$18.25

The Infected, The Carrier, and The Villagers – Three SWEET social deduction games that play fast, don’t require any lying/misdirection, and are an absolute BLAST! Game ON!!

This listing has three distinct, sweet, game offerings.

  1. A bundle that contains a copy of Infected as well as the first expansion, Infected: The Carrier.
  2. Three individual copies of the base game, Infected; each sold separately.
  3. Two individual copies of the new standalone game, The Villagers; each sold separately. [This game requires a moderator to play]

The game….

All these sweet titles are produced by the good people at Black Forest Studio! I backed Black Forest Studio’s first Infected campaign before Upstart Boardgamer even existed… and I thought the game was a blast! So when they ran their second Kickstarter – offering the new expansion (The Carrier) as well as the base game, I knew I had to get a few copies in the shop!!

Infected is a fast-playing, secret role, semi-coop social deduction game that will have you scratching your chin and thinking… hmmmm.. is my boyfriend infected or is he truly on our side? Of course you’ll also be smiling and maybe even talking a bit of trash to sus it all out… but after all, this is a game! 😉

The artwork on the cards in this game deserves a paragraph of its own.

So here it is!

The artwork in the Infected series is some of the most thematically immersive art I have seen out there. If you’ve spent any amount of time around the shop,. You know I am all about immersive theme… and of course components and artwork and storyline and mechanics all serve to create and sustain that thematic immersion…

The artwork in Infected and in its first expansion (The Carrier) was created by the exceptionally able team of Artur Jag, Josh McDowell, and Lindsey Kustusch. And in all fairness to the amazing abilities of her artistically talented  co-conspirators Artur and Josh, the thing that rally blows the roof off of the artwork (for me, anyway) is Lindsay’s crow imagery. Dark, brooding, sinister… I LOVE IT! If you’d like to check out more of her artwork you can find it HERE.

There is a symbiosis between these three artists that just… well… works! And I am telling you… it pulls you into the theme! Especially if you play this game with a bit of low lighting and on a night when there’s some thunder outside. Did the bubonic plague require foul weather to spread? No it didn’t… but that plague doctor looks like he’d come around a bit more on nights that were dark and thundery… just sayin’ ??

OK… OK… you love the art. But what about the game play?

This game does an amazing job of taking the one versus many/social deduction genre and adding some real flair! A deck of cards is created for each player… with one  deck set up as Plague Doctor and the others as various types of Villagers. The rule book gives requirements for basic decks and, of course, provides a recipe guide for suggested decks to get things moving!

One Villager variant that must always be present is the silent Vlllager. The person with this card cannot cast a vote on the identity of the Plague Doctor at the end of a given round…

ANYway, these decks are randomly distributed to each player so that no one knows the identity of the other players at the start of the game. I mean, it wouldn’t be much of a secret role game if you knew who was who, right? ??

During each round, players are directed to pass cards in a very specific manner; based upon the round number and the “turn iteration” card. This nifty little card provides a variety of options for card passing during the game. This isn’t just some simple, “Pass the dutchie ‘pon the left hand side” sort of game. [ Musical Youth! Yeah! ? ]

The iteration card might direct everyone to pass one card two places over.. or perhaps if an even number of people are in the game, to pass to a player across from you, etc. And, as each of iterations is also guided by player count, if a player dies and you go from 6 to 5 players, the iteration shifts to the 5-player variety so card play works out perfectly. Nicely done! ?

During the game players will pass their chosen card according to the iteration card as detailed above. These cards stay in front of the players on the table and represent their fate for that round; they are not added to their hand. Cards have all sorts of sweet actions like infecting, vaccinating, rolling a die to determine infectivity randomly, safe, etc… and even cool variants like “this card infects you two rounds from now.” Ohhhh… sneaky, sneaky!

After all card passing is done, everyone looks at their cards; without revealing ANY sort of information or facial expression or loud sigh or whatever (haha) that might indicate what sort of card they received.?

I am safe… I do declare! ☣️

At this point players will declare themselves safe, infected, or “I need to roll ‘dem dice!” Any player who is not in possession of the silent visitor card (on their on-table stack) and who has never received a plague card from the Plague Doctor can now hazard a guess as to the Plague Doctor’s identity; if they want to. If they are correct, the Villagers win. If they are mistaken, they die and are out of the game. Whew! That is HEAVY! Haha..

