Game Info
Year
2026
Players
2-8
Age
11+
Playtime
45 min
Collection
Ratings
Creator Score
Mechanic profile
Not enough video data yet
Vibe profile
Not enough video data yet
Description
An expansion for A Message From The Stars that adds two new game modes with 12 new message cards and scrambled rules where secret letters and mechanics are hidden
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 3
This page: 3
Sentiment:
pos 3 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–3 of 3
Video 8qCc5RlHzwo
The Cardboard Herald Review at 0:24 sentiment: positive
video_pk 100811 · mention_pk 279845
Click to watch at 0:24 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Adds desired difficulty and engagement missing from the base game.
- Variable scoring parameters provide a fresh, thinky, and puzzly experience.
- Has taken the top spot as the favorite way to play the game.
- Highly recommended for those wanting more from the base game.
Cons
- Potentially too difficult for players on the lower end of the age range.
- The hostile alien might be too difficult for introducing new players to the game.
- The scoring mechanism overlay is not large enough to cover the original scoring on player boards.
Thematic elements
- letter deduction
- extraterrestrial
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Cipher — The game is an extraterrestrial-themed letter deduction game with a cipher mechanic.
- Deduction — Players need to deduce the scoring of words based on trust, amplify, and suspicion letters.
- variable scoring — The expansion adds new scoring mechanisms for trust, amplify, and suspicion letters that offer variable scoring for words.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- And oh boy, did this solve that issue.
- I also don't really see many situations where I'd prefer to play the base game without the hostile alien. It's so good for the game.
- I had to use brackets, flowcharts, if then statements to deduce the different ways a word score could be true in a way that the base game just never made me work for.
- This expansion has immediately taken the top spot as my favorite way to play the game.
- I don't see myself playing this game without the Extinction Protocol expansion joining it on the table.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video aNKwhMLBBS8
The Dice Tower Review at 0:14 sentiment: positive
video_pk 80987 · mention_pk 198927
Click to watch at 0:14 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Adds more variety with extra cards
- The new rules significantly increase the challenge and complexity
- Both game modes (known or hidden rules) add complexity and thinkiness
- The app helps clean up potential errors and clarifies rules
- The expansion is highly rewarding and satisfying, especially with the hidden rules
- It's a perfect expansion for players who love a bigger challenge
Cons
- Need to keep track of new rules which can be tricky if not covered properly (app recommended)
- Order of operations for new rules needs clarification
- Not for players who have never played the base game before
- It's a niche expansion for a niche game
Thematic elements
- Alien language deciphering with new challenging rules
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Deduction — Cooperative deduction game where one person plays an alien, and humans don't know the language, giving words back and forth using mathematical formulas to figure out letters.
- Modular ruleset — The alien player can choose to randomly select one from each of the categories of conditions.
- Variable rules — New conditions for trust, amplify, and suspicion that affect the value given as a clue, which can be known or hidden.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I hate some of their games. And we're not afraid to say that.
- But I was so excited and uplifted at the end of it.
- There's no way on God's green earth I would use this expansion with someone who's never played the game before.
- To sound egotistical, I like this more than time.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video ues4O-ztUSg
The Dice Tower Discussion at 5:21 sentiment: positive
video_pk 80946 · mention_pk 198765
Click to watch at 5:21 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- phenomenal
- like to play message from the stars from now on
- expansion rules very easily
Cons
- harder to introduce people to
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- mathematical deduction — mathematical deduction word game
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- And that is what I reviewed this week.
- Hey everybody, I'm Tom Vasel and welcome to week in review.
- Here's what I reviewed last week.
- This one loses the charm of the original one being in an incredibly tiny box and there being a very interesting game in there.
- The game is peak Zombicide with a lot of streamlined rules, a lot of interesting captivating choices for the players.
- And if you like DC and I don't think you should play this if you actively dislike DC, then I think you're going to have a fantastic time with this one.
- It is extremely thematic to that experience without I don't with I don't think being like bothersome thematically, but that's up to you.
- there are a lot of uncomfortable topics in there, but it's it is amazing how just immersive it is because of that discomfort.
- If you don't want to feel that, don't get the game.
- This week was deceased uh Gotham City outbreak.
- This is a small retail version of the larger deceased that's coming out with little standees.
- So first up we have Overparked from designer Daryl Chow.
- This is a really cool game with a very wacky theme of an alternate reality South Korea where you are a presidential candidate.
- We played Star Wars Queen's Gambit.
- we reviewed Queen's Dilemma.
- Man, I wanted to like this game so much.
- it's way way way way way way way way too long and way way way way way too fiddly for the amount of fun it gives.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
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Showing 1–3 of 3