Stats:
No. of players: 1-2
Amount of time to play: 60-90 min
Age requirements: 12+
Set-up time: 10-15 min

The Contagion expansion adds zombies for normal and solitaire play to the Deadzone series.

Deadzone Contagion Description:

The Contagion book starts with an explanation of the Plague and how it creates zombies. And leads right into an overview of how zombies can be added to your Deadzone game. When zombies are added to a normal two player game they are an additional faction that both players must contend with. In a solo game you try to survive four scenarios. If you are not familiar with the Deadzone series you can read my review and overview here.

Zombies have no range and attack and survive with a 5+. They fight in groups and gain a die for every friendly unit with the Horde ability when making Fight checks. Zombies are uncaring and do not try to protect themselves. So they do not use cover and do not get any positive or negative cover modifiers.

Since they are not too bright, zombies have artificial stupidity. These rules give you the details of how they react depending on your actions. They react after each action you take whether short or long and get another chance after each turn. And just to make matters worse at the end of each round you roll to see if more show up.

Contagion comes with an AI deck. These cards let you play solo against an army of your choosing. The deck gives actions to enemy units based on their role and what they are good at. You can spot the AI deck one, two or three VPs if you find it too easy.

The book ends detailing the Mercenaries and giving you a scenario to play with all eight Kickstarter mercenaries.

Quick Review of Deadzone Contagion:

Contagion is a great addition to Deadzone especially if you don’t have a regular group or another player to play against. The zombies are interesting to add to two player games but really shine in solitaire play.

I did not get the zombie miniatures, but the book and cards look great. The art is in line with the rest in the series. And the rulebook is straightforward and easy to follow.

The zombies are tough and I have tried several times to survive the first scenario with no luck. You really need to adjust your strategy to deal with them, but they swarm you fast. The basic rules for the zombies will take a few games to absorb and a player aid would have been nice.

The AI deck is a nice touch too. It lets you play against a fake opponent that makes some good moves. The AI’s moves make sense but more options and variety and options than the zombies makes playing with it more cumbersome. There is a cheatsheet on the back of the rule book and actions are included on cards. But you’ll spend a good bit of your early games flipping through the rule book. Despite the need to look up some rulings if you play the Deadzone with the AI deck enough the action should flow.

If you enjoy Deadzone, but lack opponents Contagion is a must buy. If you want to be able to play solo games, pick this up. The AI deck can even help you fine tune your army when your friends are not around.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 4 out of 6
Luck 5 out of 6
Player Interaction 6 out of 6
Replay Value 5 out of 6
Complexity 4 out of 6
Fun 5 out of 6
Overall 5 out of 6