Once again, you’ll team up with Kefling helpers Doug and Brodie, who are on a mission to rescue the Kefling princess from the Zombiesaurus. Their journey takes them to the land of the undead where they meet Count Kefula, Wilhelm the Gravekeeper and the Horseless Headman, who are trying to rebuild their kingdom after a Zombiesaurus attack. Lucky for both parties, you’re a pro at rebuilding kingdoms and rescuing princesses.

As with other DLC, Curse of the Zombiesaurus doesn’t stray from the series’ core play mechanics. You collect resources and build through a tree of structures tied to story-based objectives. Unlike other DLC, however, Curse of the Zombiesaurus strays just enough from the norm to offer some interesting challenges.

Keflings games are based around two basic truths. One, no matter how mundane and dull the game sounds on paper, you’ll spend hours with the game, meticulously crafting the most efficient resource workflow possible. Second, you’ll be inundated with humorous pop-culture references at every turn.

To the first point, Curse of the Zombiesaurus does a really good job at matching the simple complexities of the core game. With Sugar, Spice and Not So Nice, I thought the resource collection and build trees felt a little too straightforward. The same is true for Curse of the Zombiesaurus, but not to the same extent. Gathering and refining resources is a little more complicated, adding one additional crafting step for some builds. Instead of simply trading in bones to craft, several components require you first create Funny Bones. It’s a small step, especially when compared to core Keflings games, but it is enough to make you think about how you’re using your workers.

Another neat addition are Scarecrows, who pull double duty as both worker and resource. Scarecrows are better workers than your normal workers (Spooklings); they are faster and can collect more. But, as you get deeper into the structure tree, you’ll have to pull one off of the work line to create Pumpkins. You won’t lose the Scarecrow, but the disruption is just enough of a hiccup to make you think about where you want to put you Scarecrow in the workchain.

The second point – the pop culture-infused humor – is a toss up based completely on your personal tastes. Curse of the Zombiesaurus takes every opportunity to toss out pop culture references. Not that I am adverse to them (just look at the section headers), but there is a point where they stop being funny and become annoying. To its credit, Curse of the Zombiesaurus isn’t a habitual offender and does make attempts to craft its own jokes, though there’s a big section in the middle of the game where the game insists on cramming every Ghostbusters reference it can muster. I actually liked some of the jokes, particularly when Spooklings use Proton Packs to harvest ectoplasm, but there are limits.

Outside the arguably misdirected humor, Curse of the Zombiesaurus is as solid as any Kelfings game, though it isn’t problem-free. The structure build order makes a lot of sense, though at one point you are required to build two bridges, which make little sense in the grander gameplay scheme. Their insertion is random and feels like it was tossed in just to add another two buildings to the game. This issue also points to another issue, the map. I was able to squeeze all of my structures onto the map, but some sections are really small and make navigation tough once you drop some of the bigger buildings.

Curse of the Zombiesaurus also contends with two odd glitches. For whatever reason, I had a hard time getting a few of my Spooklings to return resources to their respective buildings. Instead, they just harvested and dropped things, requiring assigning someone as return man. I also noticed a few path-finding hiccups. A Spookling will suddenly hit a space of the map, spin around for a bit, then head on their way. It wasn’t game-breaking, but still odd.

A World of Keflings: Curse of the Zombiesaurus is another great offering for Keflings fans and at only 320 MSP, it is a must buy. Do note that you need to own A World of Keflings to check out Curse of the Zombiesaurus, but if you’ve never stepped into the World of Keflings, but enjoy resource management or just want a relaxing, low pressure experience, it is worth checking out.