In ALIEN: Fate of the Nostromo, players take the role of Nostromo crew members Ripley, Lambert, Parker, Brett, or Dallas. Over the course of the game, they collect scrap, craft items, and fulfill different objectives. The crew will lose and gain morale as they encounter the Alien and other situations. If crew morale reaches zero, players lose the game.
Each turn has two phases. In the Crew Action phase, players creep through the Nostromo's halls, gathering scrap, crafting items, trading scrap and items with other players, and using items and their special abilities. Brett, for example, can craft items with one fewer scrap than other players. If the Alien is within three spaces of the player with the incinerator, that player can use the incinerator to send the Alien back to its nest.
In the Encounter phase, players draw and resolve an Encounter card. The Alien could be lurking behind any corner...
Once the players fulfill their initial objectives, they face one of five final missions, each with a unique set of requirements. Players must fulfill the final mission's requirements simultaneously to win the game. Players can also introduce Science Officer Ash for a more challenging game. Ash moves through the ship, removing scrap and forcing the crew to lose morale.
- Accessible to younger players (ages 10+), cooperative play
- Great movie tie-in with evocative miniatures
- Encourages communication and planning among players
- Ash expansion adds complexity
- Tension can be light on higher difficulty without expansions
- Alien may cause morale drops if unlucky with encounter cards
- cooperative survival against an alien threat drawn from the Alien film universe
- Nostromo spaceship with upper and lower levels and an alien nest
- cinematic adaptation-inspired
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action budgeting — Players manage turns by choosing a limited set of actions and moving across the map.
- Card Crafting — Collect scrap to craft items like an electric prod or flashlight to aid survival.
- Cooperation — Players work together to complete objectives before morale reaches zero.
- encounter cards and concealed tokens — Hidden threats and events add tension and require planning.
- Inventory management — Limited carrying capacity per character and cargo management.
- Resource collection and crafting — Collect scrap to craft items like an electric prod or flashlight to aid survival.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's a cooperative game so everyone will work together on it
- it's a quick cooperative strategic game
- executive functioning skills
- you budget your actions
References (from this video)
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Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Yamatai is never going to be made again cuz I don't I'm mad about Yamatai because Desaana that's a very good game that y'all gave up on and that's a very good game.
- UNMATCHED. NO. YES. YOU'RE NOT TOUCHING THAT. THEY'RE TAKING UNMATCHED. NO, NO, NO. I don't Okay, you're not touching none of those. None.
- Unmatched. They stay. Every one of them.
- This is what I deal with.
- It takes up a lot of space in your home and you do fall in love with these games and you want to play them and then a lot of times you can't play them because you're so busy getting new stuff.
- It's hard. It's hard.
- I want an alarm to go off. An alarm after 365 days if you haven't played it. Yeah, it's got to go.
- Board game collections are gaseous and tend to expand to fill the entire volume of the space you allow them in.
- The stores are not going to help you sell your games. That's their business.
- I wish you get a store, which is not bad. Okay. No, store credit is NOT GOOD BECAUSE THAT'S GREAT. That's great.
- If you haven't played it in three years, get rid of it.
- Okay. Next week, next Sunday, we will not be here. No, we won't be here, y'all. We will be at BG Spring. We are not doing a tape show because we got a lot of other videos that we've got to get done before we leave.
- A friend asked me, did you know it takes five sheep to make one sweater? I answered I didn't even know they could knit.
References (from this video)
- Solid solo-play experience with clear tension from an ever-present alien threat.
- Tools like flashlight and motion detector provide meaningful strategic choices.
- Incinerator mechanic offers satisfying control by forcing the alien back toward its nest from up to three spaces away.
- Self-destruct tracker creates a compelling ticking-clock dynamic that drives planning and urgency.
- Concealed tokens introduce uncertainty and risk, potentially creating punishing randomness.
- Scrap is a finite resource; careful management is required to avoid dead ends or delays.
- Encounter cards can abruptly shift momentum and morale in a tight solo run.
- survival and containment of an alien threat on a spaceship
- USCSS Nostromo spaceship
- live commentary while playing with explanations of rules and goals
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action economy — Each turn provides four actions; movement costs one action per room.
- Action Points — Each turn provides four actions; movement costs one action per room.
- Card Crafting — Scrap tokens are collected and spent to craft items (e.g., incinerator, flashlight) in the workshop or elsewhere.
- Concealed tokens — Concealed tokens may be revealed in a room, potentially triggering alien appearances or dangers.
- Encounters — Encounter cards are flipped during the encounter phase and resolved from top to bottom, with effects like alien moves and morale changes.
- flashlight — The flashlight reduces morale loss and has unlimited uses, bringing courage in tense moments.
- Hypersleep and progression — Hypersleep is used to progress toward the endgame; collecting coolant canisters and scrap is necessary to complete the final objective.
