CARD OF THE DEAD – An Indie Card Game

Card of the Dead is a Zombie survival card game produced by the Alderac Entertainment Group. The objective of the game is to obtain the most survival points by either escaping with enough Movement points or being the last human standing after three (3) rounds of play in order to be the best zombie survivalist.

The objects of the game include the three types of cards that exist in the game: Action Cards, Event Cards, and Zombie Cards. These are really the only variables in the game, since players draw one card, or two if the Event Card “Swarm” is in play, at the beginning of each turn. The Zombie Card adds one Zombie to a players count, the Zombies Card counts as two, and Zombies!!! counts as three. Depending on the number of players, the number of Zombies it takes to Surround, or even be Eaten increases or decreases.

Internal relationships really drive this game. The cards interact with one another, and really determine how the game is played. For example, Action cards can either be used for Movement Points to escape the Zombie horde, or they can be used for the specific Action listed on the card to battle Zombies or pass them to other players. Some Zombie cards cannot be discarded by some Action cards, and not all Action cards can be used for movement points. These internal relationships really drive the strategies for this game, and make it fun and difficult to really make progress in the game. 

The environment of the game is also a key factor of game play. The game can really be played anywhere, but it would be very different playing with someone who has never played before versus someone who has played the game several times. Playing on a table or hard surface makes this game much easier to actually play than playing on a soft surface. Unlike the internal relationships, this game does not depend on environment other than the players involved in the game and table talk. Table talk may or may not influence the way players handle their cards or the order in which they use them. 

 

As a formal system, this game is relatively straightforward. The rules say to pick up ten (10) cards at the beginning of the game and draw choose three (3) that have no more than one (1) movement point each. The player then draws a card at the beginning of each turn and either plays the card or puts it in his/her hand depending on the type of card. The rules give this game a foundation, but do not drive the frame of the game.

For a cultural system, the game released in 2013 fits into the Zombie culture that exists today. After several times playing through the game, it is easy to say that it becomes increasingly difficult to win as cards are drawn and the deck has less and less Action Cards. This gives the simulation of the difficulty of surviving in an actual Zombie-infested world. The three types of Zombie Cards really drive this idea home. The cards include Zombie, Zombies, and Zombies!!!. These put fear into the players’ minds because the number of Zombies it takes to Surround or even Eat players decreases as the number of players increases, forcing players to change their strategies. The cultural stigmas and ideas that provide the Zombie culture give players an idea of how to play the game, but still do not provide a strict frame of play as a system.

This game exists strongest as an experiential system. While the concept is simple, player reactions, strategies, and experiences all change based on the cards that they draw from the deck. There really is no other way to explain it as anything but an experiential system because it really is an interaction between players and the game, even though the rules give foundation and the cultural stigmas provide a context for the players.

After analyzing the system of Card of the Dead, it is clearly an open system. The game calls for a 15 minute play time, but this can easily change. Players can manipulate the time constraints by calling for faster playing and penalties if players take too long to decide what to do. The players as pieces of the environment greatly change the game. Players who talk a lot about their strategies versus players who keep their ideas to themselves can greatly affect the course of the game. The environment influences the system greatly because it affects the internal relationships based on how players use their cards.

The choices then become about what cards to play and when to play them. the small choices are really how to use an Action card. A player can either use this card for its Movement Points or for the Action listed on the card, usually to get rid of the Zombies “following” them. However, these small choices have consequences that affect the rest of the game. If a player chooses to use the card for Movement points, they lose that card’s Action for later in the game and if they use it for the Action, they lose the Movement points. Players have to strategize about when to use cards and when to hang onto them.

Players interact with the game differently based on the cards they draw. This provides a cognitive interactivity based on the emotions and reactions players have depending on the card that they draw from the deck. If a player draws an Action card, they might be relieved that they did not draw a Zombie or Event card. If a player draws a Zombie card, they might get frustrated and start developing a strategy to get rid of said card. The same can be said if they draw certain event cards, like Swarm which  causes players to draw two cards per turn, thus increasing the chance of drawing Zombie cards. The functional interactivity of the game is simply the players drawing cards and participating in the system by playing these cards. The explicit interactivity of the game involves the choices players make about what cards to play. This is where the players will pay attention to what cards the others are playing a develop a strategy about what cards they are going to play. Going beyond the object, players might talk about this game with one another afterwards, but for the most part there is not a large following for this game. That is the unfortunate truth about Indie games, though. They might be fun, but they are made by third party companies that do not receive a lot of exposure. 

