Selfish/Zombie Edition

Selfish: Zombie Edition, released in 2019, is the second Selfish game.

The players are cast as the last survivors of a devastating zombie apocalypse. Their supplies are running low, and the zombies are getting close. So now it's time for the players to make their last stand. Or more accurately, they'll need to race to the safety of the escape chopper, outwitting hordes of the undead, roving bandits - and worst of all, each other - all whilst making sure their supplies can last them on the journey.

Unlike most other versions of Selfish, in Zombie Edition a player is not out of the game when they die, but can keep playing as a zombie under a new set of rules.

Game Equipment

• Five Survivor cards. These represent the playable characters - all of them play identically. These cards are double-sided with an "alive" side on the front and a "zombie" side on the back.
• One Survival Guide - this is a long piece of paper with illustrations of the playable characters, a zombie and the helicopter. It provides a guide to movement during gameplay.
• 41 Wasteland cards. These are played onto the field as players move and provide effects that can help or harm the players.
• 81 Game cards. These provide players with actions to perform on their turn.
  • Included in the Game cards are 48 Supplies cards - 38 single, ten double. These are Zombie Edition's critical resource - if a player runs out of supplies at any time, that player dies and turns into a zombie.
• One die. It has the numbers zero through three marked on each of its six faces.

Setup

To prepare the game:

• Each player selects a Survivor card. The selected Survivor cards are lined up in a horizontal line. Any remaining Survivor cards are returned to the box.
• The Survival Guide is placed on either side of the Survivor cards, chopper end up.
• The Chopper card is placed in the centre of the playing field, just above the line marked on the Survival Guide.
• From the Game deck five Supplies cards - four single, one double - are dealt to each player.
• Four extra cards are dealt to each player. Game cards must be kept secret from other players.
• The remaining Game cards are shuffled and laid face down next to the playing field as a draw pile, leaving room for a discard pile.
• The Wasteland cards are shuffled and laid face down as another draw pile, again leaving room for a discard pile.
• One player is selected to take the first turn, then play proceeds clockwise.

Basic Gameplay

Each player's turn is divided into three steps, as follows:

Step One: Draw a Game Card

The player draws a Game card from the draw pile and adds it to their hand. If the Game draw pile runs out, reshuffle the discard pile into a new draw pile.

Step Two: Play an Action Card

In this step, the player may play Action cards from their hand as they like. Action cards have dark strips at the top and bottom, and have instructions for effects that will help that player. To play an Action card, the player follows the instructions written on the bottom of the card, then places the card into the Game card discard pile. A player may play as many Action cards from their hand as they like during their turn.

Step Three: Rest or Travel

In this step, the player must decide whether they want to rest and stay where they are, or travel one space forward through the wasteland.

If the player decides to rest, they must discard one Supplies card and leave their Survivor card where it is. If this is the player's last Supplies card, they die and turn into a zombie (more information on this later).

If they decide to travel, the player must discard two Supplies cards and move their Survivor card one space forward. Next the player must draw a Wasteland card from the Wasteland draw pile and place it face up in the space their Survivor card just vacated. They then follow the instructions on the Wasteland card, which can have either positive or negative effects. If the player discards their last Supplies cards to travel, and the Wasteland card they reveal does not grant them any supplies, they die.

The effects of Wasteland cards can only be avoided if a player moves by playing the "Abandoned Vehicle" Action card.

If a player is moved backwards into a space occupied by a Wasteland card, the Wasteland card is discarded. A new Wasteland card will replace it when the player again moves forward from that space.

A player can also be moved by an Action card, following the same rules.

Once the player has rested or completed the action for the Wasteland card, their turn ends and play proceeds clockwise.

Playing as a Zombie

Just because you may be dead does not mean you are out of the game. Because we are dealing with zombies here, once you die you may rise from the grave as a zombie to take your revenge!

A player will die and turn into a zombie if one of two things happens: the player runs out of Supplies at any time, or they reveal a Wasteland card that reads "You Have Been Bitten". Should a player die, they immediately discard all of their Game cards (since zombies don't need supplies) and flip their Survivor card over to reveal their rotting corpse. If the player dies on their turn, said turn immediately ends.

From now on, the zombified player's goal will be to eat the other players and turn them into zombies, too.

Taking a Turn as a Zombie

A player begins a turn as a zombie by rolling the die. The number that comes up denotes the number of "action points" the player has available for that turn. If the player rolls a zero, their turn immediately ends - zombies can be slow.

A zombified player may use their action points to perform any combination of one of two actions:

• The player may move to another level of the playing field. Each level moved costs one action point, and the player may move forward or backward. If the player moves backward, they place their Survivor card on top of the Wasteland card behind them without discarding it. If they move forward into an unoccupied space the zombified player places a Wasteland card facedown in the space they vacated. Wasteland cards do not affect zombies (because they cannot read).
• The player may attack a living player on the same level as them by discarding one card from their hand. The player may attack one target multiple times or multiple targets once. Each attack costs one action point.

Once a zombified player's action points run out, their turn ends and play proceeds clockwise.

Winning the Game

The winner of the game is the first player to reach the chopper with at least one Supplies card on hand.

If everyone is turned into a zombie, the zombies win.

Wasteland Cards

There are 41 Wasteland cards in the deck, with the following effects:

Wasteland cards

Name of card	Number in deck	Effects
Blank	12	Nothing happens - it's not the season finale.
Cut Through A Sewer	6	It's got to be clear in that scary-looking sewer, right? The player must discard one Supplies card to make it through.
Settlement	5	The player comes across a makeshift settlement but cannot stop to hear everyone's backstory. The player may draw one Game card and add it to their hand.
Bandits	4	There are always unscrupulous people looking to steal your stuff during the apocalypse. The player must roll the die and discard that many Game cards to escape.
Zombies!	4	A horde of zombies shows up, and the player has to climb a fence to escape them. If the player has six or more cards in their hand, they must discard any two to make it over.
Shopping Mall	3	To their luck, the player comes across a zombie-free shopping mall. They may roll the die and add that many Game cards to their hand.
Twisted Ankle	3	The player twists their ankle - what a painfully predictable horror trope. The player loses their next turn.
You've Been Bitten	3	The player has been bitten by a zombie. They die, discarding their Game cards and flipping over their Survivor card. Their turn ends. Suddenly barins seem tasty...
Secret Passageway	1	The player immediately moves forward one space.

Action Cards

There are 30 Action cards in the Game deck, with the following effects:

Action cards

Name of card	Number in deck	Effects
Body Armor	5	The player may use this card to block the effects of an Action card played against them, or a zombie attack. Both the Body Armor and the attacking card are discarded.
Abandoned Vehicle	4	The player moves forward one space, ignoring the effects of the Wasteland card (whether good or bad).
Alliance	4	When the player plays this card they place it faceup in front of another player. Now if the player affected by the card moves on their turn, the player who played the card moves an equal distance, following the actions of Wasteland cards as normal. Once the target's turn ends the Alliance card is discarded.
Scout	4	The player may look at the top Wasteland card in the deck, and replace it - either at the top or bottom of the deck.
Zombie Trap	4	The player may look at the top three Wasteland cards in the deck, then replace them in any order.
Horde	3	The player selects another player to move back one space. This card cannot be played on players on the starting spaces.
Rampage	3	The player steals a random card from two separate players. If only one other survivor is left the player may only take one card from them.
Steal Supplies	3	The player steals two Supplies cards from another player.
Underestimate	3	If a player is the target of an Action card, they may use this card to reflect the attack back at the attacker. The attacker may block the reflected attack with a Body Armor card. This card does not work on zombie attacks.