- Incinerator item — The incinerator has two uses and can affect the alien’s location, helping to clear a path toward the airlock.
- Motion detector — The motion detector reveals a concealed token within up to two spaces, offering predictive information about danger.
- Movement through rooms — Moving from one room to another consumes a single action.
- Scrap tokens and crafting — Scrap tokens are collected and spent to craft items (e.g., incinerator, flashlight) in the workshop or elsewhere.
- Self-destruct tracker — This tracker places four countdown tokens; if the active crew member starts a turn with four, the Nostromo is defeated.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's a table for one; it's a spaceship for one
- the situation is critical
- luckily because we're playing solo i'm the only one who has to get there
- we win
- Jonesy the cat
- the self-destruct tracker
References (from this video)
- survival against an onboard alien intruder
- on board a spaceship
- cooperative objective-driven survival with narrative events
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- alien encounter and morale effects — Encounter cards move the alien towards the crew, potentially causing morale loss and forcing fleeing.
- ash variant — Optional variant introducing Ash character with additional rules.
- Card Crafting — Craft items by spending scrap, put items into inventory with limited spaces, and manage coolant canisters.
- Concealed tokens — Tokens are face down; revealing them triggers morale loss or alien encounters and may cause fleeing.
- crafting and inventory — Craft items by spending scrap, put items into inventory with limited spaces, and manage coolant canisters.
- crew action phase — Each turn, players perform a set number of actions based on their character, chosen from a list and can be repeated in any order.
- movement and space travel — Actions spend movement through ship spaces, with ladders/arrows indicating adjacency and costs between rooms.
- objectives and final mission — Face-up objectives must be completed, leading to a final mission card that dictates victory or loss.
- Self-destruct tracker — Some final missions involve a self-destruct tracker that can destroy the ship if tokens run out.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- the players will be working together to complete the objectives revealed for their game and once those are done the final objective will be revealed
- but the whole time an alien is on board the ship stalking you like prey
- that's the setup in alien fate of the nostromo
- the ship is destroyed and the players all lose
- you start with some of these face up on the table
- the ash variant which is explained on the back of the rulebook
References (from this video)
- Faithful atmosphere to the source material
- Lightweight and accessible cooperative play
- Flexibility with scenario variety
- Tension from random encounters can be swingy
- Cooperative horror/survival with strong atmosphere
- Nostromo crew aboard a space station encountering xenomorph threat
- Cohesive teamwork with tension and random encounters
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Cooperative Game — All players work together to survive and complete mission objectives
- cooperative play — All players work together to survive and complete mission objectives
- dice-based encounters — Dice determine encounters with threats and resource outcomes
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I absolutely love this game I love it it's Cooperative it is lightweight
- this is a keeper
- I love the characters the aftermath it extends so this is for Nemesis
- Escape the Dark Sector cool artwork this is a Cooperative game
- this is the expansion which I do want to get to so I'm going to keep it
References (from this video)
- Thematic alignment with the Alien franchise
- Accessible, simple core rules
- Asymmetric powers add strategic variety
- Concealed tokens create tense alien movement
- Equipment options enable varied strategies
- Multiple final missions improve replayability
- Ash optional difficulty adjustment
- Feels like a reskin of Horrified with limited monster variety
- Five-player movement pacing can complicate alien progression
- Depends on hidden information and event cards which can introduce randomness
- Survival horror and cooperative exploration against a hidden alien threat
- Aboard the Nostromo spaceship
- Asymmetric AI-driven threats with hidden information and modular mission objectives
- Horrified
- Another Glorious Day in the Corps
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action Points — On a turn, players spend a number of actions printed on their character board.
- asymmetric roles — Each character has unique abilities affecting actions and strategies.
- Card Crafting — Scraps and coolant are collected to craft items and complete tasks.
- Combat: Damage Based — Equipment like electric prod, flashlight, and incinerator influence morale and alien movement.
- combat/tension modifiers — Equipment like electric prod, flashlight, and incinerator influence morale and alien movement.
- Cooperative Game — Players work together to complete objectives while managing morale and resources.
- cooperative play — Players work together to complete objectives while managing morale and resources.
- exploration markers and tokens — Board includes hidden tokens and exploration markers affecting alien movement and morale.
- hidden/AI-controlled antagonist — Alien is controlled by a card-driven AI, not by players.
- item collection and crafting — Scraps and coolant are collected to craft items and complete tasks.
- modular objectives and final mission — Multiple objective cards and a final mission determine victory.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Alien is one of my all-time favorite movies so with that bias firmly out there this is an excellent alien game
- the best thing about this game is the concealed tokens making the alien move dramatically, revealing one is always tense
- the core rules are super simple and well suited for any type of player who wants a good thematic Cooperative game