 

Sorry About the Hiatus, but NOW I’m Back

So, I continuously forget to write things here. Sometimes I completely forget that I have this blog. In any case, I’m keeping track of 3 blogs now so I may or may not keep you all updated on those links (read: the links are at the end of this post). But, I have missed you padded walls dearly, and I look forward to ranting insanely at you. If you haven’t noticed, I have revealed my identity (had to for a class, boo), so now you know who I am. Hopefully you learn nothing more, or else we have to become friends. This year has been interesting. I changed my major from English Education to English Literature with a possible Writing Minor. I’m in a lot of writing intensive courses this semester, so there’s that. However, I have come a long way since entering college undeclared.

For example, I plan on going to Grad School for Higher Education Administration, now. Hopefully I end up in a college working in Student Affairs one day. That’s the goal, at least. And finally, I’m considering going to London next semester, which means I’ll need to keep up with yet another blog. So, there’s the obligatory update, now look forward to hearing from me and my banter about my classes soon.

One of the blogs is private, so you don’t get that one. 

Tumblr: naelcmdsp13.tumblr.com

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” Ernest Hemingway

After Weeks Away, I Have Returned

Although there may not be any readers missing me, I have certainly missed typing to you lovely brick walls. In any case, the 2013-2014 academic year is underway and boy, am I excited! I’m taking quite a few English-y classes (i.e. Studies in Shakespeare, Secondary Language Methods (teaching course…don’t ask…)). I’m also working at an office on campus for about 10 hours a week, so that’s a nice source of income for the weekends where I just need to be away. I’ve got the same professor twice a day and then a professor that I’ve had every semester since coming to college. OH! And my advisor is also said professor, now that my old advisor is no longer on this campus. So. This day has been full of excitement for the upcoming year. Anyways. I’m in class, so I probably shouldn’t be typing. But oh well. 

“I believe that there is one story in the world, and only one. . . . Humans are caught—in their lives, in their thoughts, in their hungers and ambitions, in their avarice and cruelty, and in their kindness and generosity too—in a net of good and evil. . . . There is no other story. A man, after he has brushed off the dust and chips of his life, will have left only the hard, clean questions: Was it good or was it evil? Have I done well—or ill?” – John Steinbeck East of Eden.

It’s 2am and We’ve Gone Through This Drive Thru Twice

These past few weeks, I feel that I have neglected this blog of which I tried so desperately to maintain. Oh well, here I am again. It’s been a really busy time, what with RA training and all, so you can’t blame me for not taking the time to write a blog after being awake until 2 am every night and awake by 8am every morning. Tonight was a fantastic night spent with good friends making the workers at McDonald’s laugh by going through the drive thru literally 3 times. 

I’ve learned that I cannot contain my desires to one person. My mind tends to go on tangents and I happen to find several other people incredibly attractive at this point in time. However, I can contain my actions and keep those thoughts to myself, and on this virtual paper, I suppose. I am very happy with the relationship I am in, and I would never do anything to jeopardize it. I have a loyal, loving, and caring significant other, so betraying their trust would be stupid. 

In any case, it’s approaching 4am now, so I’m going to try and nap.

“Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies.” – Aristotle

When Stress Levels Spike

Well, I have returned to my college campus to begin my second year as a Resident Assistant (herein shortened to as RA). Day Two of RA training and stress levels are beginning to rise. A lot of different transitions are going on right now and I’m not entirely sure how to handle them all at once. On top of all the training things, I have to make decorations, get program ideas ready, and a whole bunch of other stuff involving school that I can’t start until the school year commences. Sucks, right?

But, I’ll get through it. I always blow things out of proportion and it usually turns out okay. So, I suppose this post is more of a “Self-Help-But-For-Me-And-Not-You.”

Steps to Take when Stress Levels Spike:

1. Breathe. (You have to do that to live, right?)

2. Assess the Situation (How bad is it, really?)

3. What can I do to Fix this Shit? (What are my options?)

4. Pick the Shiniest Option (Highest Pro/Con Ratio)

5. Get Shit Done (Do whatever it takes!)

6. Look at Your New Plan and Question Why You Didn’t Start 6 Hours Ago

But yeah. That’s all I really have to say for now. I’m going to work on some more of my decorations. But as usual, here’s a quote!

“To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time.”  – Leonard Bernstein

Signing out for now.

I love all you kids equally.

Naelcm

Something I’ve been working on

Here’s the beginning of…something. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with this, or that I’m going to do anything. But I just let my brain go one night and this is what it came up with. Enjoy!

Half of a bottle of Captain Morgan was all it took for me to see clearly. I watched her stumble through the street elegantly, as if she were dancing in the beams of the moonlight. It was a perfect night in October, cold enough for the liquor to keep us warm. She was just ‘relieved’ from her position at the school. I just lost my grandfather. I looked at her beauty through my already blurred vision and fought to remember everything about her. How long had we been friends? How many times had we ‘accidentally’ had sex on nights like this? How many times did we say it would never happen again? All of these questions seem to come around at the worst time. We finally ended our drunken waltz at my doorstep, where the look in my eyes must have said, “Please, do come in,” because she took the key from my pocket and unlocked the door without saying a word. We kissed, as we always had. I gently laid her down, as I always had. And we made love, as we always had. It was a pattern that I was all too familiar with. And I knew what was coming in the morning.

