Zombie World: A Card-Based Tabletop RPG of Zombie Horror
Created by Brendan G. Conway
A card-based roleplaying game about survivors fending off the dead and struggling to live with each other in a zombie-filled world.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Printing and Production Schedule Update
almost 5 years ago
– Tue, Jun 11, 2019 at 09:42:32 PM
Hey everyone! Time for some news on the current state of Zombie World!
Production Update: June 2019
First of all, on the subject of the frequency of updates—we apologize for not updating more, sooner. As we’ll talk about below, we had been expecting to hear real meaningful news to share with you any day now...for a while now. We delayed the update in hopes that we would have heard that news, but as many of you have pointed out, it’s been more than long enough to hear something.
As of this writing, the final files on the entire project have been with our printer, Panda, for some time. We’ve been working with Panda to run through final edits, fixes, and proofs, and we’re happy with how the game has turned out.
That said…
There has been much discussion in the USA and the tabletop gaming community in particular about a new set of proposed tariffs that would affect all board and card games imported from China. The tariffs, if implemented, will increase costs on publishers for certain. And they will go into effect immediately once implemented—there will be no “build-up” period.
If you're looking for more information on tariffs and their effect on the tabletop gaming industry, check this article by Charlie Hall on Polygon.
And to answer immediate concerns—we will not be charging anyone anything extra, even if the tariffs do go into effect while Zombie World is still in production. So rest easy on that account.
A major effect of the discussion around tariffs is that actual printing schedules have become packed to the gills as every company is racing to get their products printed and shipped before the tariffs are actually implemented. So the actual printing schedule has slowed down significantly, and as of right now, we still don’t know for certain what the printing schedule looks like for Zombie World.
We are as frustrated with this as we expect you are, but unfortunately, it’s the kind of complication we have very limited control over. Suffice to say we have been doing our best these past weeks to work with our printer and get an exact schedule settled upon.
As of right now, we are hoping to have our Zombie World copies arrive at the office in July, so we can start shipping them out then, prior to GenCon—but unfortunately we cannot make any promises. We'll post another update when we get concrete dates from Panda on when the games will ship.
Thank you all so much for your patience and understanding throughout this process. We truly want to get this game into your hands as fast as possible, and we’re doing what we can to make that happen.
PnP Version
On a slightly happier note, we have final PnP files for you, including both expansions and the Kickstarter Exclusive cards! We’re making those available to you as Backerkit downloads, so be sure to check your digital downloads on the Zombie World Backerkit here:
If you’ll be at GenCon 2019, you can still sign up to play Zombie World in the Magpie Games room! There are still a few events with some slots open, so be sure to check it out! You can use this link to go straight to our events:
As always, we appreciate your understanding on this process. We would love to have gotten these games into your hands sooner, but we’re conscious there is always the risk of complications outside of our control, and we are so grateful for your support when those problems arise. Thank you for continuing to stick with us, and rest assured—we are so excited to get these boxes into your cold, maybe slightly decayed and/or fleshless, hands!
Pre-press and Gen Con 2019
about 5 years ago
– Wed, Feb 20, 2019 at 09:56:07 PM
Happy belated Valentine’s Day, survivors! Hope that you were warmed by human kindness, and not by the adrenaline of desperate survival! :)
Production Update: February 2019
Good news first! All the files are with our production company, Panda Game Manufacturing, and are mostly through pre-production! The next real steps in the process include some physical proofing of the box and the cards, just to make sure everything is in tip-top shape, but we’re pretty confident that will go well. And then it’ll be just down to waiting for the boxes to arrive!
However, because of some unexpected production delays, the bad news is we are unlikely to hit our goal of March this year. Instead, the possibility of further unforeseen delays aside, we’re likely on track for something like June to start shipping boxes to you.
On the whole, we think you’ll be really happy with the high quality of the games you’ll receive! Panda has been wonderful, and we can’t wait to ship these games soon!
PnP Version
We are still working on a final PnP version for you—we’re going to compile a final PnP when we’ve made any of the final modifications needed after physical approvals. Once it’s all set, we’ll deliver it digitally via Backerkit.
Gen Con 2019
We’re running a whole room full of games at Gen Con again this year, and Zombie World is one of the featured games! If you’re interested in helping us run, then you can sign up to be one of our GMs here: https://bit.ly/2V7RMXt
Our room has 20 (!!!) tables, and we’re going to feature 200+ games over the course of the convention, so we’ve got plenty of space and we’d love to have you on board! If you run 2 sessions with us, you can get one book or game from the Magpie Games catalogue for free! If you run 4 sessions, you get the book or game AND you get a free GenCon badge!
Fill out the survey if you’re interested! We’d love to have you help us bring Zombie World to Gen Con!
The Show Goes On
Thank you all for your patience and understanding throughout this process! We think that the game is turning out great, and we’re incredibly excited to get those boxes and ship them out to you! Thanks again for making this possible!
Expansion Cards & Rule Manual Preview
over 5 years ago
– Sat, Dec 29, 2018 at 08:25:42 PM
Happy Holidays, survivors!
We’re nearing the very end of 2018, and we’ve got a preview of the rules manual and expansion cards ready for you! We’ll also talk a bit about production; we’ve been working to get everything ready for our printer since the last update and we’re almost there!
Production Update: December 2018
Since we’re sending everything over to the printer at one time (the core game, both expansion decks, and the Kickstarter exclusive stretch goal cards), we’ve spent the last few months getting all of the materials in order. They’ve been rules edited, playtested, copy edited, and laid out, and we expect to send them to the printer in the next few weeks.
Right now we’re working to get everything sorted in terms of paper quality and final templates, so we expect to see a proof of the whole game as soon as we ship everything off to the printer. We’re moving a little slower than we planned (writing/editing always takes a long time, especially around the holidays), but we will update you on the timeline as soon as we get dates from the printer.
