Review of Flash Game: Marching Zombies

Have you ever wasted a few hours playing Bejeweled? Ever get bored of staring at the tacky shiny gems? Wish there was more excitement and strategy? If so, perhaps Marching Zombies might interest you. No more trying to match sparkling jewels you cannot touch, but instead, match skulls, swords, anvils and shields. Of course that is still a bit simple so add a horde of zombies trying to break into your house.

These challenging villains are not the typical George A. Romero zombies, but they are still slow moving and entertaining. They march forward, destroying shacks in the woods wearing police uniforms with chainsaws, clubs, and other intimidating weapons. They even toss random junk to try to bring down the structures. The faster symbols are matched, the more the zombies slow down and die. Which adds the challenge to the game. If you cannot match fast enough, you can always click on a heart to kill the zombie currently leading the group. If there are not enough hearts to stop them all, then you can always rely on your weapons. Purchase weapons such as bazookas, chainsaws, or land mines. If that is still not enough to stop the zombies then it is time to buy a fan or building repair kit.

The biggest problem with the game is that there is no crash course or instructions on how to play it tactically. The basic Bejeweled part is pretty self explanatory, but how to kill the zombies, purchase weapons, and what forge points are (how they are earned and what they do) is a little more complex. With time, most of these hazy factors of the game can be figured out, but it would still be nice to have a slight overview before starting to play. The game has minimal story line. While matches are being made, it is clear the pseudo zombies are trying to destroy man made structures, which pigs retreat from, and get to the main house, but it would be more interesting to get more of a feel for the setting.

Hints and Tips:

Use weapons and building fix kits sparingly. To use them you need forge points, which accumulate slowly as matches are made.
Save the hearts for when you get stuck. They kill instantly and will save you in an emergency.
Experiment with different weapons and whether to take a more defensive or offensive approach early in the game. It is much harder to experiment in the later levels.