The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Ever have the urge to rend those annoying people at the mall from limb to limb? You know, the ones with 15 bags apiece, who spread out from side to side, making it impossible to get around them. Or have you ever had the urge to relive one of those great old zombie movies, like Night of the Living Dead? If so, then Maul of America is the game for you.

Maul of America is the game of zombie chow-time. One player is the Zombie Controller (ZC). 2 - 5 other players are the zombie snacks, er, Shoppers. The object of the game is simple. The Shoppers are trying to collect either 4 different types of equipment or 7 pieces of equipment total. Once accomplished, the Shopper can exit the Maul. The Zombie Controller, well, it should be pretty obvious what he wants to do. If a Shopper escapes with required equipment, he wins. If the Zombie Controller keeps any Shoppers from escaping, or turns them all into lunch, then he wins.

Play starts with the ZC and the Shoppers alternating setting up 4 board sections of the Maul of America. There are 4 2 - sided sections of Maul, so there can be a different set - up each time. Each Shopper is dealt 3 cards from the Shopper deck. The ZC is dealt 3 cards from the Zombie deck. Play then begins with the player to the ZC's left, and proceeds from there. Shopper 1 rolls 2d6 to determine how many Actions he gets. Then just like a movie, the 2 hour time limit starts. The Shoppers have that long to get the heck out of Dodge.

Each Shopper's turn goes like this. Determine Actions by rolling 2d6, draw 1 Shopper card, play any Shopper cards he would like to play, and then Spend Actions. Actions may consist of Movement, Attacks, Searches, Equipment Exchanges, or Using the Medkit. Each Action takes 1 Point from the total rolled. A Shopper starting his turn in a Food Court space may give up all his Actions for a turn to heal a Wound. Each Wound takes one away from the number of Actions rolled.

A special event that can happen on any Shopper's turn is the rolling of a "7" for his actions. If that happens, the Shopper gets to draw an extra Shopper Card for that turn. Of course, the ZC gets a bonus card as well. The ZC may only draw one extra card this way per turn cycle.

The ZC's turn goes like this. Receive any Reinforcements due. Draw one Zombie Card. Play any Zombie Cards the ZC would like to play. Spend Actions. Each Zombie on the board gets 4 actions per turn, which consist of Movement and Attacks. Once a Zombie makes his Attack, his turn ends, even if it has Actions remaining.

Of course, no zombie game, movie, story, etc. would be complete without the dead coming back to life before your very eyes. Any Shopper who becomes a tasty snack, er, is hideously murdered by the undead, comes back to life under the ZC's control on the next ZC turn. That Shopper is eliminated from the game.

Maul of America comes to down to Shopper smarts, luck, and equipment vs Zombie numbers. There can be up to 25 Zombies on the board at any time. If circumstances dictate more, and the tokens aren't available, no more Zombies. Shoppers search marked squares for the equipment they need to exit. Sometimes they find it, sometimes they find more Zombies! Still, Shoppers lucky enough to find neat toys like the Flamethrower or the Sawed-Off Shotgun can make large dents in the Zombie hordes. Other cards do things like making Shoppers lose a turn, stop Zombie attacks, and allow Shoppers to move to a less infested part of the Maul. Drawing the right cards is important in Maul of America.

Likes/Dislikes: Our group really enjoyed the way Maul of America plays. It is easy to learn, and for a group of older gamers with limited time this is important. It duplicates the feel of a zombie movie fairly well, and the 2 hour time limit keeps player from spending endless minutes carefully plotting their moves. To keep the game moving, you have to think quickly.

My chief complaint with Maul of America is the production values. I bought Maul for $20 at Gen-Con. The price from your local retailer is $30 - $35. For that much money I would expect sturdier boards, cards, and tokens with more detail. All of these are problems that the player can fix (lamination,anyone?) but for that much money the production values could be much better.

