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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.
- 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