Greetings again, ladies and gentlemen, and boys and girls of all ages! After having been flooded by hundreds of thousands of emails and posts requesting more information about this game (well, that’s a rough estimate … maybe it was just Harvey from East Northport who wrote me, but I can’t remember just now), I had to succumb and return from my self-imposed exile and provide another eye-opening and inspiring article to this blog. 

As you may or may not have seen, the big breaking news is that the game board for The Plum Island Horror has been completed. I can attest to its historical accuracy, and I commend Terry Leeds and the team for producing such a wonderfully detailed and realistic depiction of the island just moments before the horrific events on October 24^th of a year that we are unable to reveal for legal reasons. 

I’m sure you are all wondering what all those tiny doodads, symbols, and icons represent and I am now going to give you a brief, but oh-so-insightful, tour of the game’s map and what all the pretty hieroglyphics mean to you. So, buckle up, please remain seated, and no shouting insults at the tour guide.   

This is one of the infamous and dastardly Spawn Zones, of which there are six. These areas are aligned along the top (north) end of the map, and each represents a much larger devastated zone of the island that extends off map. This is where the entire catastrophe started, and it is a “no-go” area for the players. The Horrors will spring from these spaces (for the most part) and rain their destruction and fear down each of the connected tracks. You’ll also note the white circle with the black arrow at the bottom of the space. These indicate the direction in which the Horrors will move when activated. These also mean that there is a connection to the next space which allows player units to use this path in either direction (player units do not have to follow the arrow direction because they’re cool). However, they must not use this connection to enter a spawn zone because as mentioned, IT’S OFF LIMITS!

Here we have the award-winning Schnitzel Brewery, home of the annual Plum Island Oktoberfest and featured on the “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” show. It is also home to the “Das Boot” beer-chugging challenge which is held every July 4^th and sponsored by Floyd’s Porta Potty Emporium. This is a Building space, which you can tell by its color and the little building icon in the top right. Its “address” on the board is in the top left corner – “4B” meaning it’s on Track 4 and the second space on that track. There are also plenty of other informational icons in this space (it is, after all, a beloved location for the islanders). That green circle you see on the left side connects to the adjacent area (3B) and means that player units can use that connection during movement to enter that area. The Horrors normally can’t move across a green circle connection, but they are devious and learn quickly, so there may be instances where they do actually move that way. Watch out for that! 

That road on the left of the area is the island’s oldest roadway, Route 41, otherwise known as the Mid-Island Parkway. This is never mentioned specifically in the game rules or procedures, but if you play the game enough times, you’ll see that its presence does signal a certain tendency in gameplay. Let’s just leave it at that. The first of the two orange-ish burst icons shows a gas can, boxes, and other stuff and signifies that players can have their units interact with the space and Forage there to gain a 1 Supplies marker. The second icon has a pair of binoculars and signifies that players can have their units do a Search in that area. Searches produce Search Cards and all types of neato, peachy-keen things can happen when you draw one of those. 

Finally at the bottom of the area is a Bridge connection, which serves the same function as the white circle arrow but this one has a bridge that crosses over some very troubled water. Rumor has it that Simon and Garfunkel were both chased across this bridge by an angry groundhog, but that’s just hearsay. Bridges can be damaged and that black circled “3” next to the connection identifies this as Bridge #3 (which is used during the Storm Damage procedure before the game starts). 

This is the Inga Forest … errr … Forest area (seems pretty logical, right?). The Inga Forest is known for being particularly spooky. It is named after Swedish immigrant Inga Svenson, wife of Sven Svenson and great-grandmother of Olaf Hurstenfurstenfjord, who now runs Utrid Viking Cruises, a local travel agency. Legend has it that Inga entered the forest back in 1956 – and never emerged again. To this day, residents say her ghost wanders the forest and appears often as a yellowish orb along Land’s End Road, which bisects the forest. In the game, Forest areas do provide some cover in combat and thus make important spots for players to have their units hunker down.

Kerri’s Korner is a popular outlet shopping area, with restaurants, movie theaters and amusement parks. The abundance of commodities and facilities means that this area has two Supplies icons instead of just one and a player unit will collect 2 Supplies when foraging here. Also, note that this area has no connection to the right – it is blocked by thick wilderness. No units (Horrors or players) can move to the adjacent area (6D) directly from Kerri’s Korner. 