So go get Maul of America. And the next time the Shoppers in front of you at the Maul are making it impossible to move, just imagine them as lunch. And stayed tuned for Chopping Maul, the first extension for Maul, due out soon.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Maul of America
Author: Eric Canfield Category: board game Company/Publisher: Jolly Roger Games Line: B-Movie Line Cost: $20 at Gen-Con, $30 - $35 retail ISBN: na SKU: JOL 999 Playtest Review by Keith Burkhead on 09/04/00. Genre tags: Modern day Horror Comedy Post-apocalypse	Ever have the urge to rend those annoying people at the mall from limb to limb? You know, the ones with 15 bags apiece, who spread out from side to side, making it impossible to get around them. Or have you ever had the urge to relive one of those great old zombie movies, like Night of the Living Dead? If so, then Maul of America is the game for you. Maul of America is the game of zombie chow-time. One player is the Zombie Controller (ZC). 2 - 5 other players are the zombie snacks, er, Shoppers. The object of the game is simple. The Shoppers are trying to collect either 4 different types of equipment or 7 pieces of equipment total. Once accomplished, the Shopper can exit the Maul. The Zombie Controller, well, it should be pretty obvious what he wants to do. If a Shopper escapes with required equipment, he wins. If the Zombie Controller keeps any Shoppers from escaping, or turns them all into lunch, then he wins. Play starts with the ZC and the Shoppers alternating setting up 4 board sections of the Maul of America. There are 4 2 - sided sections of Maul, so there can be a different set - up each time. Each Shopper is dealt 3 cards from the Shopper deck. The ZC is dealt 3 cards from the Zombie deck. Play then begins with the player to the ZC's left, and proceeds from there. Shopper 1 rolls 2d6 to determine how many Actions he gets. Then just like a movie, the 2 hour time limit starts. The Shoppers have that long to get the heck out of Dodge. Each Shopper's turn goes like this. Determine Actions by rolling 2d6, draw 1 Shopper card, play any Shopper cards he would like to play, and then Spend Actions. Actions may consist of Movement, Attacks, Searches, Equipment Exchanges, or Using the Medkit. Each Action takes 1 Point from the total rolled. A Shopper starting his turn in a Food Court space may give up all his Actions for a turn to heal a Wound. Each Wound takes one away from the number of Actions rolled. A special event that can happen on any Shopper's turn is the rolling of a "7" for his actions. If that happens, the Shopper gets to draw an extra Shopper Card for that turn. Of course, the ZC gets a bonus card as well. The ZC may only draw one extra card this way per turn cycle. The ZC's turn goes like this. Receive any Reinforcements due. Draw one Zombie Card. Play any Zombie Cards the ZC would like to play. Spend Actions. Each Zombie on the board gets 4 actions per turn, which consist of Movement and Attacks. Once a Zombie makes his Attack, his turn ends, even if it has Actions remaining. Of course, no zombie game, movie, story, etc. would be complete without the dead coming back to life before your very eyes. Any Shopper who becomes a tasty snack, er, is hideously murdered by the undead, comes back to life under the ZC's control on the next ZC turn. That Shopper is eliminated from the game. Maul of America comes to down to Shopper smarts, luck, and equipment vs Zombie numbers. There can be up to 25 Zombies on the board at any time. If circumstances dictate more, and the tokens aren't available, no more Zombies. Shoppers search marked squares for the equipment they need to exit. Sometimes they find it, sometimes they find more Zombies! Still, Shoppers lucky enough to find neat toys like the Flamethrower or the Sawed-Off Shotgun can make large dents in the Zombie hordes. Other cards do things like making Shoppers lose a turn, stop Zombie attacks, and allow Shoppers to move to a less infested part of the Maul. Drawing the right cards is important in Maul of America. Likes/Dislikes: Our group really enjoyed the way Maul of America plays. It is easy to learn, and for a group of older gamers with limited time this is important. It duplicates the feel of a zombie movie fairly well, and the 2 hour time limit keeps player from spending endless minutes carefully plotting their moves. To keep the game moving, you have to think quickly. My chief complaint with Maul of America is the production values. I bought Maul for $20 at Gen-Con. The price from your local retailer is $30 - $35. For that much money I would expect sturdier boards, cards, and tokens with more detail. All of these are problems that the player can fix (lamination,anyone?) but for that much money the production values could be much better. So go get Maul of America. And the next time the Shoppers in front of you at the Maul are making it impossible to move, just imagine them as lunch. And stayed tuned for Chopping Maul, the first extension for Maul, due out soon. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)