Round and round we go until either all but one Villager is infected (so, two players left in the game and one of them is the Plague Doctor); in which case the Plague Doctor wins. Or someone correctly identifies the Plague Doctor; in which case the Villagers win!

Final breath…

This is a fantastically fun game! Anyone who enjoys secret role/social deduction games will really get a kick out of this one! I am a HUGE, HUGE fan of the delayed infection cards!  This is SUCH a sweet twist and adds to the overall tension’y goodness of the unfolding mystery!

Not only does it mean that you might still receive that much-needed vaccination card in time (cool)… but it also means that it is harder to determine who the Plague Doctor might be. When one of your fellow Villagers falls prey to the infection in a given round, you have no way of knowing WHEN they received that card (as it is never revealed to the group).

So, did Doug infect Jeff on this round? Or, was it Mark who gave Doug the card on the previous round? And who the heck was it that gave Doug a card two rounds ago? I forget… Ach! Ohhhh… that is juicy!! ?

If this sounds like your sort of thing, pick up the infected bundle today… dim those lights… maybe even light a candle… fire up the thunderstorm soundtrack… and prepare to have a fabulous time in the world of Infected!

Oops… I almost forgot… videos ?

Infected how-to-play video by Cardboard Rhino can be found HERE.

Infected set-up and basic game play by the people over at Black Forest Studio can be found HERE.

Ages: 13+
Players: 5 – 6 (and up for The Villagers)
Play Time: 5 – 15 minutes
Designer:
Artists:
Publisher: Black Forest Studio
SKU: Black Forest Studio 001
MSRP:
$24 for Infected base game alone on
eBay at the time of this listing (AUG 2020)
Our Price:
Infected/Carrier Bundle – $22.50
Infected Base Game alone – $18.25
The Villagers alone – $7.50
Links to BGG:

 

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Description

Infected

The great Black Death has come to you in the Middle Ages, ravaging everyone you know. A Plague Doctor visits you. Can you trust him, and will you be next?

Infected is a strategic, secret role social game where one of the party is a Plague Doctor, spreading the Bubonic Plague. The villagers need to find and rid themselves of the evil doctor before they succumb to the greatest plague in history.

Players will try to vaccinate other players in their quest to gather information and protect each other, while finding the Plague Doctor.

If you are the Plague Doctor, you’ll try to spread the disease as quickly as possible so that you are the lone victor. Here’s the catch: no one knows who anyone else is.

Infected is a fast-moving game using strategy, deduction, logic, skill, and people reading.

Infected: The Carrier

Infected is a quick, strategic, secret role, semi-cooperative social game. One of the party is a Plague Doctor, spreading the Bubonic Plague. The Villagers need to find and rid themselves of the evil doctor before they succumb to the greatest plague in history.

The Carrier is an expansion which adds new characters, roles, abilities, and chain reactions. New cards, new dice, and new miniature included.

The Plague Doctor now brings his Ravens with him, and they too carry infections.

If a Villager receives an infection, they must pass their Raven card on their next turn.

Many new roles include abilities to fight against the Plague Doctor and Ravens, including the new Huntress, Blacksmith, Apothecary, Priest, and other Villagers. However, a new powerful Plague Doctor exists, and a new Sinister Villager could even be in your midst. You’ll never trust your friends again.

The Villagers

A quiet village has found itself the victim of a sinister plot to unleash a vicious plague upon its inhabitants. The villagers must band together to identify those who wish them harm and to root out the evil that threatens to destroy them.

Evil conspirators posing as villagers don the mask of Plague Doctors and work with various nefarious allies to bring destruction to the village. Villagers must use their combined powers as Huntress, Blacksmith, Apothecary, Sentries, or the Elder, among many other characters to ensure the safety and future of their homes. Exile a new player each day, but beware, as new infections plague you village each night.

—description from the publisher

Additional information
Weight N/A
Dimensions N/A
Black Forest Studio

Infected plus The Carrier bundle, Infected Base Game only, The Villagers

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