Stats:
No. of players: 2-4
Amount of time to play: 45 min
Age requirements: 13+
Set-up time: 5 min

Grave Business Rules Description:

In Grave Business you are a necromancer looking to get rich. You send your constructed zombies to dig up graves and take the loot inside. They can also grab more parts so you can construct even more zombies.

The game ends when you go to refill the grave yard and there are not enough tiles to fill the board. At this point the player with the most points in valuables and body parts wins. However there are three parts that make up the master. If all of these are in your collection, you win regardless of the score.

The graveyard is a 4×4 grid on which you’ll place tiles. The tiles contain treasure worth different monetary amounts, body parts or equipment for your zombies to use.

You start Grave Business with three zombies. You can send your zombies to dig up every tile in a column or row by placing them face-down at the end of one column or row. They can also dig up one specific tile by placing your zombie directly on a tile. When digging this way your zombie gets a bonus to their Brainpower to dig.

Your zombies have numbers from four through thirteen and the higher the number the better they dig. Higher numbered zombies also take more body parts to build and can take more hits when attacked.

Your zombies can also steal loot and body parts from other players, attack your opponent’s zombies or claim the starting player. No matter what your zombies do they are placed face-down. So you are never sure which zombie is doing what.

Attacks are resolved as soon as a zombie is placed on an attack space. If you hit your opponent’s zombie it may be removed from the board for this turn and possibly even dismembered.

Once all attacks have been resolved and all zombies have been placed, any zombies on a steal space may randomly take a tile from a player’s vault or lab. Then you check to see who gets the tiles in the graveyard. Each zombie has from one to three Brainpower. This is the effort they put into digging. Based on the grid each tile may have up to five zombies trying to claim it (two at each end of the row and column, plus one directly on it). The player with the most number of Brainpower on a tile gets it.

When you place a zombie on the starting player action you may look at any one face-down zombie. You also start placing zombies the next turn.

If you are unable to refill the graveyard the game ends immediately. The player with the most points in treasure and unused body parts wins. Unless someone has managed to get all three body parts’ of the master, then points don’t matter they simply win.

A Quick Review of Grave Business:

Grave Business, by Minion Games ,is a mix of a worker placement and an auction game. The theme may be dark but the artwork and zombie names add to the light-heartedness of this game. The rules are easy to teach and the game plays quick.

The attacks and stealing allow you to stick it to your opponents. And although the game is simple to play there are many interesting choices to be made. Especially around building zombies, the body parts are worth points, but more of zombies means more workers to dig.

There is a variant that the makers say takes almost twice a long to play. In the variant you place zombies face-up. This should cut down on some of the luck in Grave Business.

The digging of tiles being controlled by the spaces on the grid creates a unique spacial bidding auction. It is fun and again presents you with interesting choices.

Grave Business is a fun, quick-playing game with a nice balance of luck and strategy. If you like either auction games or worker placement games you should enjoy it.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 3 out of 6
Luck 4 out of 6
Player Interaction 4 out of 6
Replay Value 5 out of 6
Complexity 2 out of 6
Fun 4 out of 6
Overall 4 out of 6