Title: Carcassonne
Designer: Klaus-Jurgen Wrede
Number of Players: 2-5
Publisher: Hans im Gluck / Rio Grande Games
Year: 2000
Ages: 10 and up
Play Time: 30 minutes
Genre: Tile; Placement / Connection
Price: $19.95

When CARCASSONNE, a nifty tile-laying game loosely themed around the construction of the eponymous French city, was released in 2000 I doubt that many folks figured it to win both the Spiel des Jahres and the Deutcher Spiele Preis in 2001. On the surface, CARCASSONNE didn't seem to have the strategic punch it needed to grab the "gamer's game" award DSP. When it did, it caused a bit of a stir in the European game fan community, many of whom I suspect were basing their opinions on having played the game a handful of times at best. I have to admit that, unlike my wife, I also was slow to consider this game as much more than an entertaining no-brainer with a couple neat mechanics. Now that I've played the game quite a lot more, I've come to appreciate the subtleties I'd missed early on.

Players take turns drawing a square tile from a central pile of face-down tiles. They must then place the tile so that it "fits" into the surrounding landscape. A tile fits if all of its features along its edges match those of the surrounding tiles. Each tile is composed of either 1, 2, or 3 features being any combination of road, walled city, field, or cloister. When a player places a tile they must make sure that all fields at the edge of their tile meets a field at the edge of the tiles they're placing it against. Likewise, all roads must butt up against other roads, and cities must meet cities. The player may then place one of their followers (tiny wooden people nick-named "meeples") on the tile they just placed, with the following restriction. A follower may not be placed on a feature that connects to another tile that already has a follower on the same type feature. That is, if Player A lays down a tile which connects a road on this tile to a road on another tile, and that road already has a follower on it, Player A may not place their follower on that road. Player A may, however place their follower on a field, cloister or walled city, with the same restriction. A follower placed on a road becomes a thief, a follower placed on a field becomes a farmer, a follower on a cloister is a monk, and knights hang out in cities. Nothing terribly difficult about all that. Match the pictures, place your little guys.

Each player is limited to 8 followers. Once those run out a player won't be able to place any more until they recover one from the ever-growing board. A player recovers thier followers when the feature that the follower is standing on "completes". Roads complete when they are capped at either end. Cloister complete when they are surrounded by tiles on all sides. Walled cities complete when the surrounding wall meets and fields remain until the end. As you'd expect, different features are worth different amounts depending on the number of tiles they're comprised of, and in the case of cities, if those cities have any pennants in them.

Ok, here's where the strategy starts to kick in. Do you go for the huge city and bank that you'll get what you need to complete it before the game ends? Do you dump all your followers on fields, going for an end-game sweep? How worthwhile is it to complete your opponent's city for them, giving them some points now, but stopping them from building a mammoth metropolis? Can your thieves prevent another player's thieves from joining your road before you can cap it and how do stop the edge of the "board" from growing away from that last tricky spot you need to fill to complete your cloister? Yep, the game plays so fast and so smooth I mistook elegance for lack of strategy. My mistake.

For those who want to reduce the luck factor a bit when it comes to drawing tiles blindly you can try playing with each player drawing a "hand" of 3 tiles, and drawing 1 after they place their tile. Alternately, leave all tiles face-down, then flip 5 tiles face-up and let players draw from the face-up tiles, replacing the played tile as above.

The game plays fairly quickly even with 5 players, and the interaction is consistent with any number of players. The components are visually evocative of the French countryside and much sturdier than they need to be. For the price, you'd be hard pressed to find a better gaming value with regard to play or quality. What's more, the current edition of CARCASSONNE comes with 12 extra tiles, "The River Expansion" that allow players an alternate starting condition at no extra cost. As if that wasn't enough, the designer and publisher have recently released "CARCASSONNE the EXPANSION" which allows for a 6th player, adds in new tiles with new features and scoring options and a bigger "meeple" for each player, which counts as 2 followers. A great game with equal components, a shallow learning-curve and a high degree of replayability. I have been converted.

NOTE: Early on, CARCASSONNE was unfairly called by some, "EL CABALLERO light". Although the games are similar from a general mechanics standpoint, Kramer and Ulrich's EL CABALLERO is much more of an involved game than CARCASSONE. Each game is easily more than distinct enough in play and theme to merit owning them both. For the record, I consider EL CABALLERO to be one of the finest games ever designed. It's out-of-print as of my writing this, and a review of it is on its way. Stay tuned...