            I woke up early and started cooking breakfast. She liked her eggs scrambled with a little bit of salt and cheese. The only thing she liked more than that was aspirin and coffee: lots of cream, lots of sugar. For a morning person, she had the worst hangovers. She woke up, eventually. I watched as she stumbled down the stairs. She was wearing one of my old shirts, her hair was in a bun, and her hands were glued to her temples as she tried to squeeze the headache out. I told her she looked beautiful. She told me I was an asshole. There really wasn’t much else to it. She got dressed, as did I, and the silence we shared stabbed me like a million tiny daggers inside of my chest. “I love you,” is all I had to say, and things would make sense again. “I love you,” would have changed everything. But, “I love you,” was too much of a risk for me to take. 

Another Day (or Two) In Paradise?

Yesterday was a busy day. We, meaning my family and I, celebrated my birthday, even though it’s not quite here yet. It was good to see everybody on better terms than a funeral before I head back to college.

Today was also a busy day. I ran some errands, did some shopping, rode my bike, and now here I am, babbling about my adventures to you readers, if you even exist. I could be talking to a wall for all I know, but at least the wall likes to listen.

I think I’ll babble a bit about my own idea of Paradise, since that’s where I’d REALLY like to be right now.

My perfect day starts out with my rising out of bed with the sun shining gently on my face. As I sit up, I can feel its warm glow on my body through the window and I can tell it’s going to be a perfect day. I would look at my phone to check the weather (Sidebar: isn’t it CRAZY that we can do that shit with our technology now?) and see that it’s going to be overcast with a high of 70. I would wake up the gorgeous woman next to me who I call my girlfriend/fiancee/wife, with a gentle kiss and a plate of chocolate chip waffles. Then I would get in the car, drive to the beach and walk in the sand, feeling its warmth in between my toes and embracing the cold water as it washes all the sand away.

This all happens before 10 am. Now the question is, what to do with the rest of that day?

Answer: Anything. 

That’s the thing I’ve been thinking about lately. Life isn’t about walking this earth and waiting for Paradise when we die. It’s about taking this strange planet we were lucky enough to develop on as a species and seeing it for its true beauty. I could walk around the woods and stare up into the trees that seem to reach into the sky, or I could walk in a congested city, filled with people from all walks of life and appreciate who they are and gawk at the massive structures that simple humans created. Or, I could do what I’m doing right now, and write a post to an audience that may or may not even exist.

And here’s the kicker: You can do the same thing.

Sit on that for a minute and think about what you would do in a perfect situation. And then do it.

What’s stopping you?

“Life is a song – sing it. Life is a game – play it. Life is a challenge – meet it. Life is a dream – realize it. Life is a sacrifice – offer it. Life is love – enjoy it.” – Sai Baba

Getting Started for Dummies

Greetings, frantic people of the internet!

My name is Naelcm. This is my second attempt at writing a blog. I lost track of the last one, and quite honestly, I may or may not lose track of this one as well. Then again, I may not because I’m going to HIRE someone to stay on my ass about it. I thought I would take this first post to introduce myself, give you some slight background information, blah, blah, blah. But then I thought that idea was BORING AS HELL. So, instead, I’m going to hit the ground running with writing, give you a little preview of what is to come, and leave the formalities behind like an abandoned house because…reasons.

On the large global scale of things, today was a mediocre day. Ran some errands, ate some food, blah, blah, blah. Human stuff. But on the, “What’s going on inside Naelcm’s head” scale, and yes, there is a scale, it was MECHA SHITTY. And it takes a LOT to get to that point. For some asinine reason, I felt anxious all day. My heart was racing, my head was pounding, and I wanted to slap the face off of anything that spoke to me in the wrong tone. And there’s one person that finds that wrong tone and uses it ALL DAY LONG. So, if I were a third party making an inference on the situation, I would say good ol’ Naelcm was pretty patient with said individual because he/she still exists. You’re welcome, random individual. You have another chance. 

In any case, tomorrow is another day, and the sun will shine just as bright, and I will smile just as much. I will, however, do my best to end these with some sort of meaningful quote, because I find they have a great deal of significance in life. This one comes from a good friend of mine, and he gave it to me along with some other advice when it comes to my writing. To him, I owe many thanks.

“Don’t look backwards to the past. Don’t dream of the future. Live now, be now. Let whatever is there, be there.” – Buddha

Goodnight kids.