Alice In Borderland Season 3’s Zombie Game: Every Rule Explained

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Alice in Borderland Season 3 focused on the Zombie Hunt game, showing it as a risky contest with shifting friendships, backstabbing, and a surprising ending. The newest season of the Netflix thriller picks up with Arisu and Usagi, who find themselves back in the games after successfully completing the Face Card challenges in Season 2. These new games are even more perilous because they’re part of the Joker tournament (a significant change from the original manga). This tournament is a series of deadly rounds featuring several initial games, a semi-final, and a final round where the last remaining players from all teams compete.

In Season 3 of Alice in Borderland, a game called Zombie Hunt is presented. While the rules seem straightforward – involving partnerships between zombies and humans – Zombie Hunt is actually quite complex. It really challenges the players, forcing them to consider their strategies and ethics when facing life-or-death situations.

What Is the Zombie Hunt Card Game in Alice in Borderland?

In Alice in Borderland Season 3, Episode 2, a game called Zombie Hunt was introduced. Players received seven cards each and competed in one-on-one matches using those cards. These games took place at specific tables within an empty research facility.

During each round, players need to play a card that matches the suit of the card that started the round. The player with the highest total value of cards played wins the round and takes one card from the player who lost. This game features three special cards: the Zombie Card, the Shotgun Card, and the Vaccine Card.

One player in each group receives the Zombie card, which automatically wins against all other cards – it’s an “instant win.” The player who loses a round becomes infected with the zombie, and receives another Zombie card. The aim of the game is to infect as many players as you can.

Let me tell you about the Shotgun cards – they’re your go-to for taking down zombies, and thankfully, everyone gets one. The cool thing is, you can use it at any point during the card game, even if you haven’t played a Zombie card yet. Just keep in mind, it won’t do a thing against humans, and it’s a one-time use card – once you fire it, it’s gone! It’s a real game-changer when the undead start piling up.

Here’s another interesting element with the shotgun cards: whoever draws a losing card-whether they’re a zombie or not-is immediately “shot” and eliminated from the game. This also introduces the possibility of players being taken out by zombies during any given round.

The final special card in the deck is the Vaccine card. According to the game’s creators, it’s a way to peacefully remove zombies each round, and it’s given out randomly to players. When you play the Vaccine card, it negates the effect of a Zombie card, changing the zombie back into a human. However, you can’t use it on yourself, which creates a tricky situation if the player holding the card becomes a zombie.

The game lasts for 20 rounds. At the end, the faction with more members – either humans or zombies – wins. The losing side is immediately defeated by a powerful red laser from the sky. Players can also be eliminated if they run out of number cards during a round.

The tournament consists of four teams, with each team having either Usagi or Arisu as a member. The game starts with a surprising discovery: each of the opposing teams already has one zombie among its players. This means there are only four zombie cards in play initially, and the infection can only spread from there.

This game has various approaches, but a common one is to avoid appearing as a zombie. This is because being identified as a zombie makes you a more likely target for the shotgun card.

As Arisu noted, the numbers on the cards during Zombie Hunt don’t actually matter. You only need to collect one card to successfully complete all 20 rounds. However, there’s a surprisingly simple strategy that guarantees victory for any team that uses it.

Right from the start of the game, players learned there are only four zombie cards, putting them at a disadvantage numerically. The key twist is that whoever holds a zombie card must convert their fellow players into zombies. This is because the chances of surviving are greater for the infected – their numbers grow rapidly each round.

Okay, so after watching this, I think the key to both winning and *surviving* in this world, as we see with a character like Arisu, is all about leadership. It’s not enough to just be strong; you really need to get a group of people to trust you and genuinely buy into whatever plan you’re proposing – and honestly, it doesn’t even matter if you’re facing off against zombies or something else entirely!

Who Wins the Zombie Hunt Card Game?

In a surprising turn of events, Alice in Borderland Season 3, Episode 3 showed that Arisu was actually a zombie from the beginning. He had secretly planned to infect his teammates and other players with the zombie virus later in the game, hoping this would lead them to victory. He shared this with Rei, a new and skilled human player, and explained the necessary steps.

With only one round remaining, Arisu dramatically changed the game’s course. He told Nobu to infect the rest of their team – Sachiko, Shion, and Natsu – which caused them to infect all the other players still in the game. Arisu’s clever plan was successful, and he even managed to turn Rei into a zombie, both saving her life and adding her to his team for the win.

In the end, the Zombies defeated the humans (with a ruthless Ikeno leading the charge and tragically killing Masato in the last few rounds – a particularly devastating moment in Alice in Borderland Season 3). The final count was 32 Zombies versus only 13 uninfected humans. The human team quickly fell apart, as they were immediately eliminated by the red laser beams.

This demonstrates Arisu’s skill as a strategist within the Alice in Borderland world, and clarifies why the Watchmen ultimately allow him to decide his fate at the conclusion of the series (you can find more details about the Joker’s real identity in Alice in Borderland Season 3 here).

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2025-09-29 22:50