Expansion Decks Preview
Now that we’re done with these materials, including the rule manual for the core game and all the expansion cards, we’re excited to share a preview via the Backerkit Digital Download system. We’ve already pushed out an email from Backerkit’s system with direct links to download everything, but if you didn’t get an email, you can go directly to this Digital Downloads page on Backerkit:
If you’ve got any feedback at all on the cards or the rules manual, please let us know at [email protected] or in the comments on this post. We’d love to hear from you!
Happy Holidays from Magpie Games!
The Magpie Games offices are closed for the holidays until January 7th, but we’ll be back in touch with you if you need anything just as soon as we get back. In the meantime, have a great holiday and thanks again for all your patience and support. We really appreciate it!
Zombie World Backerkit is Live!
over 5 years ago
– Thu, Oct 04, 2018 at 04:10:42 PM
Greetings survivors!
First, our apologies for the long delay between the end of the campaign and our first update. Our work on Zombie World has been moving forward fairly quickly, but we’ve been waiting on a very special surprise to launch our pledge manager, Backerkit. Read on for info about our production schedule, the pledge manager, and the awesome surprise!
Production Update: Early October 2018
Since the campaign closed in mid-August, we’ve been hard at work on getting the files ready for print and finalizing the look and feel of the box itself. We’re really excited about creating a product that you can throw into your bag and take with you wherever you go… which means we want to make sure the box matches that expectation.
In addition, we’re working to make sure we can deliver all of the components, including stretch goals, in one shipment. Since all the materials are going to be coming from overseas, we want to get the core game and all the expansions printed together, so we can ship everything to you at once in early 2019 without delays.
We’ll be posting new print and play files for the core game and the expansions as we get them finished. Thanks for your patience and stay tuned for updates soon!
ZW Backerkit Launch!
Now that we’ve gotten everything set up in Backerkit, look for an email with instructions for completing your information in the pledge manager. We use Backerkit because it gives us much more flexibility in collecting info, including offering unique items that weren’t available during the regular campaign (keep reading for more)!
If you don’t get a link, you can go directly to the backerkit page here:
Remember that we’re going to be charging for shipping when it’s actually time to ship you the game. We’re asking for your address in Backerkit to make sure we know roughly where we’re shipping everything! And if you want to upgrade your pledge to the $50 level to get all the expansions and stretch goal cards… this is your last chance to do it!
The Backerkit will close on November 1st, 2018. At that time, we’ll lock everyone’s information and charge cards for any add-ons or upgrades. If you’ve got any questions about this process, please drop us a line at [email protected] and we’ll get it sorted out!
Exclusive Add-on: Zombie World Blood Boxes!
And now… the surprise! We’re thrilled and honored to be working with Dog Might Games to offer a special, collectible box to house all of your Zombie World cards and expansions! Dog Might Games builds high quality, custom tabletop gaming hardware. From Deck Boxes to Dice Towers, each piece is created on site in their woodshop in Michigan by their devoted team of craftsmen. Check out more of their products at http://www.dogmight.com!
Dog Might Games Blood Box Prototype
Each Zombie World Blood Box is a handcrafted, custom box that has room for all the cards from the core game and both expansions, plus a special section for the dry erase marker and playmats. Oh, and each box features a blood splatter pattern unique to that box; no two are the same!
Dog Might Games Blood Box Prototype
We were over the moon about these images when they sent them over to us, and we can’t wait to get our own boxes here at Magpie HQ. We especially love what they’ve done with the front of the box, featuring Mirco Pagnessi’s wonderful cover of the core game.
Dog Might Games Blood Box Prototype
You can add on the Zombie World Blood Box only through the Backerkit for $129 plus shipping. Dog Might Games is shipping these boxes for us directly, so we’re charging shipping now to cover their expenses ($10 domestic, $20 Canada, $30 worldwide). These boxes will not be available in retail stores!
Thank you!
And finally… thank you all for your support for Zombie World. We’re so excited to offer something really unique and different through Kickstarter, and we are honored that you all are willing to support our work. Thank you!
We Reached Refuge!
over 5 years ago
– Thu, Aug 16, 2018 at 06:21:09 PM
Wow. That was an amazing last day. We cleared nearly $9,000 in our last day, nearly as much as we did on our very first day of the campaign. You all are amazing!
And since we reached $50,000, all backers at the $50 Full Enclave level will get a Safe Zone playset for the game:
The Safe Zone Playset is a PDF that you can use to make an Enclave a safe zone, a place where people have started to turn their lives back to normal amidst the zombie apocalypse. Such a place isn’t a typical Enclave, so we’ll give you new rules and tools for keeping the game interesting when your group either encounters such an area or makes their own Enclave into something secure enough to call itself a safe zone.
Together with the thirty-one cards we unlocked over the course of the campaign, the playset caps off an amazing run of stretch goal material. Thank you all so much for your support for the campaign, and we can’t wait to deliver all of it—the core game, the expansions, and the exclusives—to you as soon as we can.
Next Steps
First, we’re going to get some rest. Between Gen Con and the end of the campaign… well, we might just look like the walking dead ourselves. Once we’re back on our feet, we’ll start to look at our production timeline for sending this project to print in the next few months. We’ll be using a pledge manager like Backerkit to manage all the add-ons and rewards, so we’ll have information about all that (and more) in a week or two.
It’s our hope that Zombie World becomes a sort-of “gateway rpg,” the kind of game you pull out and play with your friends on a moment’s notice, the kind of experience that sets people on the path to playing lots more games, the kind of box that travels with you wherever you go.
Thank you so much for making that dream one step closer to a reality. You all give us hope that our strange and weird ideas will get the love and care they need to thrive.