Title: Settlers of Catan
Designer: Klaus Teuber
Number of Players: 3-4
Publisher: Kosmos / Mayfair Games
Year: 1994
Ages: 12 and up
Play Time: 1-2 hours
Genre: Board Game; Settlement Building / Trading
Price: $38.00

I have to admit that I feel a bit silly reviewing this game. I'm not sure that I can say much more about this masterpiece that hasn't already been said a million times over. It won the Spiel des Jahres and the Deutscher Spiel Preis in 1995, and the GAMA US Boardgame of the Year award in 1996 for the Mayfair Games edition, among other awards. When game-master Klaus Teuber designed his quiet little settlement and trading game in 1994 he had little idea that what he'd actually just done was create what would almost immediately become one of the most enjoyed, easily recognizable and award-winning games of the decade. Since it's initial release, SETTLERS OF CATAN has become a flag-ship of sorts, sailing at the head of the European board game fleet. A bit grand sounding? Yeah, probably, but that's the kind of mindset and loyalty that this game fosters in its fans.

After each player chooses a color and selects all the bits of that color, the board is set up randomly from a set of hex-shaped tiles. Each hex represents a different terrain, and each terrain produces a different resource. The players then place their first settlement and road, placing a settlement piece on the corner where one or more of the six-sided tiles meet and a road leading out from the settlement, along the edge of the tile. Throughout the game, placement is restricted by the rule that there must be at least one corner unoccupied between every settlement or city. The player who placed their settlement last, now places another settlement and road, and gathers the appropriate resources. The rest of the players place their second settlement in reverse order and gather their starting resources as well. Circular chits numbered 2-12 are placed randomly on all of the hex tiles, except for the desert tile. There is no chit representing the number seven. Instead of a numbered chit, the thief pawn is placed on the desert tile.

From this point on, a settlement, which is worth one victory point may only be built along a road owned by that player, and a city, which is worth two victory points, may only be built on a settlement owned by that player. A the start of each player's turn, two big, wooden dice are rolled. Tiles whose chits correspond to the number rolled produce the appropriate resource. Fields produce wheat, pastures give you sheep, mountains give you ore, bricks are made in the hills and woods give you lumber. These resources are the hinge pin to your success or failure in settling the island of Catan. Players receive 1 unit of the appropriate resource for each settlement that they have, and 2 units for each city on a tile whose number was rolled. If the 7 was rolled, the thief springs into action. Any player that has more than seven resource cards in their hand must discard half of them. The player whose turn it is may now place the thief on any tile they choose. The active play may then steal one card at random from any player on that hex. Until the thief is removed from that tile it's resource production is halted.

The active player, whose turn it is, may now initiate trades and begin building. Trading resources may only be initiated by the active player but involves all players. This is where it pays to watch what players are cleaning up in collecting certain resources. A player with a slew of ore but no lumber will be more likely to trade some of that ore than someone with poor access to mountains. Likewise, if a player has a settlement on a lumber port, which allows him to exchange three lumber cards for one of any resource card may have a greater need for lumber. In a pinch, any player may exchange four of the same resource cards for one of any resource card. Although trading solely in this way is too slow to ever win a game, it does help to stop an unlucky player from falling too far behind. Still, on Catan no prince or princess is an island. If you won't trade with other players, you won't win, and that's where this game really excels. The player interaction is continual, and it's never a smart idea to be too brutal in trading. Feast this turn could easily be famine for the next few because of a handful of unlucky rolls. Without the proper resources a player will quickly find themselves unable to build the roads, settlements and cities they need to achieve ten victory points and win the game.

Despite the luck factor, SETTLERS OF CATAN does reward strategic thinking, provided it's also flexible enough to feign with the unexpected roll that goes against you. Do you build your roads quickly and try to cut off the other settler's access to your hexes? Should you monopolize a certain resource or spread your settlements out across all five terrains? Also, there are a number of alternate ways to gain extra victory points in the guise of Development Cards. These cards create special situations and allow the players certain windfalls in return for spending the necessary resources. A player may also opt to build the longest road or recruit the largest standing army.

