play new games--but I couldn't find a zombie game whose narrative experience was comparable--until I played Resident Evil the Board Game.I've been a fan of the Resident Evil video games, but was never good enough at controlling the characters--precisely why Resident Evil the Board Game is perfect! Player turns are simplified into four actions which will cause reactions by the zombies who are close by. There are corpses strewn about the mansion which cause you to roll a die to see if you may pass by without it reanimating. There are 15 bullets in your handgun--only 15! There are times when zombies surround you, and you're hoping the one bullet you have left will take at least one of them down! Resident Evil is such a great example of a video game crossing genres into a story driven campaign board game--the intensity and unpredictable play make for some fulfilling and exciting scenarios.My goal is to play each scenario as a one off, then to start at the beginning attempting an ongoing campaign until completed. So far, I barely scrape by during scenarios--that only makes success even sweeter!If you love zombie games with a powerful narrative story, then you'll love Resident Evil the Board Game. It isn't a simple shoot em up--this is a survival experience with plenty of meat on the zombie bones!