The Zombicide Players Phase: A Guide for Survivors

Greetings, fellow survivors! It’s time to master the Zombicide Players Phase. This is where the real action happens, and I’m here to guide you through it step-by-step. The Player’s Phase is crucial for our survival, so let’s dive right in.

Step 1: Taking Actions

First things first, it’s time to take action. You have a variety of actions at your disposal, so choose wisely. Whether you’re attacking the relentless horde of zombies or searching for much-needed equipment, the choice is yours. Remember, it’s not just about fighting off the undead, but also about finding the tools necessary for our survival.

Step 2: Resolving Actions

Once you’ve made your choice and taken action, it’s time to resolve the consequences. Will you eliminate the zombie threat, or will you face the consequences of your decisions? Keep in mind that every action has its repercussions, so be prepared for the unexpected.

Step 3: Activating Zombies

Now here’s where things get tricky. After you’ve taken your actions, it’s the zombies’ turn to strike back. They’re relentless and hungry for human flesh, so be ready to defend yourself. Remember, teamwork is crucial if we want to survive this apocalyptic nightmare.

Step 4: Regenerating the Zombie Horde

As if dealing with the current horde of zombies isn’t challenging enough, new zombies will appear on the board. Yes, you heard that right. The horde keeps growing, and it’s up to us to stay one step ahead. Brace yourselves, because the fight is far from over.

Step 5: Passing the First Player Token

The final step in the Players Phase is passing the First Player token. This token determines who takes the lead in the next round. It’s a small detail, but it can make all the difference between life and death. Keep an eye on that token and be prepared to take charge when your time comes.

And there you have it, my fellow survivors! The Zombicide Players Phase is no walk in the park, but with the right strategy and determination, we can overcome any obstacle that comes our way. Now go out there and show those zombies what we’re made of!

So, here’s the thing. When we play this game, we take turns activating our Survivors. It all starts with the player who has the “first player” token. After that, it’s each player’s turn to do their thing, one after the other. And get this – we can do our Actions in any order we want! How cool is that?

Now, at the Blue Danger Level, each Survivor gets to do three Actions. But, hang on, it gets even better! Once a Survivor reaches the Yellow Danger Level, they can do four Actions. Yeah, you heard me right. One more glorious Action to take!

Here’s the fun part. Some Survivors have a special free Action at the Blue Danger Level. And guess what? These free Actions don’t even count toward the total number of Actions a Survivor can take. It’s like a bonus! Who doesn’t love a bonus?

Let me give you an example. Imagine it’s Amy’s turn. She’s a lucky gal because she’s got a free Move Action at the Blue Danger Level. Isn’t that awesome? So, she uses her free Move Action, but hold on, her turn isn’t over yet! She still has her regular three Actions to use. Talk about making the most of your turn!

Okay, let’s talk Actions. Here are the different things our Survivors can do:

Move

Alright, so the first Action is called Move. Basically, it’s when our Survivor moves from one Zone to another. But, you know, there are some rules. We can’t just go through walls or closed doors. That would be cheating! And if there are some pesky Zombies in the Zone we’re trying to leave, it’s gonna cost us an extra action for each Zombie. Those Zombies just love to slow us down, don’t they?

When I enter a Zone full of Zombies, my Move Action stops right there, no matter what kind of fancy Skill I have that lets me move through multiple Zones at once. It’s like hitting a wall, and there’s no way around it.

Here’s an example to make it clearer: let’s say I’m in a Zone with two Walkers. If I want to leave that Zone, it’s going to cost me one Move Action, and then two more Actions to deal with each Walker. That’s a total of three Actions just to move out of that Zone. And if there were three Zombies in that Zone, well, I’d need four Actions to get out. Quite a hassle, right?

Now imagine this: I’m playing as Wanda, and I want to move next to a Zone with a Zombie. I have this cool 2 Zones per Move Skill. But guess what? My Move Action still ends in that Zone with the Zombie, even though I should be able to move up to two Zones. Talk about a bummer.

Now let’s talk about Searching.

