Zombie Fight or Flight- A card game that promotes cooperation

Zombie Fight or Flight is a card game developed by mediators from Vancouver BC and Seattle WA as an innovative tool to promote in the form of a really entertaining card game.  Whether it is promoting teamwork and cooperation in classrooms or in families, an icebreaker for a mediation, or a training exercise in a dispute resolution course, this game is an great product for dispute resolution professionals.  The game is extremely portable (just a simple deck of cards), easy to learn, and plays quickly (20 minutes max) and so it is an easy addition to the mediator's toolbox. 

The creators, collectively known at PignPotato Games, first developed the game in June 2016 at a CoRe Jolt's game jam weekend. PignPotato then worked with artist Rachel Petrovich to create an exciting, but not too scary, game where player must work together to survive zombie attacks as they try to find their path to safety. (For those of legal drinking age looking for a cooperative party game, a second version of the game is also available, known as Drunken Zombie Fight or Flight) 

The prototype of the game premiered at the 2016 Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia's Dispute Resolution Conference, and also were featured at CLEBC's CLE training entitled "Negotiation Skills for the Zombie Apocalypse.  From Halloween to Black Friday, PignPotato then ran a successful Kickstarter campaign to raise the funding necessary to order a the game's first print run.  Games were immediately printed and delivered before Christmas 2016.  

In 2017, the game has appeared at Orcacon, an analog gaming convention in Everrett, Washington that promotes inclusiveness in gaming.  The game has upcoming events to promote Family Week in British Columbia, rescheduled from February due to weather.  The games's creators will be panelists at the 2017 Emerald City Comic Con, and will be conducting an interactive lunchtime session at the 2017 Northwest Dispute Resolution Conference. 

For  complete information, see Pignpotato.com.

Currently, Pignpotato's online store located here at negotiationandmediation.training

Our Kickstarter Campaign has Begun

Want a fun, quick zombie cooperative game that you can use as a fast paced filler during a board game night, or could be a game to play with the kids or non-gamers? The comic book style art is dramatic but not gory.  The cards are larger than standard, and this tarot size make the game easy to play.  

The game is simple, yet action packed.

The players are a team that must work together to survive.  Each player takes a turn being the group's leader by playing a card to to indicate the groups' action for the day.  The group may get provisions, or battle, skirmish, evade, flee or backtrack from zombies. They could also have a recovery day or resting or healing.  

The group will have zombie fights as the deck contains too many of battle and skirmish cards for the group to avoid fighting.  After a fight, the group can hopefully play sufficient recovery days (rest and heal) before high activity day such as fighting, fleeing or backtracking.  Battles require both resting and healing. Skirmishes have easier recovery requirements.

The players can not show each other their cards. If they live at least a week, one card from each player can be displayed to the group.  

If the group has an high activity day before sufficient recovery, they all die.  If they fail to get provisions at least once each week, they also all die.  However, if the group can live 3 weeks and then has 5 fully recovered fight-free days they are able to complete a path to safety.  The "end" card can be played at the end of the path.  The group will be rescued, all will live and the game is won.

 Winning isn't too easy. Up for the challenge and want to want to give it a try? Support the kickstarter campaign so that we can get the game printed and get you a copy of the game.  

No Zombie Babies

PignPotato's Kickstarter launch for Zombie Fight or Flight is less than a week away.  We've crunch numbers and determined our goal and stretch goals.  We have so many great rewards, that we didn't have room for my "little ceramic zombie baby doll" idea.  The are zombified broken victorian-era frozen charlottes.  This is for the best, as I think they  were spookier pre-zombified. 

Traveling with Zombie Fight or Flight

Outside of all all my zombie related projects (including Zombie Fight or Flight, Kickstarting Halloween 2016), I've been on the road again this week.  With meetings in Spokane, Kent, Portland and then Kirkland-  so I've spent just two nights in Seattle before returning to Anderson Island to ride out the "storm of the century" 

Monday night was tougher that it needed to be, as I was too stubborn to pay for valet parking in Spokane, so spent too much time looking for a metered street spot.  I was too brain dead that evening to notice that I had parked in front of Merlyn's of Spokane.  As I rushed to my meeting early the next morning, I realized how close I had been and wished I could have dropped by.  