Whenever I teach this game to new players, be they gamers or my parents, I never fail to be amazed how well it works just having someone plop down and learn on the fly. After a turn or two, they're ready to solo. The set-up, trading a building are so intertwined and nearly intuitive that a rule book is unnecessary provided at least one player knows how to play.

Since it's first release this simple game has spawned 2 expansions. CITIES AND KNIGHTS OF CATAN, adds a technology tree, more victory conditions, and the ever-threatening barbarian horde to the island of Catan. THE SEAFARERS OF CATAN adds scenario play, shipping lanes, and the gold-yielding mountain stream tile. There've also been add-ons released that allow for up to 6 players to play each of these expansions as well as the main game. It's also become a 2-player game in the excellent SETTLERS OF CATAN CARD GAME, which also has 5(!) expansions. All of the expansions to the card game are available in one highly affordable package from Mayfair Games. Finally, Catan has gone into space with the STARFARERS OF CATAN, a stand-alone game that also has a swell 2-player version called STARSHIP CATAN.

So yes, Catan has gained a lot of inhabitants, and this doesn't even begin to cover the handful of scenarios and tiles that Klaus Teuber has released for free on the internet, or the mixed slew of freebies available on countless fan sites. Still, the best thing about all of this is that SETTLERS OF CATAN doesn't need any of this. SETTLERS OF CATAN shines best when distilled down to the basics; the original game. While all of the other expansions and spin-offs do add different aspects to the core game, and I've generally found them to be fun and worthwhile, it smacks me as being a bit like adding a few more twinkles to Starry Night. Perfection doesn't need an assist.

Title: Tikal
Designers: Michael Kiesling & Wolfgang Kramer
Number of Players: 2-4
Publisher: Ravensburger / Rio Grande Games
Year: 1998
Ages: 10 and up
Play Time: 90 minutes
Genre: Board; Tile Placement / Discovery
Price: $34.95

I'm a big fan of games in which the board configuration is different each time I play it. Whether it's in an adventure game like WARHAMMER QUEST, a settlement building game like SETTLERS OF CATAN or a discovery game like this gem, TIKAL, there's something engrossing about revealing the play setting as you go along. Obviously, I'm not the only one who found this game worth my time and ducats as TIKAL managed to pick-up both the Spiel des Jahres and the Deutscher Spiel Preis Game of the Year awards for 1999.

In TIKAL, players take on the role of an archaeological dig team-leader in charge of excavating dig sites in the jungles of Guatemala in search of Mayan ruins. Thanks to some wonderful evocative artwork by familiar-name Franz Vohwinkel you can almost believe it.

Players begin by each player taking their pile of "workers" and setting up a communal stack of hexagonal tiles. These tiles will make up the game board as the players begin to clear the jungle. Each tile is marked on the back with a letter A through G. The tiles are shuffled within each letter and stacked in alphabetical order. This allows for one of the game's most intersting and transparent mechanics; the scoring rounds. It works as follows. Some of the tile-faces show partially discovered Mayan temples, which can be further excavated for an increasing amount of points. Toward the beginning of the game the temple values start out at lower point values. These values increase towards the middle of the stack and begin to ebb again towards the end. This provides the game with a nice flow, and helps to build tension in the expectation of "high-rent" properties opening up as the boards does, with point-taking strategies intensifying as the temple values fall again towards the game's end. Likewise, some of the tile-faces show only open clearings. Still others represent locations where Mayan treasure may be found. Finally, a scarce few have volcanoes on them. When a volcano is drawn, a scoring round begins. Due to the directed but random way in which the tiles are shuffled and stacked, the four scoring rounds fall roughly, but not exactly, at equal intervals during the game.

Thankfully for us, one clever gaming mechanic just isn't good enough for misters Kiesling and Kramer, which brings us to the action points system. Everything you do in this game is predicated on the spending of 10 action points per turn. Even with twice as many points, you'll likely never get to do everything you'd like to on your turn so smart planning and good management are essential. But what can you do with these points, you ask?

It takes a single action point to place a worker in a base camp from which you may spend further action points to move him out into the jungle. It's at this point that we find what I think is the most impressive mechanic in the game. Each of the six-sided tiles, except for the volcanoes, have between zero and three tiny, ornamental stone blocks on each side. In order to move a worker from one tile to an adjacent tile you must pay action points equal to the number of stepping blocks he has to cross. If there are no blocks between the two tiles, then it's not free, it's impassable. This mechanic is so easy and seems so obvious on retrospect that I can't believe some smart designer hasn't used this before. Brilliant. Depending on what path each worker has to take and where they have to travel from on the board, different costs must be paid. Tile placement gets even more harried as players try to give their workers the cheapest paths while making it cost prohibitive for the other players to move to the most coveted sites.

