Coming soon from internationally renowned jigsaw puzzle and board game manufacturer, Ravensburger, later this year is what appears to be a challenging board game of survival aboard the Nostromo during the events of ALIEN. Here’s what the publisher has to say about the basic premise behind the gameplay, “Executive Officer Kane is dead and the Alien stalks the halls of the Nostromo. Players must work together in this cooperative strategy game to craft items, fulfill objectives and complete one of five final missions. Choose your next move carefully; the Alien could be just around the corner.” The game will be playable either solo or with five players. Adding Science Officer Ash as an NPC is an option if you want to raise the difficulty stakes. Sounds good so far.

A set of game cards and six sculpted miniatures are included with the isometric view game board. Six character miniatures of Ripley, Dallas, Parker, Lambert, Brett and the Alien will be included as tokens. As the events of the game take place after crew member, executive officer Kane has already been killed, he will be absent from the player roster. Honestly, this set of six character player tokens alone look astonishingly detailed. I hope to see some custom painted pieces once the game is released.

Game play will have players roaming around the Nostromo to “collect scrap, craft items and will need to fulfill different objectives”. Game play will also involve trading these items with other players. Encounters with the Alien and other situations will feature a Morale system during which players may gain or lose Morale points. Keeping your crew’s Morale above zero is critical as dropping to that level will end the game.

ALIEN board games can trace their origin all the way back to when the movie was first released in 1979 but the production quality of these things is not comparable in any capacity. Creative Assembly did something very similar in their stunningly realised video game, ALIEN Isolation; especially the similarly themed “Crew Expandable” DLC scenario which emulated a comparable situation. Of course, as far as I am concerned there is just one thing I want to know. Is it possible to play the game from the perspective of the Alien? Maybe not but I’d love to skulk around the confines of the Nostromo and chew the faces off other players. Maybe that would make for a neat expansion module.

Anyway, ALIEN: Fate of the Nostromo is intended for Ages 10 and up. It will be released on August 1st with an expected retail price of US$29.99. Already on my want list.

-Windebieste.