Space Alert

It's a cooperative team survival game. Players become crew members of a small spaceship scanning dangerous sectors of galaxy. The missions last just 10 real-time minutes (hyperspace jump, sector scan, hyperspace jump back) and the only task the players have is to protect their ship. On 2 CDs (or Scenario cards if you don't have a CD player available) are ten minute long soundtracks that represent central computer announcements about the presence of various threats. These vary from space battleships and interceptors to different interstellar monsters and abominations, asteroids or even intruders and malfunctions on the spaceship. Players have to agree who will take care of which task and coordinate their actions (moving around the ship, firing weapons, distributing energy, using battlebots to deal with intruders, launching guided missiles, etc.) in real time to defend the ship. Only a well-working team can survive 10 minutes and make the jump back to safety. The game offers several difficulty levels, huge variability and a unique experience for one to five player teams. One mission lasts only about 30 minutes, including setup and evaluation. Designer: Vlaada (Vladimír) Chvátil # of Players: 1 − 5 Playing Time: 30 minutes Mfr Suggested Ages: 12 and up Awards: 2009 JoTa - Highlight of the Year (Audience) 2009 Spiel des Jahres, Winner Special Prize for New Game Worlds 2009 Dice Tower Gaming Awards, Most Innovative Game, Winner 2009 BoardGameGeek Golden Geek, Innovative Game, Winner Game components: 1 Spaceship Board 10 Action Boards in 5 colors 7 Trajectory Boards 1 Mission Steps Board 10 plastic figures 55+ blocks in 6 colors 1 blue and 3 green cylinders 90 Action Cards 6 Heroic Action Cards 55 Threat Cards 16 Scenario Cards 18 damage tiles 26 internal threat tokens 16 numbered tokens 2 CDs with 16 soundtracks 1 ship’s log 1 Rulebook 1 “How to Become a Space Explorer” handbook