All of this positioning of tiles would be kind of pointless if all the players could only start their workers heading out into the jungle from the same base camp. They'd all just simply follow the same path to the same temples, and we couldn't have that. For 5 action points any player may set up a new base camp on any clearing, twice during the game. Got that perfect temple secluded way off the beaten path? You'll have to make sure to watch the clearing around it or you might wake up one morning to find neighbors moving in. As if this wasn't enough to consider, each player has one "super-worker" worth 3 points toward holding a temple, instead of the single point that a normal worker is worth. The threat of a "boss" sweeping in and taking a temple out from under your nose is enough to make any player think twice before committing just enough workers to get the upper hand at a site. On the other hand, if you bring your boss onto the board too early, that's one less potential threat to worry the other players when you're moving your workers toward that big temple.

Once your "meeples" are in the jungle you may spend points to have them dig out temple levels, thus increasing the value of that temple for whoever has the most workers on it during the scoring round. As the temple levels increase in value they become more scarce with only two 9 point temple levels and but a single 10 pointer. As I mentioned, temples score points for the player with the most workers on it during the scoring round, but there is and exception. Twice during the game a player may promote one of his workers to "temple guard". This is a costly proposition on a number of fronts and provides one of the most strategically tense options in the game. A player must spend 5 action points to make a guard, and all of his other workers on the site are removed from the game. Once a temple guard has been placed on a temple, no more levels may be excavated for that site, thus freezing it's value for the remainder of the game. At what point it the temple worth enough points to guard it? Do you hold out for one more turn in the hope of digging another level before your opponent, who also has workers on the site, placed their guard. A player must balance all of this when considering when and where to place their guards.

But enough of temples and workers. There's also some shiny treasure to be gotten. There are 8 sets of 3 matching treasure pieces which may be unearthed from certain tiles by workers for 3 action points each. A single piece of any treasure is worth 1 victory point per scoring round, but any player may swap any single, unmatched piece of treasure with any other player for 3 action points. This swap can not be contested. Once a treasure is paired with another matching treasure, the set is worth 3 victory points and may not be broken up or swapped. Finding the third matching treasure piece is worth 6 victory points.

All this talk of victory points brings us to the scoring rounds. When a volcano tile is exposed, the player who drew the tile takes an extra 10 action points to position his workers, dig for treasure, or whatever he thinks will get him in the best position for the scoring round. He then adds up the value of all the temples he controls (with more workers than any other player) and all of his treasure. The next player then gets 10 action points to do the same, and this continues until all players have scored. Obviously, it is possible for multiple players to score points for the same temple as control shifts within the scoring round. After this, play resumes as normal with the player who drew it placing the volcano tile and taking their normal 10 action points.

I've noticed that new players tend to play an "every player for themselves" strategy that focusses on developing their own temples and letting the other players do the same. This not only makes for a rather one-sided game, but also strips much of the deeper strategy away that comes from the player interaction. As the players become more experienced they see the value of knowing when to compete and when to back off in the quest for prime property. If this happens in your group, don't let it discourge you. After a bit it'll all iron out.

In typical Ravensburger style the box and bits tray are top-notch. With a compartment for each piece, board and booklet, clean-up and set-up are a cake-walk. The tiles are sturdy and detailed, and there are dozens and dozens of cool wooden pieces, none of which are round, so no worries about the little critters rolling away. From production to play, this game deserves all of the praise that it's gotten since it first hit the scene. A pedigree game to be sure.

Title: The Traders of Genoa
Designer: Rudiger Dorn
Number of Players: 2-5
Publisher: Alea / Rio Grande Games
Year: 2001
Ages: 12 and up
Play Time: 1-2 hours
Genre: Board Game; Trading / Negotiation
Price: $39.95

With game mechanics that keep every player interacting on every phase of every turn, thus eliminating the ennui that can come from waiting for your turn, it's little wonder that this game was a contender for both the Spiel des Jahres and the Deutscher Spiele Preis awards in 2001. Sadly, this fine game was competing with that year's darling, CARCASSONNE (also reviewed on this site). If the critical praise that's been heaped on this game by the gaming community is any indicator, this game will still be able to hold its own on the books for decades to come, and deservedly so.

