Review: Alien Fate of the Nostromo

Its sometime in the future (2122) and you are one of the crew of the starship: Nostromo. The ship is quiet and you are coming out of hypersleep one by one. This is when you get the distress signal and have to divert course. The crew lands and checks out the scene only to find something terrifying and alien. Kane goes in for a closer look and gets a face full of Alien. The crew returns to the Nostromo with its newest crew member and one of the most famous scenes in sci-fi happens and the Alien bursts out of Kanes chest and scurrys off. This is where your adventure begins in Alien Fate of the Nostromo by Scott Rogers (Rayguns and Rocketships)

Alien is a classic horror movie that was set on the ship Nostromo and let me tell you right now from the moment you open the box you are engulfed by the feeling of horror. The game can be played by 1-5 crew members in this co-op sci-fi thriller. Its going to take you about 1 hour to finish a game and please make sure your crew members are 10 or older.

This is a cooperative game where all the players are working against the xenomorph. Just like in the movie the xenomorph stalks the corridors of the Nostromo. When the game starts there are objective cards (one per player + 1) that the crew try and achieve before the alien reduces the crew's morale track to 0. The objectives have you running around the ship taking items to certain places. Items are created from scrap that the crew finds in the ship the crew can exchange scrape for items for anywhere between 2 scrap for a flashlight or 4 for an incinerator. Once the crew finishes all the objectives then the Final Mission card is turned over and the crew has one last goal to achieve before the alien takes out the ship and crew.

If you don't get a visit by the xenomorph during your turn you will pull an encounter card

As the Crew is searching the Nostromo for what they need to complete the objectives the xenomorph will pop on by for a visit from time to time. There are tiles that are put on the rooms that when revealed could be the xenomorph attacking causing the crew member who flipped the tile to run away and then the moral chart is reduced. This also ends your turn. If you don't get a visit by the xenomorph during your turn you will pull an encounter card this will move the alien through the Nostromo towards the nearest player. The cards also have other affects like putting more tiles out there and increasing the chance you will see the alien. If all of this seems too easy for you why not add a synthetic sleeper agent into the mix. Yes you can add in Ash to increase the difficulty of the game. He will chase you around and steal your scrap tokens.

All in all this game setup and played very smoothly. This would be a great family game night choice. The single player version of this game played well too. The rules are clear and the mechanics worked well. I liked how the team could split up and take care most of the first group of objectives separately and then come together again for the final mission.

Designed by: Scott Rogers

Players: 1-5

Published by: Ravensburger

Year Published: 2021

Recommended Ages: 10+

Time to Play: 60 minutes