Here’s some of the skinny from VPG:
When designer Hermann Luttmann submitted his original Dawn of the Zeds game as a new entry in VPG’s popular solitaire wargame line, it was promptly rejected. It was one of Hermann’s first games, and while the theme was right, the rules were just too complicated and “wargame-y” for the broader audience we felt this entry might appeal to. Bless his soul, Hermann did the redesign/editing work that designers typically dread (that’s the hardest work of all for a game designer, but it is the most edifying when you succeed at it) and resubmittedZeds. It was much better and good enough for us to publish.
When we upgraded our printing capabilities and opted to do a second edition of Dawn of the Zeds, we decided to completely revamp the game’s presentation. Well, the art and layout speaks for itself, but the rules were the tricky bit. It wasn’t just the first edition rules re-published; the inclusion of a major expansion kit (The Walking Zeds) with the second edition materials was making the rulebook a real challenge. The game had grown in characters, cards, tracks, and complexity with several components having their one particular use and moment in the game.
Keeping track of all of these pointy little cases and exceptions in the rules proved daunting for new players picking up Dawn of the Zeds and trying out their first quasi-wargame. Exacerbating this problem was the fact that the second edition rulebook was crafted as a single, comprehensive wargame style tome – everything was certainly there, but the learning curve proved too steep and uncomfortable for many players new to this side of the gaming hobby. And since it was a solitaire only game, so much depended on the rulebook as someone else was unlikely to teach you!
The third edition of Dawn of the Zeds began as a simple re-drafting of the second edition rules for the game’s loyal following – something we would post as a free download. Well, one thing led to another, and here we have an amazing game redesign in Dawn of the Zeds third edition. For people familiar with Twilight Imperium, it is akin to the third edition of that game as a major re-launch to raise the standards of that series.
