This is REALLY cool. I'm a massive Classic RE (i.e. RE1-2-3) fan, zombie fan and dungeon crawler boardgame fan, so this ticks ALL the boxes for me! Love the playing card layout idea, too. I also like how - although not stated - it's obvious that you can either make the game an immersive journal-writing experience (i.e. writing up various memories and encounters) OR just ignore the fluff and play faster by simply awarding yourself "Grit points" for finding teammates, etc. and get the same mechanics.
Some rules questions:
* How exactly do rolls of "1" work with clubs/spades where a bonus zombie is spawned? I assumed that you fought the zombie (like a club card) then re-rolled to fight/resolve the original drawn threat or trap, is that right? What if you roll another "1"?
* 7 of Spades: Does a roll of 1-2 (escaped subject) only cause 1 Damage and nothing else? Or do you have to fight that Club monster normally (i.e. the room becomes a Club room)? Also, do you replace the Club card (escaped subject) you drew into the deck before reshuffling or is it considered "played" and discarded? Or does the Club card you drew become one of the adjoining rooms when you check for doors leading from the menagerie?
PS The only mod I made to the rules as written so far was to have Red Herb + Green Herb = Mixed Herb (instead of 3 Green Herbs), with Mixed Herbs restoring 3 Health Tokens. I just preferred that for inventory stacking purposes and hewing closer to the source material. ;)
I wonder if it might be interesting to also play without The Nemesis and/or Beloved mechanics for a change of pace after a couple more games? Or making new characters to play? Or starting with a "team" but increasing lethality? I love that even a lightweight game like this has so much flexibility for modding/alternate modes/etc.
I DID have the urge to hack THIS game into a city-wide zombie survival version or an "Aliens" sci-fi themed version, too. :)