Alien on Board
Alien on Board Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Contents
- 110 cards
- 6 decoders (5 Crew decoders and 1 Alien decoder)
- 1 guessing disc (consisting of 6 parts in different colors)
- 12 rockets (in 6 colors)
- 1 wipe-off pen (with sponge)
- 1 rulebook
Object of the Game
The goal is, through attentive listening, clever deduction and skillful answering of the questions, either as a crew member to expose the alien, or as the alien to mislead the crew members, in order to have the most points at the end.
Setup
- Put the 6 parts of the guessing disc together in any combination. Then place it in the middle of the table so that everyone can reach it easily.
- Shuffle the cards well. Then count off 10 cards and put the remaining cards back in the box. They are not needed for the current game. Form a face-down stack from the 10 cards and place it next to the guessing disc.
- Note: For a shorter or longer game you can simply reduce or increase the number of cards.
- Find the Alien decoder and add as many Crew decoders as needed until there is a decoder available for every player. Surplus decoders stay in the box (see illustration on page 3).
- Example: In a game with four players you need 1 Alien decoder and 3 Crew decoders.
- Everyone chooses a color. Take both rockets of that color and place them in front of you (you use one rocket for guessing; the other helps you keep track of who plays with which color).
- With the wipe-off pen, write your names in the white field on the guessing disc, in the area of your color.
- Determine a Commander for the first round.
Course of Play
A game consists of as many rounds as the number of cards you counted off. Each round proceeds as follows:
- Distribute decoders
- Conduct the questioning
- Expose the alien
1. Distribute decoders
The Commander takes all decoders, shuffles them face down and gives one to each person, including himself or herself. Then he or she draws the top card of the stack and pushes it - in the direction of the arrow - into his or her decoder.
Attention: Always make sure to keep the fronts of the decoders secret. Only you yourself may look through the viewing windows of your own decoder!
2. Conduct the questioning
The Commander silently reads the question that has become visible and says a short answer aloud to the whole group. Then he or she pulls the card out of his or her decoder and passes it face down to the next person clockwise. That person repeats the process (push it in, read silently, answer aloud) and then passes the card on again, until finally everyone has had a turn.
Crew member or Alien?
There are two kinds of decoder: one Alien decoder and several Crew decoders. While the Alien decoder only shows the overarching topic, a Crew decoder always reveals the complete question.
Important
- An answer may consist of at most 2 words.
- In one round only different answers may be given!
- It may well happen that the Commander himself or herself is the Alien.
- As a reminder: the question that has become visible in the decoder is never read aloud!
- Pay close attention that nobody pushes the card into the decoder against the direction of the arrow.
3. Expose the alien
Now the crew tries to expose the alien. Take one of your rockets in your hand, the Alien too! Now everyone simultaneously puts their rocket on the field of the guessing disc that they believe is the current color of the Alien.
Note: The Alien simply guesses any crew member.
When everyone has guessed, the Alien reveals himself or herself and removes his or her rocket from the guessing disc. Then points are awarded.
Each crew member receives:
- +1 point if he or she guessed the Alien correctly.
- +1 point if the majority of all crew members guessed the Alien. In case of a tie there are no points.
The Alien receives:
- +2 points if the majority of all crew members did not guess the Alien. In case of a tie there are no points.
Example: Mathias, Henrik, Sandra and Florian play a game of "Alien on Board". Mathias and Henrik guessed Florian (Alien). Sandra guessed Mathias. Florian guessed Henrik. Because Mathias and Henrik guessed correctly, they each receive 1 point. In addition, the Alien was exposed because the majority of all crew members (2 of 3) guessed the Alien correctly. Therefore the whole crew (Mathias, Henrik and Sandra) each receive 1 point. The Alien gets nothing this round. Score at the end of this round: Henrik: 2, Mathias: 2, Sandra: 1, Florian: 0
Write down the points with the wipe-off pen in the area of your color on the outer edge of the guessing disc.
Prepare the next round. The card that was played is placed on a discard pile. Everyone takes their rocket back from the guessing disc. The Commander of the new round is the person who was the Alien in the last round.
End of the Game
The game ends after the card stack is used up (10 rounds in the standard game). Whoever has collected the most points afterwards wins. In case of a tie, all those involved in the tie share the victory.