The zombies are loose in the kingdom and only the princesses can defeat them. Zombie Princess is the follow up card game to one of our favorites, Rebel Princess. In this Spades style trick-taking game, players will bid, collect skull tokens, and try to out score their opponent over the course of four nights.
The Undead Princes
Zombie Princess is not just a rinse and repeat of 2024’s Rebel Princess. The game has a different structure, another layer of complexity, and can be played in teams. Players are given cards with a total of four suits in the deck. The red zombie prince suit is the trump suit and cannot enter the round until someone is able to play it (when they cannot follow the lead suit).
This is a suit led trick-taking game where the highest number in the led suit will win the trick, unless the red prince suit crashes the party. At the start of each round, players will follow the round card in the center of the table, passing a number of cards to their neighbor. In the team game, you’ll pass these cards yo your partner. You’ll want to think about the number of tricks you want to bid in choosing which cards you plan to pass along.
Players will bid for the round by taking coins for every trick they believe they will win. Bidding too high and not winning enough tricks in the round could leave you with zero points for the round, we’ll talk about this in a minute. In a wild twist, the heroic frog prince might be a big help when counting your number of tricks in a round. The number six green card is the frog prince. Capturing this card in a trick will allow you to count it OR not count it when calculating how many tricks you’ve won for the round.
The Great Skull Economy
Skulls are earned in a couple ways and are an important part of the game. Not only are these plastic skull tokens fantastic, but they are also used to pay when you don’t make your bid or overshoot your bid during a round. At the end of the game, skull tokens are turned in at a 2:1 exchange for points. Players can also bid zero in a round, winning ten skull tokens (five in a team game) if they can keep from winning a trick during that round.
Skull tokens are an interesting economy, because holding onto them until the end of the game can boost to your score. But missing your bid in a round will cause you to spend these skull whether you overbid or underbid for the round. If you don’t have the skulls to spend, you’ll score zero points for the round, no matter how many tricks you won.
As you go into the fourth round of Zombie Princess, you’ll compare the number of skull tokens that every player has at the table. The person or team with the most skull tokens will be the leader and all the other players are given a little boost in the fourth round. This catchup mechanic works really well and makes the game a little more competitive in the final round.
Night of the Unwed
Zombie Princess comes with nice assortment of princesses that have unique abilities that can be triggered in the round. Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, the Pea Princess, Rapunzel, and more are all here and ready for battle. Your princess ability is either always active or can be used a single time each round. Some of these come with a skull icon that will award you a token if they aren’t used during the round.
Each player is given two princess cards to choose from during the game. There are definitely some princess powers that players will prefer over others. The Ice Princess and Scheherazade both allow you to change your bid during a round. Alice and Sleeping Beauty are only used in games with teams.
The Angry Mob
Zombie Princess was originally announced by Bezier Games on April Fools Day 2025 and I remember loving the artwork that was posted. Like I said, Rebel Princess is one of our favorite trick-taking games. It’s a game that we frequently teach and introduce to newer gamers in our community. Even though Zombie Princess is rooted in the classic game of Spades, this game has some barriers to entry.
It takes players a couple rounds to get a feel for what they should bid each round. Almost every time we play Zombie Princess, people are saying “now I get it” as we enter the fourth round. If always feels like new players are in a deficit coming into this game when others have played before. You almost have to play another game immediately after, but at forty-five minutes, back-to-back games rarely happen.
Since the game is only four rounds, you might think it’s a quick game. Not really. Because of the way each round is scored, walking through the steps of the scoring card collectively at the end of the round is so important. This dictates when skulls are paid out, when you have to pay for missing tricks, and when round card effects are earned. For something that should be a quick card game, the end of each round feels more complex than it should be.
The artwork, component quality, and addition of team play in Zombie Princess is fantastic. Even the insert and trays that come with the game are really nice! I really like everything about Zombie Princess from an esthetic standpoint.
Final Thoughts
It’s hard not to compare Zombie Princess to Rebel Princess. I feel that Rebel Princess is the game that will hit the table over and over, no matter what level of gamer is playing. Zombie Princess just isn’t as smooth or accessible as its predecessor. This is not a game that I get excited to teach others. No doubt, this game will hit the table, but more than likely, it will be with the same people every time.
One of the biggest draws for this game is that you can play in teams. Having this option at four and six players is probably one of its biggest selling points. Zombie Princess is a great addition to our spooky game collection but it’s not a game that will hit the table year round. It’s great that these two games feel different in how they play. I’m just not convinced that Zombie Princess is nearly as accessible as Rebel Princess.
Zombie Princess Deluxe Edition is available on the Bezier Games webstore or online through Amazon today.
This game was provided to us by the publisher for review. Read more about our review policies at One Board Family.
Highs
- Team play is a great addition to the game
- Round cards and Princess abilities add to the replayability
- Fantastic components, artwork, and box insert
Lows
- End of round scoring feels convoluted
- Precise bidding can be tough and takes multiple plays
Complexity
Time Commitment
Replayability
