It’s quite a title for a board game. “WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE”. It screams out a highly intense game that is fraught with peril and danger every step of the way. Described on the cover as the “the game of dicing with death”. Unfortunately it didn’t quite deliver.
Rules of play
A game for 1 or more people (no suggested limit) taking about 15 to 20 minutes. This is a cooperative game played on your own or as a team with the main goal of not dying.
The game comes with a simple board, a deck of 50 cards and 6 dice with specific life saving shapes printed on. Lay the board out and deal 20 cards from the 50 card death deck and lay them next to the board and you are set to play.
The rules note the oldest player starts which is interesting and not as typical in games I’ve played. Draw a card and then lay on the first number. The player has to roll the dice and try to match the combination of life saving images with the roll. Players can roll the dice up to 3 times taking the dice they need at each roll (sort of like King of Tokyo or Yahtzee). If you get the combination, discard the card, if not, you are one step closer to death. Play passes on, a new card drawn.
Keep going until either all 20 cards are used/discarded and you win, or you fail to get so many combos and discard cards that the team loses and you all die. If you are not removing the death cards from the board, you will end up in the morgue.
Game components
Straight away on opening the box I could feel the quality of the products was low. The cards are slightly thicker than paper making them feel awful. The board is flimsy cardboard and really disappointing and the dice are surprisingly light weight not making for a nice roll. I expected better and thought that Ginger Fox was better than this. It was a disappointment. I didn’t actually realise how much these details mattered to me but it can be a key signal to overall game quality.
We’re not going to die
This is a very simple game to play out and when you know your odds and chances is really unchallenging. I accomplished it really easily and lived. It’s not suited for solo play at all. There isn’t a real problem element to the play and you just go through the motions with it. As a team game also you really do not need help with the play, it isn’t that tough. For me, this game would probably work better in competition with other players and being the last player to die, some sort of mechanics there would be good but then we really are slipping into King of Tokyo territory.
Comical deaths
The attempt at humour in this game just didn’t come through for me, in all honesty I found it a touch weird. I can see what they are trying to go for and this could very well appeal to some folk. Some card games, like Cards against humanity, have absolutely smashed it! They bring the entertainment with ease but the puns have such limited relevance here that it is quite odd. The theme just doesn’t come though in the gameplay and that is a shame because the potential really was there.
Best with mates
I’m not a drinker any more, haven’t been for many years but the pubs need to get this one in behind the counter. When your customers are 5 pints in this is probably a game to bring out for some quick entertainment. A game of chance on the dice always goes down well after a few drinks with everyone gathered around getting involved with the results. It would be a good giggle there. The cards would make for banter there and people would certainly have a laugh together.
Final Thoughts.
This is an incredibly simple game with easy to pick up rules. If you like very light games that don’t take much problem solving this is almost certainly a game for you. I liked that it has both a solo play and cooperative element. A simple game to close a board game evening out with.
