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?
Assembly is a quick, cooperative or solo, puzzle card game that fits in your pocket.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Communication Limits
Rules restrict what players may say, show, or reveal while cooperating.
Modular Board
Build the play area from interchangeable sections that vary between games.
Cooperative Game
Players coordinate their actions toward a shared objective and win or lose together.
Hand Management
Time and sequence a limited hand of cards to preserve future options.
Push Your Luck
Choose whether to secure current gains or risk them for a larger reward.
Read the full game description
Assembly is a quick, cooperative or solo, puzzle card game that fits in your pocket. Using the Command Cards in your hand Draw, Swap, and Rotate Room Modules around the ship until they sit on their matching Blueprint where you can lock them into place to build a ship and escape. No two games will ever be the same because of a variable setup, several role cards and the optional use of malfunctions activating on locking that force you to change your strategy. Also, two-player games add limited communication into the mix and the optional use of sign language instead of verbal communication. With 2 base sets, you can now play the double ring variant of Assembly which is suitable for 1-4 players (rules are in the File section). The Story: You are on an orbital platform that assembles luxury spaceships. After a recent micrometeorite impact, a deadly virus has emerged and wiped out the entire staff. Luckily, you seem to have natural immunity and now you must escape to help create a vaccine before the virus spreads to Earth. In an attempt to quarantine the virus, the computer locked down all systems, undocked all the spaceships and is currently venting the oxygen to prevent you from ever leaving. Fortunately, it has missed one. Unfortunately, it's still on the assembly line and only partially complete. You must finish building it to escape. Against all odds, you have outwitted the computer and are now in the control room of one of the spaceship assembly lines where the incomplete ship lies in front of you. On the screen above your head, you can see the required layout in blueprint form and on the assembly line you can see the completed Room Modules hanging around the edges ready for placement in the bays corresponding to the instructions overhead. You have discovered a rather limited set of commands to complete the ship but for some reason the controls keep glitching. Does the computer know what you are trying to do? You must work together and use your commands wisely to assemble the ship and make your escape. Can you complete the ship and escape before you perish?