If I want to Search for stuff, I can only do it in Zones inside a building, and only if there are no Zombies in that Zone. Seems fair, right? So, here’s how it goes: I draw a card from the Equipment deck, and then I can either keep it in my inventory or just toss it away. Simple as that.

When I’m surviving, I can only search for supplies once per turn. Even if I have extra actions, I can’t do another search. After I search, I can rearrange my inventory however I want. But I can’t trade with other survivors, that’s a different action!

If my inventory is full and I want to make space for new cards, I can discard cards for free at any time.

If the Equipment deck runs out, I can gather all the discarded cards (except for Wounded cards, Pans, Molotov, and pimpmobile cards like Ma’s shotgun and the Evil Twins) and shuffle them to make a new deck.

Here’s a special case: Cars. If I’m in the same zone as a car and there are no zombies, I can search it for supplies.

You can only Search a pimpmobile once in each game, and it will either contain Ma’s Shotgun or the Evil Twins (which are drawn randomly). Some Missions may have multiple pimpmobiles, but only the ones that haven’t been searched yet may have weapons inside. Once all the pimpmobiles have been searched, there won’t be any more.

On the other hand, you can Search police cars more than once during a game. Keep drawing cards until you find a weapon and discard the rest. If you draw the Aaahh! card, a Walker will appear as usual and interrupt the Search.

Now let’s talk about opening a door. Doors are usually locked, and you can’t open them unless you have a Melee weapon with the “Open a door” symbol in your hand.

When you use a noisy weapon, make sure to place a Noise token in the Zone.

When you open a building for the first time, you’ll see all the Zombies inside every room of that building. A building consists of all the rooms connected by openings, and sometimes it extends over multiple tiles. You can choose to reveal each Zone of the building in any order you like. For each Zone, draw a Zombie card.

For the indicated Zone, place the appropriate number and type of Zombies. However, if you draw an Extra Activation or Manhole card, you must perform the action specified on the card without adding any Zombies to the current Zone.

There are certain game effects, such as the Lock it down Skill, that allow you to lock back an open door. In such cases, if the door is opened again later, it will not trigger a new Zombie Spawn.

Take the time to reorganize your inventory and make a trade with another survivor.

Hey there! Did you know that with just one Action, you can tidy up your inventory any way you like? Pretty cool, right? You can swap as many cards as you want with another Survivor in the same Zone, and they can also reorganize their own stuff for free. Talk about teamwork!

Ready, aim, fire!

When you’ve got a Ranged weapon in your hands, you can use it to take down those pesky Zombies. Just pick a Zone within the weapon’s range, and let it rip!

Time to get up close and personal

Got a Melee weapon handy? Great! You can use it to attack any Zombies that are in your Zone. Give ’em a taste of your skills (check out page 15 for all the details on combat).

Hop in or hop out

Need to make a quick escape or get to a better spot? No problem! You can hop in and out of cars in your Zone. If there are no Zombies around and there’s an empty driver’s seat or one of the passenger’s seats, you’re good to go. And getting out of a car? No rules or restrictions on that, my friend!

Switch Seats in a Car

I can switch seats in a car by getting up from the seat I’m currently in and finding a different empty seat in the same car. But if there are no empty seats available, I can’t switch.

Take the Wheel of a Car

I can drive a car, but only if the mission allows it. If I’m sitting in the driver’s seat, I can use an action to move the car one or two street zones forward (I can’t drive the car into buildings).

This action is different from a regular move, so it’s not affected by things like bonus movement or disadvantages associated with regular movements (like having to spend extra actions to go through zones with zombies).

A car will attack any enemies it passes through while moving.

Choose an Objective

You can choose to grab an Objective token or interact with an object in the same area. The effects of these actions will be explained in the Mission’s description.

Create a Distraction

If you want to draw the attention of Zombies, you can make some Noise. Just place a Noise token in your current area and watch as the undead come running.

Take a Break

If you’re feeling overwhelmed or simply want to conserve your energy, you can choose to do nothing and end your turn early. Just be aware that any unused actions will be lost.