Review of e-Raptor Dead of Winter Complete Tokens Set

Blurb from the publisher: 'Compatible with the Dead of Winter base set, our Dead of Winter Complete Tokens Set (134 pcs) is a perfect way to upgrade your zombie game with high quality plexiglass tokens.

- 20 Zombie Tokens.'

What you get: Your EUR 30 or equivalent will buy you the e-Raptor Dead of Winter™ Complete Tokens Set, an accessory containing 184 pieces of tokens for Dead Of Winter: A Crossroads Game. In contrast however to the game's hard cardboard tokens, these ones are made from plexiglass. One side is transparent, while the other is opaque. Depending on which side you are seeing each token from, it will have a slightly different effect.

Seeing how e-Raptor does not hold the rights to the exact design of each token, each type is different to the one from the basic box, but still instantly recognizable for what it is.

The strong points: This is e-Raptor's second shout-out for Dead of Winter, following the e-Raptor Organizer Compatible with Dead Of Winter. The material is the same. Plexiglass gives the game a sleek, modern look. By far the most clever design is the one for the food. It might not be identical to the real thing, one however should be able to recognize the iconic design of a Campbell's Soup (or rather, Warhol's imprint of it). That's definitely an improvement over the original and its comic undertones. Idem for the zombie tokens. They might be all male now, they ar ehowever definitely scarier than before.

The two e-Raptor pimp-my-game products work well with one another; it would have been incredible if they didn't. The shapes and sizes of the tokens are practically identical to the ones from the original; I am writing 'practically' because there are some slight variations. As an example, the round zombie, barricade and helpless survivors tokens are now octagonal like the noise tokens.

The weak points: Setting the brilliance of Campbell's Soup and the zombies aside, I am afraid the design on the remaining tokens is not on par with the original game. The barricades are extremely bright and incredibly cartoonish, with an orange that reminds me of Roadrunner and the Coyote. Taking the game's other elements into account, they actively distract. The ears in the noise token look as if somebody is blowing a chewing gum out of them. Equality has gone out of the window when it comes not only to the zombies but also to the nameless survivors, seeing how all of them appear to be men. The empty food cans look bland, and nowhere near as cool as the full ones. As for the wounds and frostbite tokens, the original ones are simply too good to be copied. Here the design is generic, omitting the skull design that the originals had. What you get is a blood drop and a snowflake.

The words 'First Player' on the first player token (the knife) have been written as if in a mirror, the way they would have appeared on the front of an ambulance. It's quite evident what went wrong: that opaque surface has two sides, when it should have only had one. Clearly that's something that shouldn't have happened.

The price is yet another high hurdle. Seeing how the design of the tokens is not better than the ones in the box, even obsessed Dead of Winter players would think twice before purchasing them. Certainly plexiglass lasts longer than cardboard and can withstand accidents including food and liquids on your table, as long as you are careful not to scratch the tokens' opaque surface. Is that however adequate, when the tokens look worse than the ones on the basic game, or have obvious printing mistakes on them?

Seeing how Dead Of Winter and Dead Of Winter: The Long Night have different components, I do not advise towards obtaining this set for that game. Some of the components are identical; yet having some in cardboard and some in plexiglass is sub-optimal, to say the least. If you wish to pimp that game, you might want to wait for its dedicated set.

Conclusion: I am disappointed by the e-Raptor Dead Of Winter™ Complete Tokens set. As much as it is of a high quality and it is a pimp-my-game product that addresses itself to gamers who will pay extra for the luxury of having prettier and sturdier components than the original, it isn't faithful to the darker colours and design of the game. If you need extra components, and are still willing to pay that price, you might want to see this in front of you first.

To find out more about e-Raptor take a look at http://e-raptor.pl.

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