We've seen a lot of games involving zombies in our tenure as reviewers, and most of them are pretty much the same. After all, the zombie is a great opponent in an action game. They're slow, there's a lot of them, and most importantly, they're not human. It's been a while since there's been a unique take on zombies in the app store, but Zombie Quest – Mastermind the Hexes most definitely fits that description. More a monster game than a zombie game, but what we have here is a strategic board game that combines aspects of Checkers, Reversi, and monster powers all in an enjoyable experience.

The game ends when either the board is covered or either you or your opponent can no longer make moves. Each match starts with both players (either your buddy or a computer controlled AI) having a couple pieces in various places on the board. From here it's a game of conquest and acquisition with just two simple possibilities in your move set. If you tap a hex next to a piece, they will clone themselves and the clone will appear on that hex. If you tap two hexes away, the piece will jump there, leaving the spot they were situated on free. If you move to a hex that has enemies adjacent, they will become your pieces, so you need to weary of where you move, and how much space you expose to an enemy upon any decision.

Depending on what monster you pick, you also have special powers that you can activate on your turns, like shielding a unit from destruction or removing an enemies' unit from the board. Some boards even have hexes that will put a hamper in your conquest plans... like fire! To play with any of these additions with a friend in hotseat multiplayer however, you need to play through single player to unlock everything (or pay to skip this process). This makes the options for the most enjoyable aspect of the game locked away initially and for most, it just won't be worth the hassle to go further. The absence of online multiplayer also is a bit of an omission, but hopefully one that can be rectified in a future patch.

There's been a lot of board games finding a greater audience on the app store thanks to the ease of play, and the fact that so many are such fun. Zombie Quest is a good addition to the genre, with gameplay that will have you carefully pondering your next move to get that one advantage that sends the entire game spiraling in your direction, only to completely miss that section of board where you're left vulnerable. You see why we made the Reversi comparison.