Dead of Winter (The Salutation, 12 Oct 2016)

 

For this week's game, I'm suggesting Plaid Hat's Dead of Winter, a semi-cooperative Horror board game that sees its players working together to survive a zombie apocalypse. I'm describing the game a semi-cooperative because while the players work together to achieve a common goal, each player has their own set of objectives while one player might be there to betray the rest of the group.

My interest in playing this game, beyond the fact that I think it's fun, stems from an interest in the role of group dynamics in the playing of board games. The research questions I'm hoping to explore, roughly in order, are:

• Where does the game takes place, on or around the board?
• To what extent can analog games be immersive?
• What is the relation of theme to game mechanic (if any)?

For those who are interested in getting a head start with the rules, here's Rodney Smith of Watch It Played, playing it while being watched...

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6la-2F6EtyM&w=854&h=480]

And here's Wil Wheaton, discovering that this cooperative game isn't entirely cooperative...

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG-iUxJcoXc&w=854&h=480]

A couple more links for those who are interested:

Dead of Winter player aids by the Esoteric Order of Gamers

Dead of Winter on BoardGame Geek

Paul Wake