Players take on the roles of merchants vying for monetary dominance in 16th century Genoa. This is achieved through the purchase of deeds to buildings, the delivery of messages, and the movement of goods along the Genovese streets. Not only does a good trader have to be able to accomplish all of this to come out on top, they have to do it more efficiently (i.e. cheaper) than their competitors. That's easier said than done considering that it's those same competitors you have to strike the necessary bargains with in order to accomplish your goals. No player is an island and no merchant has a prayer of winning THE TRADERS OF GENOA without interacting continually with the other merchants.

All of this action revolves around an innocent little stack of 5 wooden discs collectively called the "Trader Tower". In THE TRADERS OF GENOA, your success as a mover of goods lives and dies by your ability to effectively use this harmless little tower on your turn, as well on the turns of the other players. At the beginning of the round, of which there are a limited amount until the game ends, 2 dice are rolled by the "Tower Player" to determine exactly where the Tower will begin this turn. It's at this point that the Tower Player begins entertaining offers as to where he should move the Tower. Each of the 5 discs in the tower represents a potential action and each of these actions is up for sale. As the tower player moves the tower through the streets he must entertain offers by other players who will compete with each other to try and buy actions and influence the 5 space path that the Tower may follow. That action might be delivering one of the large or small orders to one of the local villas. Likewise, you may need to route a message from one building to another, or you may just be looking to pick up ownership of a property for a bit so that you can use it's ability to further your position in the next turn. Heck, you might just be picking up supplies for an order you need to fill later or you could be trying simply to keep another player from getting the action for themselves. As you can see, there's much to do and much that you can do, but all of these will cost you either ducats (money), goods, favors, special cards, or any combination, as determined by the Tower Player and what he thinks the action is worth. The art of all this comes in deciding how much is too much to offer to win the next action, and how to go about getting your competitors to let you do what they'd really rather you didn't.

As in any business proposition, the other merchants are never quite sure how large their competitor's coffers are, as everyone must keep their pile of ducats hidden until the game ends and scores are tallied. Likewise, can you be sure that if you trade that fairly cheap privilege you have at the tavern, it won't complete your rival's ownership of the entire block, dooming your shot at victory? To add to all this uncertainty is the growing threat that the game could end suddenly, and that any round could be the last. Do you go for broke and try for the large order that Villa Monetti needs, or bank on a few last minute messages just across the town square?

From the Breughelesque cover painting by artist Franz Vohwinkel to the sturdy, compartmentalized plastic tray that safely holds all of the "bits", to the bits themselves and the imaginative board, the package is as good as anything you'd expect from these established manufacturers of quality components.

For those of you who think that a game like this sounds a bit stuffy, I can see where you might get that idea, but for your own entertainment, don't let that put you off from trying this game. One raucous session of harried trading is usually all it takes to convince someone otherwise. Not since I'd first played SETTLERS OF CATAN (also reviewed on this site) have I played a game that so consistently keeps all of the players in the action from the first die roll to the last ducat tallied. Although it plays alright, but not great, with 2 players, the game gets exponentially more rewarding and fun with 3 to 5 players. For a night of intense, good-natured, and satisfying scheming and plotting with a group of friends or family you'd be hard pressed to find a better choice than THE TRADERS OF GENOA.

Title: Zombies!!!
Designer: Todd Breitenstein
Number of Players: 2-6
Publisher: Journeyman Press / Twilight Creations
Year: 2001
Ages: 12 and up
Play Time: 1 to 2 hours
Genre: Tile, Board Game; Horror Adventure
Price: $19.95

Zombies!!! is a game that, for me, almost didn't happen. Multiple times.

When I first heard about the game, back in early 2001, you would have been hard-pressed to find a cat more hyped about a board game whose central premise was that the world (or at least the town you're stuck in) had been overrun by a sea of living dead corpses than I was. Add to this the fact that the designer cited such great works as Fulci's ZOMBIE and Romero's Dead trilogy as the game's primary influences. Beyond that I'd heard that each game came fat-packed with 100 nicely detailed rubber zombies, and I'd have almost guaranteed it a spot in my gaming library. 100 cool rubber monster bits in every box!?! Heck yeah.

