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Zombicide: Undead or Alive takes the hit board game series to the Wild West

CMON’s crowdfunding campaign ranks among the year’s largest

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Computer renders of Western-themed miniatures forma protective circle in the face of a zombie assault.
Computer renders of Western-themed miniatures forma protective circle in the face of a zombie assault.
Image: CMON
Charlie Hall
Charlie Hall is Polygon’s tabletop editor. In 12-plus years as a journalist & photographer, he has covered simulation, strategy, and spacefaring games, as well as public policy.

Tabletop game maker CMON has less than two days to go in its crowdfunding campaign for Zombicide: Undead or Alive, the latest installment in an action-packed board game series that dates back nearly a decade. So far, the effort has raised more than $2.6 million, ranking it among the top-performing tabletop Kickstarter campaigns of 2021. There’s also a ton of stretch goals now on offer — including 49 exclusive hero miniatures. Delivery date is set for March 2022.

Even if you were just looking to nab a ton of great Western-themed minis, it’s worth a look.

The Zombicide franchise dates back to the dawn of the modern board game renaissance. It’s a relaxed cooperative brawler for one to six, where players must work together in order to make it off the map alive. Characters increase their power throughout the game based on how many of the undead they’ve managed to put down, and the map is shot through with powerful loot and consumables.

Undead or Alive is on the pricey side at $100. The base game comes with 88 figures, including a mounted Gatling gun, plus all the double-sided tiles, cards, and tokens needed to play. It also includes the new, all-plastic sideboard — now a standard for the franchise — which makes managing your health and other stats a breeze.

The highest pledge level tops out at $240, and includes a steampunk campaign expansion. There are also loads of additional add-ons, like high-end dice. Expect to spend at least a bit of time on the campaign’s pledge manager to sort things out once the smoke clears. The campaign runs through March 10 on Kickstarter.

CMON has a long history with crowdfunding, and with Kickstarter in particular. This is the company’s 45th campaign on that platform, and when it’s over it will have raised more than $70 million from nearly half a million backers. We’ve included the history of CMON’s Kickstarter efforts in the table below.

CMON’s wins on Kickstarter through Feb. 2021

Title

Backer dollars raised

Number of backers

Date

Zombicide$781,5975,258May 2012
Sedition Wars: Battle for Alabaster$951,2544,278June 2012
Relic Knights$909,5373,459September 2012
Guilds of Cadwallon$116,9382,955December 2012
Rivet Wars$582,3162,464February 2013
Zombicide: Season 2$2,255,0188,944March 2013
Kaosball$356,7521,896June 2013
Wrath of Kings$718,1523,756September 2013
Arcadia Quest$774,2224,885March 2014
Dogs of War$66,7031,139May 2014
Xenoshyft Onslaught$242,8323,367June 2014
Zombicide: Season 3$2,849,06412,011July 2014
CoolMiniOrNot Base System Featuring Micro Art Studio$88,2591,239October 2014
The World of Smog: On Her Majesty’s Service$101,3511,770November 2014
Rum & Bones$739,5134,417December 2014
Blood Rage$905,6829,825March 2015
B-Sieged: Sons of the Abyss$567,3504,774May 2015
Zombicide: Black Plague$4,079,20420,915July 2015
The Others: 7 Sins$1,464,48910,136October 2015
Arcadia Quest: Inferno$1,710,7139,991December 2015
Xenoshyft: Dreadmire$383,4064,398January 2016
Masmorra: Dungeons of Arcadia$1,010,95810,862March 2016
Rum & Bones: Second Tide$947,8645,794April 2016
Massive Darkness$3,560,64222,361July 2016
The World of SMOG: Rise of Moloch$1,174,1307,892February 2017
Rising Sun$4,228,06031,262April 2017
Zombicide: Green Horde$5,004,61427,236June 2017
A Song of Ice & Fire: Tabletop Miniatures Game$1,690,4669,040August 2017
Hate$1,469,48910,227February 2018
Zombicide: Invader$3,352,20818,486May 2018
Arcadia Quest: Riders$316,0185,272May 2018
Cthulhu: Death May Die$2,412,28615,831July 2018
Starcadia Quest$935,9566,503September 2018
Project: Elite$634,7825,367November 2018
Blood Rage Digital$769,50311,213December 2018
Munchkin Dungeon$701,6186,444February 2019
Bloodborne: The Board Game$4,013,73123,986May 2019
Trudvang Legends$1,492,71411,808August 2019
CMON Time Machine$296,05611,306September 2019
Zombicide: 2nd Edition$3,410,08421,735November 2019
Night of the Living Dead: A Zombicide Game$430,1546,318December 2019
Marvel United$2,866,16821,290March 2020
Ankh: Gods of Egypt$3,320,19623,386May 2020
CMON Comics -- Vol. 1$501,63212,261June 2020
Massive Darkness 2: Hellscape$3,813,27421,763August 2020
Totals:$68,996,955469,520
Average:$1,401,4229,302
Polygon via Kickstarter

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$85

This version of Zombicide rolls the clock back to the time of the bubonic plague in Europe. Expect lots of action and plenty of miniatures, many of which would look great in a game with any similar time period.