Some areas are half-sized, comprising smaller zones that nevertheless still function in the same way as the larger areas. For example, Pomegranate Mall and Anton’s Shlop Shop both are independent Building spaces that each have their own set of icons and connecting arrows. By the way, if you’ve never had a Shlop Sandwich, you don’t know what you’re missing. It’s a local delicacy invented by Anton Jester’s wife, Jess. The story goes that Jess got really mad at Anton for staying out late drinking and, when he asked for a snack, she slammed together some shrimp, ham, Pimento cheese and grits and glopped it all onto a Kaiser roll. She figured this would make him sick as a dog and teach him a lesson, but instead – he loved it! Well, yeah, he was really inebriated. Nonetheless, he copied the recipe, served at his shop and the rest is history. 

This area is a very important one for gameplay but is also singularly odd. The Great South Bay Suspension Bridge leads to the mainland but was heavily damaged by the storm. Therefore, it starts the game with a ton of damage and can’t be used until repaired. You’ll note that it is not on any Track and thus has no “address”. The Horrors will only get to the bridge if they take detours off the main drag. This bridge can be used to evacuate civilians (thus the green circle arrow connection) if it is repaired and therefore could be a huge benefit to saving refugees that can’t be evacuated by boat or helicopter. However, the players’ conundrum is that if they fix the bridge, the Horrors can get across to the mainland as well and this could lead to a huge overrun problem (more on that later). 

The Good Samaritan Hospital space is one of the most important in the game for the players. First, note that there are two icons appearing in this space that I haven’t addressed yet (but not for a lack of trying). The top icon is a biohazard symbol and means that a player unit can interact with the location and use a Decontaminate action, reducing the Biohazard Level in the game by one. For those of you who have been paying attention, you’ll remember that allowing the Biohazard Level to get too high will result in you losing the game, so this is a key benefit to this space. The third icon down is the Helipad and indicates that a Helicopter unit may be moved into this area. In fact, the Air Medical Helicopter unit starts the game deployed in this area (yes, Plum Island has modern hospital facilities!) and can be used for the special Medevac action. This action allows a player to send a Wounded unit directly to the hospital from any other Helipad space. The final special feature of this space is that it qualifies for a regular “Heal” action (thus the red crosses as a reminder) and a Wounded unit in the area can use the hospital to heal up. However, please note that the player will then be sent the corresponding medical bill directly from GMT to your door. But it does come with a prepaid return postage envelope as a convenience and a hearty “thank you” for purchasing the game.  

This is the most crowded space in the game, containing the Atlantic Point Lighthouse (and, by the way, no Plum Island lighthouse keepers have ever mysteriously disappeared), Fred’s Fish Market (Fred says hi and please excuse the smell), and the Docks (which are next to the fish market – duh). Not only is this space crowded, but it’s isolated as well as it has only one connection. The fact that it is a Docks area means that Boat units can move here and that civilian units can board those boats and get out of town. The other key feature of this space is the yellow background color of its “address”. This means that this is an Overrun Area and hugely important to the players’ chances of winning the game. Again, if you paid attention to my previous articles, you would remember that if the Horrors enter any Overrun Area, they are removed from the board and Overrun Points are scored against the players. Too many Overrun Points and guess what. Right – you lose! One might ask why you are playing a game that has so many ways to lose. But I leave that question to you and your conscience. 

Finally, we have the Town Dump. Why? I don’t know – I just think it’s cool. Not many communities take pride in their dump, but Plum Island does. Yes, it is safely nestled into the southeast corner of the island, away from prying eyes and noses. But it is nonetheless quite important to the fate of the players. It is an Overrun Area (quick quiz – do you remember how you can tell?), a Building area (thus good for defending) and it is the only area on the board that has all three action icons plus it’s a helipad! There are lots of hidden gems to be found in the junkpiles and rubbish heaps. 

So, there you have it – some gory details on the map for The Plum Island Horror. I hope you find it as attractive and fun as I do. This is exactly the way I envisioned the game board when I first started working on this project and it is so rewarding to see it come to fruition. I may do another article on the unit details when those become available. We’ll see how loud the roaring chorus of demands gets – the possible flooding of my email and the overloading of my social media accounts is something I need to be prepared for. Or maybe Harvey will just write me again and ask that I do it. I’m easy. Good gaming and thanks! 

Hermann Luttmann

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Previous Articles:

The Plum Island Horror: An Overview of Gameplay (or … How to Lose at The Plum Island Horror Without Even Trying)

The Baddies of Plum Island and How to Fight Them (If You Dare)

The Plum Island Horror: First Encounters

The Cards of Plum Island (or … How Can Such Mundane Components Contain So Much Evil?)

The Plum Island Horror: The Peril of P.I.R.L

The Plum Island Horror: Roasted

The Factions of Plum Island (or … What Futility Personified Looks Like)

The Plum Island Horror: Pigout