Then I read a description of the game play. Ah, cruel details. How you can totally muck up a good time. Whether it was the game reviewer's intent to make the game sound exciting through simplification and ease of play or not, I was instantly turned off. Place a tile. Shoot a zombie. Repeat. Heck, I'd made games like that at my kitchen table. Pfah! It should be said here that, at the time, I was all about the European-style of game design, with little room for any game not made over-seas.

Later, having mellowed a bit in my Eurocentrism, I had a chance to actually play the game. Sadly, again, fate squashed my fun. I'm not sure what barrel of boredom Journeyman Press had scooped the guy demonstrating the game from, but his lack of discernable emotion instantly turned me away from the table, and I skipped my chance to play the game.

Jump ahead to GenCon 2002 and my second chance to check out the gameplay. Over to the Twilight Creations booth (the current publisher). Both myself and my wife (another hard-core Romero fan) sat down to play. After 5 minutes of playing, we were hooked. Eh, I should have seen that coming a mile away...

Each player takes on the role of a gun-toting human trying to escape the undead infested city by ANY means possible. These means usually entail shooting a bunch of walking-dead, shambling the dead towards the other players, and playing a few dirty tricks from the cards in your hand. All players start out in the center of town and have to make their own way through the infestation. At the start of a turn, the player may draw their hand back up to 3 cards. A player may play 1 card per turn, which usually helps themselves or throws a wrench into the works of the other players. After drawing cards, the player draws and places a city tile. Doing this builds the city as the game progresses and ensures a random playing board with each game. Once a tile has been placed, a number of cool, rubber zombies are placed on the tile. These are really cool. Sometimes Life and Bullet tokens are placed on the tiles as well. While the zombies serve as foils to our would-be escapees, the Life and Bullet tokens help raise the player's longevity or help them to shoot better, respectively. Did I mention the rubber zombies are super cool?

Once all of this is done, the player then moves about the board, re-killing the undead, picking up tokens and trying to make their way to the Helipad... wherever it might be. The mechanics of combat revolve around moving on to the same square as an undead nasty and rolling a six-sided die. If the result is 4 or higher, the creature is re-dead, otherwise the player loses a Life token. Players start the game with 3 Life tokens. When a player runs out of Life tokens they're dead and have to start again, with a few penalties, in the center of town. Each player also starts the game with 3 Bullet tokens. Bullet tokens may be used to add +1 to the combat die roll for each Bullet token spent. Simple, but effective.

The first player to escape the city via helicopter OR amass a corpse-count of 25 zombies wins the game.

The game play for Zombies!!! is simple and quick and the rules set is straight-forward to the point of being loose. Todd Breitenstein, the game's designer, built the game to focus on fun zombie whacking action, not hard-and-fast rules cast in stone. While the rules give you everything you need to know to sit down and play countless games, he freely suggests that the players tweak the game to suit their wants. Drop what you don't like, and add new rules and variant plays as you see fit. It's this free-play philosophy that's really allowed Zombies!!! to take on an unlife of it's own beyond that of it's published design.

Since it's launch, fans have used the internet to publish countless variant rules for everything from different zombies, shorter or longer games, new weapons, scenario and campaign play, team play and game master intervention to name but a handful. The publisher's site, Twilight Creations Inc. is a great place to start if you're looking to expand your adventure in the realm of the stinky dead. Not that I'm partial or anything, but the Dreamland crew has it's own list of variants available for download here in WinZip format with a cool font that you'll want to install for full effect. With some 2-sided printing and a fold down the middle, you've got a 1 page booklet that fits nicely inside the original ZOMBIES!!! game box.

Overall, ZOMBIES!!!, and its expansion ZOMBIES!!!2: ZOMBIE CORPS(E), a is a good, entertaining game with low to moderate strategic demands, and a huge, visceral thrill factor. If you love horror and games, don't wait to pick this one up like I did. The components are high quality and graphically, the game is dead-on (pun intended). Just to amp-up the neat-o factor another notch, the publishers have also released the Bag O' Zombies; a bag of 100 GLOW-IN-THE-DARK zombies!

While it's true that it's not as elegant of a board game as it's European cousins, it's not meant to be. I know I'm glad that I made room for this inexpensive, entertaining oddity between my copies of Tigris and Euphrates and El Caballero.

Besides, The Zombies of Catan has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?