I had a night at home in Seattle, before a road trip down to Portland.  Was able to go out with friends Wednesday night, and by candlelight at a downtown dive bar, I could show them the game.

Thursday evening, I was still in Portland and did some shopping in my sister's neighborhood.  We made it to the Portland Game Store for some shopping and a quick visit before I had to hit the road for a long and rainy drive.  I hope to return to Portland soon, with enough time for more game demos.  

It was a good week, and a nice to find opportunities to share the game and pass out some buttons.  But driving through storms is exhausting, so it is nice to be home. 

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Zombie Fight or Flight loves bats and Archie McFees

One of the best parts of being part of the PigNPotato team is that by working on Zombie Fight or Flight (collaborative card game, kickstarting Halloween 2016)  I can pretend to justify extra zombie shopping trips to Archie McFees. I dropped by on Monday for a brain shaped jello molds and some extra zombie finger puppets, and ended up getting so many more undead treasures- (yes I also bought the plastic brains... and the vintage calender girl who I zombified this weekend)

I probably should not tell you about their raffle, as it lowers my shot at winning- but as it benifits bats, I must. Until the Halloween drawing, drop by the store (on Wallingford in Seattle) and you can enter the raffle with the change floating around you car (just 13 cents an entry). The prize is $25 of halloween themed loot.  If I don't win, I hope you do.  

Zombie Invasion

There is just a few weeks until Halloween when  Zombie Fight or Flight's (a collaborative card game where player work together to get to safety) Kickstart will  launch, and CLE BC's Negotiation Skill for the Zombie Apocalypse  will use use the zombie metaphor and Zombie Fight or Flight to reach real work negotiation skills in a continuing education course for lawyers.  As I'm working on preparing for both projects, my zombie related supplies have completely overrun my pysanky studio.

Pysanky, also known and Ukrainian easter eggs, is a folk craft in which eggs are written on with melted wax and dyed, in a resistance method similar to batik (the wax is later removed). It is a tradition I learned from my mother, who was taught her father and grandmother. Both my mother and I like to explore nontraditional designs.

And so before I could do anything else today, I reorganized my pysanky studio to make room for the zombies. Now, it includes my library of zombie and negotiation books that I used as reference to the zombie survival guide/course materials I am drafting.  Red, greens and black paints are at the ready for painting zombie heads and hands as props for zombie events.  Zombie figurines and finger puppets line the shelves.  

Before I got "back to work" I let my self get out the watercolors and ink for some quick zombie "art,"  I  hand tinted/ Zombie-fied a "pretty lady" from a vintage calendar.  And used a homemade feather quill, I play with handwritten typography.  I also put on display the Halloween pysanky I made a few years ago.  I did not varnish those eggs, and so the color has faded one the chicken ones.  They look old and spooky.  The duck ones have also aged, the dye is still richer, and they look spooky as well.   

I'd love to devote completely devote the next few weeks to see how far I can go creatively with the zombies in my studio.  But with lots of deadlines, I need to balance my fun with getting things done.

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Zombie Heads for Zombie Fight or Flight

Hard to believe that it was already time for Halloween items to be at clearance at the craft store, but I hit the sale last week and found some awesome zombie heads.  It looks some extra help from the staff to help me figure out a painting technique but I made it home with some black spray paint and a few bottles of greens, white, black and red.  I figured with a couple of Zombie Fight or Flight events on the horizon, it was a good time to build myself a cast of zombie heads.  (cast, herd, gaggle... what is the collective noun for zombies?.... google to the rescue... horde, infestation, or plague )

Zombie Fight or Flight is kid tested and puppy and kitten approved

This weekend,  Zombie Fight or Flight was taste tested by Rosie the 10 week old English bulldog puppy who is Anderson Island's (Washington state) newest resident.  Meanwhile in Canada, the rest of the PignPotato team members celebrated Thanksgiving with friends and family, including this most adorable kitten.  While the puppy and kitten did not give us feedback, but Amanda's girls gave the game their seal of approval.