Dead of Winter prequel Raxxon is breaking out next month

You might remember a mysterious Dead of Winter game that suddenly popped up over the summer, hinting at a new entry in the zombie survival series. That game has now been confirmed as Raxxon, a prequel to the original Dead of Winter that looks to be a very different experience to the narrative dice-roller.

Unlike Dead of Winter’s fluid multiplayer, which could see players betray each other or choose to work together, Raxxon is fully co-operative, supporting from one solo player up to a group of four. A typical match is said to play in around an hour.

There are no dice involved – instead, players must explore a grid of facedown tiles, investigating members of the crowd in an effort to stop the zombie infection spreading by eliminating those already turned into the undead.

Each player’s character has unique abilities that can be used to flip over hidden tiles, evacuate healthy civilians, quarantine or kill the infected, and move tiles around to stem the spread.

The Crossroads storytelling system from Dead of Winter appears in a slightly different form, surfacing through Raxxon cards that progress the narrative and sometimes feature branching story paths.

Taking place during the outbreak that leads to Dead of Winter’s zombie apocalypse, Raxxon will include two new characters for Dead of Winter, Meryl Wolfe and KD James, with their respective cards and standees for use in the earlier game.

Publisher Plaid Hat has said that it will release extra scenarios for Raxxon online once the game is released in October. The game will cost $39.95 (£31).