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Aliens: This Time It's War box art
2010 Ranked #5,887

Aliens: This Time It's War

An asymmetric card game has Colonial Marines battle xenomorphs across a series of deadly encounters. Each side manages a different deck, with one seeking escape and the other seeking total elimination.

Thematic Games Card Game Fighting Card Play Conflict Resolution Hand Management

Players

2

Play time

Not listed

Age

18+

Complexity

1.83/5

Rating

7.54

Harder to teach Highly interactive Deep strategy

Overview

At a glance

Is this game right for my group?

ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.

Teachability 2.4/5

Harder to teach

Replay value 3.9/5

High replayability

Interaction 3.6/5

Highly interactive

Player scaling 4.0/5

Scales well

Strategic depth 4.5/5

Deep strategy

See all 5 specifications

How it plays

How does it play?

The Company has colonised the planet LV-426. Contact with the "Shake and bake" colony is lost.

Core mechanisms

Key systems that shape the decisions players make.

Read the full game description

The Company has colonised the planet LV-426. Contact with the "Shake and bake" colony is lost. The Company sends a team of Colonial Marines, with Ripley as "Advisor", to find out what has happened at Hadley's Hope. Aliens: This Time it's War is an unauthorised, non-profit and non-collectable card game set within the boundaries of the hugely influential 1986 sci-fi film, Aliens. Consisting of two balanced 60-card decks, the game pits two players against each other in a life or death struggle. One player takes the role of the Colonial Marines, and his opponent assumes control of the hordes of deadly xenomorphs. At their disposal, the Colonial Marines - very tough hombres - have a roster of high-tech, state-of-the-art weaponry. The Alien player's objective is to eliminate all the Marines, before they escape the planet and "Nuke the entire site from orbit." The game has an asymmetrical design, with both decks featuring different cards and abilities. Aliens: This Time it's War is played using a 5-column system, representing consecutive melees. Gameplay is quick and bloodthirsty with Marines butchered frequently, and aliens destroyed by the well-placed use of cards. Numerous tricky decisions must be made throughout. For instance, the Colonial Marine player could choose to deploy the Powerloader during the Reactor Chamber battle, but the resources that this would require make it a very risky, but rewarding, play. Similarly, the Alien player can deploy the Alien Queen at any time during the conflict - she's free to play aboard the Sulaco, but hugely expensive if used during the APC Withdrawal, for instance. Primarily a combat-driven card game, each player must manage his deck of cards effectively to win. In addition to simple, unique abilities, each card also has two values: power and cost. No icons are used. Aliens: This Time it's War can trace its parentage back to San Juan, Magic: The Gathering, Battle Line, BattleTech TCG, and Iliad. Victory Conditions: The Colonial Marine player wins if she manages to "Nuke the entire site from orbit". The Colonial Marine player wins if she reaches and survives the Sulaco Loading Bay battle. The Alien player wins if Ripley and all the Colonial Marines are either killed or cocooned.

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Editions

Language and publisher variants currently recorded in the catalog.

Edition Year Language Publisher / Region
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Player resources

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Game and edition data

All specifications (5)

Play and group

Players
2
Best with
2
Play time
45 min
Age
18+
Complexity
1.8/5
Credits and catalog connections

Credits

Designers

1
Mark Chaplin

Artists

3
Sean Chick Daniel Chick Viktor Csete

Publishers

1
(Self-Published)