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Gravwell: Escape From The 9th Dimension box art
2013 Ranked #1,486

Gravwell: Escape From The 9th Dimension

Space-race card game where stranded ships use asteroid elements and strange gravity to escape a new dimension. Movement depends on relative position, so every played card can slingshot you forward or pull rivals along with you.

Family Games Card Game Science Fiction Action Queue Bias

Players

1-4

Play time

20-45 min

Age

10+

Complexity

1.73/5

Rating

6.87

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 2.3/5

Harder to teach

Replay value 4.1/5

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?

In Gravwell, players command spaceships that have been pulled through a black hole, transporting them into a different dimension.

Core mechanisms

Key systems that shape the decisions players make.

Read the full game description

In Gravwell, players command spaceships that have been pulled through a black hole, transporting them into a different dimension. With each ship lacking fuel to get home, each player must collect basic elements from surrounding asteroids, using the gravity of the dimension and what little resources they have in order to reach the warp gate that will take them home. But in this dimension, moving ships will travel towards the nearest object, which is usually another ship, and when those objects are moving either forward or backward, reaching the warp gate isn't always easy. Time is running out to save your crew and your ship! As a grim reminder of the cost of failing to escape, the frozen hulks of dead spacecraft litter the escape route — but with careful card play, you can slingshot past these derelict craft and be the first to escape from the Gravwell! Gravwell uses 26 alphabetized cards to determine movement order and thrust; most cards move your ship towards the nearest object, but a few move you away from it. At the start of each round, players draft fuel cards, picking up three pairs of two cards, with only the top card of each pile being visible; you get some information as to which moves you can expect from the other spaceships, but you won't know which moves you'll be forced to make when you draft your cards! During a round, each player will play all of their fuel cards in the order of their choosing. During each phase of a round, each player chooses one card, then all cards are revealed and resolved in alphabetical order. When your opponents move in ways you didn't expect, you won't always be heading in the direction you thought you would! Each player holds an "Emergency Stop" card that they may tactically play only once per round to avoid such a situation. Whoever first reaches the warp gate wins, but if no one has escaped after six rounds, then the player who is closest to the gate wins.

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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
1–4
Best with
2–4
Play time
20–45 min
Age
10+
Complexity
1.7/5
Credits and catalog connections

Credits

Designers

1
Corey Young

Artists

1
Alejandro Germánico Benit

Publishers

2
Cryptozoic Entertainment Renegade Game Studios