The Walking Dead Board Game 2: The Best Defense (Cryptozoic Entertainment)

In this co-operative game, players take on the roles of Rick, Glenn, Daryl, Michonne, and other characters. The Survivors are on the hunt for Walkers and must defend 4 key Locations in order to stay alive: The Farm, The Prison, The Town, and The Highway. Using oversized Location tiles, the map board is built at random each game, providing for great replayability. At each Location there is a Resource deck of 25 cards: Equipment, Allies, Food, or Ammunition. These decks are also placed at random locations, further adding to the replayability.

A 48-card Event deck drives the action and triggers Walkers and other calamities to show up at the various Locations. Players draw Event cards each turn and have to figure out how to minimize the effects of their Events over the course of their turn. Dice are used to resolve combat and to determine the outcome of some Event cards.

This is not a "roll and move" style game. There is no finish line. The goal of the game is to stay alive and protectthe Resources at each Location through 12 rounds of play. When Walkers appear at a Location, the Survivors will need to go on the offensive to clear the Location or lose Resources. Fighting alongside a fellow Survivor will allow players to add their combat rolls together for greater effectiveness. The Survivors can split up to cover more area, but that can be dangerous, just like on the TV show. Players may also draw cards from the Resource decks to gather the Resources they need to stay alive. However, if any Resource deck becomes fully depleted, the Survivors lose the game, so it becomes risky to draw cards late in the game when the Resources at a Location are running low.

What makes this game unique is the Leadership role. One player may be the Leader for the entire game, or it may switch to a new player each round. Each character has a Leadership Ability that will provide a bonus to the Survivors when they are in charge. The Leader gets to make decisions that he or she feels is best, but those decisions sometimes cause more harm than good...There are two different modes of play. In the Beginning Player Mode all players share their Event card information. This allows the Leader to make decisions with full knowledge of where the Events will be taking place during each turn.

In the Expert Player Mode, players may not share the contents of their Event cards, so the Leader sometimes inadvertently makes decisions that are detrimental to the Survivors. However, the other players have the opportunity to "defy" the Leader's orders and make their own decisions... but at a cost.

Also included in the Expert Player Mode are Ulterior Motive cards. Each player draws one of these cards at the start of the game and keeps it secret. On the card will be a "mission" for that player to try and achieve. If they can achieve it, that player earns a personal victory, even if the Survivors end up losing the game.

It all adds up to a tension-filled game where the players' choices and ability to work together decides their fate!

Contents Summary:
- 100 Resource Cards
- 48 Event Cards
- 80+ Game Tokens
- 6 Oversized Hero Cards
- 6 Character Pawns w/ bases
- 4 Oversized Location Tiles
- 9 Ulterior Motive Cards (For advanced players)
- 4 Dice
- 1 Rulebook