Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
Play cards to move opponents closer to the Anxiety Spiral and yourself closer to safety. Each turn, players play cards from their hand: Trigger Cards are numbered 1-7 and move characters ahead toward the Anxiety Spiral.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Open Drafting
Select cards or items from a shared face-up display.
Follow
Choose whether to perform a reduced version of another player’s selected action.
Player Elimination
Players can be removed from contention before the game ends.
Point-to-Point Movement
Move along explicit connections between named locations or nodes.
Slide/Push
Slide or push pieces so their movement displaces or rearranges others.
Read the full game description
Play cards to move opponents closer to the Anxiety Spiral and yourself closer to safety. Each turn, players play cards from their hand: Trigger Cards are numbered 1-7 and move characters ahead toward the Anxiety Spiral. Defuse Cards are numbered 1-3 and move characters back toward the Oasis. Play either card type on any player, including yourself. Playing one of these cards completes the player’s turn unless they want to play an Instant card. Instant Cards can be played at any time according to the function on the card. Play them quickly before another card is played or a player moves. If a player lands exactly on a space with an arrow, move to the space indicated. Landing on the same space as another player bumps the player who was there first ahead one space. Use Trigger and Defuse cards strategically to find safer routes for yourself and move opponents faster! Red and Orange split paths may have certain advantages and disadvantages, choose wisely! Landing on a Panic Room or Retreat space for the first time sends a player to a safe haven. For the next round, that player may not play nor can they be played on. After their next turn they are sent out according to the arrow, where they will be vulnerable to play. If all opponents are in safe havens a remaining player MUST play a card on themself. The first player to be sent to the Anxiety Spiral loses. But they are not out of the game because misery LOVES company! The losing player may now move one space in either direction EVERY TIME a card is played. If the losing player lands on the same space as a remaining player, the remaining player is sent directly to the Anxiety Spiral and then begins to go after other players in the same fashion until there is only one active player. The last person to be sent to the Anxiety Spiral is the winner!