Finally played another boardgame, it has been a while! This time around we tried out Alien Fate of the Nostromo, a cooperative game for 1-5 players. Now, I had heard some unenthusiastic reviews of the game, so my expectations were fairly low but I must say I was pleasantly surprised. It turned out to be a easy fast play appetizer type of game. The game box indicates a 45-60 minute play time and I have to say that seems to be accurate even the first time out. Now we were only two players, so I am sure that had an impact on game length, it certainly almost cost us the game as the randomly determined ending conditions were tough for only two players to complete. In fact the rules state that this particular ending should not be used for a 1 player game, two players gave us a better challenge.
The board has a map of the Nostromo on it (two levels) along with a morale track. Run out of morale and you lose the game. At the start of the game, each player selects one of five character cards and places the associated plastic figure on the galley space of the board. Each character card shows the number of actions that the character can take in their turn, the unique power that the character has and includes spaces for equipment and scrap counters.
Each player will, in turn, activates their character and moves about the ship. Their task is to gather up 'scraps' which they will convert into useful items like a flashlight, an electric prod or even the ever handy incinerator. Along the way they may encounter a 'concealed counter'. These counters are revealed when encountered and will be revealed to be one of three things; nothing, Jonesy (the cat) or the alien. If it is the alien the alien token is immediately move to that space causing a morale loss and forcing the character to retreat 3 spaces. If it is the cat it freaks out the crew member causing a loss of 1 morale before then running away.
After a character has had their action turn, the player then draws an encounter card and follow the instructions on the card. No card is drawn if the character encountered the alien. The cards usually indicate where to place more scrap tiles and a concealed counter. The card also tells the player how far the alien will move (1-3 spaces)
At the start of the game objective cards (# of players +1) are drawn and displayed. These are the tasks the players must finish before the end game mission can start. Each objective card indicates a location and an item that must be matched up by the players. Once these objectives have been achieved the final mission card is revealed, this is the mission that must be completed to win the game. In our case it was the "Cut off every bulkhead and every vent" card. The mission alters the standard rules giving the players new rules and new requirements. In our case a 'concealed counter' was first placed in every named area on the board. Then our mission was to remove every marker before the self destruct system counted down to zero, 4 turns later. The alien of course was still in play and thank goodness he was because we were able to springboard off of him whenever he was encountered. Each time we were forced to retreat we used that 3 space retreat as a was to move around the board a little quicker.
This was a social cooperative game which created some constraints on the game play. Most notably, no one can die the worst that can happen is morale loss. It kind of takes the tension out of things, but is a better plan than forcing players to sit and watch as the survivors continue to play. The alien was not a major factor in the game and we seemed to equip ourselves with a fair amount of stuff that negated most of the negative consequences of alien encounters. I do think this game will play out better with more players where we will see more encounter cards being drawn and thus more alien movement. Also there is an option to include Ash into the mix. At his basic level he removes scrap markers. If the final mission card is "You have my sympathies" his powers change.
Overall it was still a fun game. It was certainly not a deep thought game but it was a pleasant diversion. Sometimes it is nice to play a fun simple game without stressing on strategy/tactics all the time. As I said at the start I would view it as an appetizer game, something to play before the main event. It would also work as a friendly game to play with people who are not pure board gamers, you know social gamers.
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