Zed by Dawn Express

About this Game

The city is dead.

Your Enclave is running out of everything — food, fuel, medicine, ammunition, supplies. Every expedition means leaving the safety of the Enclave, entering the city, finding what you need, and making it back alive. The zombies are everywhere, and the longer you stay out, the worse things get.

Zed By Dawn — Express is a fast, solo (or pass-and-play) tile-crawl survival game. Explore a shifting 3×3 city grid built from cards, scavenge Supply/Ammo/Medicine from the locations you find, and manage the ever-growing Horde before it catches up to you. Reach a Safehouse to bank your loot — or die trying and lose it all.

Play a single expedition for a quick 15–20 minute session, or link expeditions together into a full campaign: gather 24 Supply for the Enclave and you win.

What makes it tick

• No dice-chasing math. Combat is dead simple: Shoot, Melee, or Do Nothing — every choice is a real trade-off between Wounds and Horde growth.
• A city that pushes back. The board isn't static — venture into the dangerous rear row and the Horde builds. Let it hit 6 and a Horde Sweep rolls through, reshuffling the map and punishing anyone caught in the open.
• One Event Die, doing a lot of work. A single custom d6 handles every zombie encounter, jams, and lucky scavenging finds.
• Four survivors, four playstyles. Runner, Medic, Scavenger, and Survivor each bring a different edge to the same shared goal — keeping the Enclave alive.
• Scales with your table time. One expedition is a complete story. String several together and you've got a full campaign.

What's in the box (Print & Play)

• 18 City Cards (12 Road/Connector, 6 Location)
• 4 Character Cards (Runner, Medic, Scavenger, Survivor)
• 1 Event Die Label Sticker (apply to a standard d6)
• 4 Player Tokens (one per Character)
• 1 Character / Resource Tracker Sheet

That's it — no action-point tokens, no stamina system, no special zombie deck, no separate Supply-token economy. Just plain six-sided dice on your tracker sheet, a deck of cards, and your nerve.

How it plays

Each turn: Move your pawn, Resolve the card you land on, and if a Zombie encounter triggers, roll the Event Die. Gather Supply, dodge or fight the Horde, and get to a Safehouse before your Wounds — or the Horde — catch up with you.

Get out. Get supplies. Get home. Survive.

Credits

Game Desing                                 Bill Heckler — Drag'Em Studios
Art Work                                        Generative AI — ChatGPT, Gemini

Find more Drag'em Studios releases at https://dragemstudios.neocities.org/